I'm thinking of swapping my Adcom GFP-750. This pre features passive as well as active operation, balanced inputs & outputs, and remote control. It is design from Nelson Pass, the famous designer, and got a rave reveiw in Stereophile, (Wes Phillips), back in 1999 ...
http://stereophile.com/solidpreamps/133/

So far so good, but undoubtedly the GFP-750 is a bit bright in active mode -- very detail, quite airy, but "silvery" too. Passive is extremely good but that mode cannot produce truly balanced output, (i.e. unless the input is also truly balanced). The problem is that my Monarchy SM-70 Pro amps work best only with truly balanced input. Since I really like the Monarchys, the Adcom could be on its way out.

Perhaps it's time to give tubes a shot. So my specs are these:
  • Tube preamp
  • Remote control
  • True balanced outputs, at least one pair
  • Four or more inputs, preferably one pair balanced
  • Second pair of outputs, balanced or not
  • Price used, less than US$1200.
That's it, AR buds: any suggestions?