[rollo]

2bigears,
               If you are using an SET amp the PROMITHEUS TVC would be a wonderfull match.SET amps and TVC's work extremely well together.I use one with my Opera 211 SET and it sounds great.The best part is it costs $530 for thier best and $370 for basic unit[no ebony knobs,dual vol. control,silver RCA's].
       Check out my review on AC Two Channel circle.No tubes,powercordsor exotic caps,JUST MUSIC.
rollo

[2bigears]

the Prom TVC has a long thread,holy molly?? does this go into a system costing 5x as much?? is it that good?? if it is,it's well worth a shot.all the others are from 1000 to 6000 bucks.this audio hobby is soooo dang far away from me??

[MerRev]

All the advice so far looks very good. I would like to add the new Musical Design ( Chameleon ) preamp to the mix. It has a main motherboard and optional daughterboards. You can use 6922's, 6H30's, 12au7's, 12ax7's 5683, and he is also coming out with an octal board also.

Even though I've never heard it...I would give credence to sturgus's advice and consider the Musical Design Chameleon. What John Hillig does with solid state curcuits is amazing (I own his D-75B amplifier); so I can only imagine how nice his 'multi-tube-option' preamp is. His SP-2B was no slouch, either.

thank you Sturgus and Weez.    to John Hillig.
The Chameleon has been great fun and it is an inexpensive way to experience alternative preamp tubes.  It's the one component I own that I want to build on/around.   This pre should be able to play well with a wide variety of amps and John has been incredibly helpful along the way.  Every time I ask a question he thinks of six directions we can go, he seems creatively limitless. 

I currently own 4 boards and am excited that octals are on the way.  Here's a pic of what John assembled for me.

left to right: 12AU7, 5687, 6922 & 6H30 boards