[Mad DOg]

Eastern Audio Minimax pre can be bought near that price as well and good sounding.

yeah, but it doesn't have a remote control...

[doug s.]

i'd look for a melos sha-gold-r - stock or modded by m.a.r.  

a dealer who carried audible illusions recommended the melos to me even tho he dint carry them, when i told him i was considering a used melos a while back.  he also recommended it over cary & rogue, which he also carried.  the sha-gold-r is a simpler wersion of the ma333r i presently own.  and my pre absolutely blew away the rogue magnum 99 & cary slp-98 i owned prior...

doug s.

[Lost81]

Hi Mark,

Keep a lookout for the Audible Illusions L1 Pre-amplifier.
Sometimes you get lucky and see used ones going for $600 on Audiogon.

They use two 6922 tubes.

They are really open and "airy" (some say too airy).

One just went for $540...


-Lost81

[Inscrutable]

You can probably find a used Rogue 66 near your price point.  They come with EITHER a remote OR phono stage, and while most are silver face, there are black faces out there.

[DTB300]

I know this is a little over your budget (do I sound like a typical SS salesperson or what?), but it does fit your requirements and it is being sold used on Audiogon...link below.

I own one and have been very happy with it.

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?preatube&1099444880

[PhilNYC]

Also check out the AE-3 preamp... I forget the name of the company (AES?) but it is related to Cary and the preamp is designed by Dennis J Had (founder of Cary).  You should get a great buy on a used one.  
...

FWIW, if this one is of interest to you, I know someone who is selling his....

[mcgsxr]

Thanks so much for expanding my search, AS I save the money.  It is great that there are options out there, and as I get closer to pulling the trigger, I will be able to have multiple targets to hunt.

Wayne, good point about the Audcom, and I assume that the modifications that you offer can help in this regard...

Mark in Canada