Which Solid-State Preamp under $7,000.00 New?

Rowland Synergy IIi - retails for $6K - you can't beat it at prices 3x with what you are looking for.

The Klyne is the way to go.

I just purchased an used, fully updated, Ayre K1-X, with phono stage and remote. So far, (and it has only been a very little while, so take note of that), I am astonished by the lack of a noise floor. I am used to having a low noise floor, having used good tube equipment from ARC, but to have none, is astonishing, at least for me. The sound is very nice so far, it is neutral, with no colorations that I can hear.
Also, if you are going to use analog, I highly recommend this unit, as the phono stage is really good. (Better than my ARC PH-3). Again, no noise floor even on analog.
WOW is the best description I can give. The phono stage is also user adjustable to match your cartridge.
Two thumbs up from me, so far at least!

The Ayre K-1x is probably the most neutral of this group. I, however, would much prefer the musicality of the Klyne 7LX3.5 or even the Rowland Synergy IIi mentioned above. The Ayre is the most transparent, but all your software better be up to the test. Great recordings will sound fabulous, but bad recordings will make you cry. In my experiences, most recordings are not great. I personally don't want to change my musical tastes, and listen to Audiophile Approved recordings only, to suit my equipment. I look for equipment that suits my musical tastes. The Klyne is more musical, and IMHO, sounds better on a much larger portion of recordings. As always, YMMV.

I bought a Levinson 380S based on similar - if somewhat more feature-oriented - criteria. It's not quite perfect, but it's fantastically engineered, and sounds close enough to totally neutral and transparent that combined with its user-friendliness and flexibility, I will happily stop here (well, I didn't *want* to invest even this much, but am glad I did) - something I couldn't say about previous attempts (or previous Levinsons). Maybe for those willing to forego some of the 380S's conveniences there's even more transparent units to be had for this money, I don't know, but at up to a grand below your used budget and easy to find, it's certainly worth adding to your list, and of an audition.