Pre Amp for $400 ??

A true audiophile product with remote @ $400 is pretty tough... The Sumo & McCormack are both nice sounding pieces.... the Low end Classe models actually do have remotes available and $400 does happened on occasion for a CP 35 or lower, you may find a B&K with Remote.  At $600 to $800 you'll start finding more options with remote.... other than that, they'll be unproven,  but there are a few decent looking Chinese pieces on Fleabay.

Did you have a SF Line-1? Did you get things figured out on that and are you looking for a $400 preamp to replace that or for another system? 

Yes it needs to be repaired, I am wondering if maybe I should buy something else for the cost of the repairs and the hassle of shipping across the continent and over the border.

Look for a old tube tech; there's plenty of them around. Might not be that hard to fix. No $400 preamp is going to come close to what you're used to. I preferred my former ModWright SWL 9.0 SE over the SF Line 1 and if you wait around you can find one for around $900. 

SF Line 1 can be repaired. It's not sophisticated amp and Chris at partsconnexion is very cooperative with others techies.
Keep that in mind.