Warm tube preamp for under 1000

I had a conrad johnson pv-12. It has been out of production for some time but it has a very warm, traditional tube sound. For me it was a bit too warm but I was using it with a tube amp with el34's so it might too much because the amp was warm also. I also had a sonic frontiers sfl 1. That was a very good sounding preamp. A bit more transparent than the pv12 but still very easy to listen to. One other thing you might consider is a passive preamp. I know that for me the preamp either makes or brakes the system more than any other component. I haven't heard anything under 3k that I would take over a passive (take into account I have not heard every product so there might be something out there I do not know about). If you are having a problem with brightness, a passive or very good active might take care of it; as opposed to just getting something that sounds warm. As for your 2nd question, find out what order makes the pop and do it the other way.

In my last post, when I said "power amp on last and off first," to be more precise I should have said "power amp on last (after waiting some seconds for the preamp tubes to heat up sufficiently to be functional) and off first."

Also, I'll add that if the power amp itself were to generate turn-on or turn-off transient thumps that are large enough to be worrisome, then the power amp is either poorly designed or defective, and the transients it generates most likely will not be influenced by when the preamp is turned on or off. The reason I say "most likely" is that it is conceivable that its transients might be influenced by the output impedance of the preamp it is connected to, which may differ depending on whether the preamp is on or off. Again, however, that would mean that the power amp is either poorly designed or defective.

Regards,
-- Al

I would also consider a BAT VK3i. It is right at your price range.

I think the AES is a nice preamp for the money. I have the DJH version in my second (bedroom) system and it has worked very well for years. I have a Cary SLP-98P in my primary system and the sonic signature for both are pretty similar. In my experience the CJ's are even warmer than the Cary's with a lighter bass. Both have the classic tube sound.