Basic Preamp - suggestions?

I noticed you have a Rotel amp. I have a Rotel preamp that used to drive a Rotel RB1080 and I was very happy with it. Might want to consider the RC1070 pre. I have since upgraded the amp to a tube amp and I am now in the process of upgrading my pre to a much more expensive tubed pre, so don't take my moving away from the RC1070 as a bad sign. I think the RC1070 is a very good unit.

I have not heard the Maverick that Strateahed suggests, but sounds interesting.

The amp/preamp interaction should be quite important. You might want to check with the Rotel forum at HTGuide and see what people are using. Keep in mind many there are Rotel fundamentalists, though...

Good luck!

My friend has B&K gear. The preamp is a CS-117 model wih built in phono section; not sure on the amp model. He runs Paradigm Monitor 9s and has a Pro-ject Debut III table. He acquired the B&K preamp for around $170 used. For money spent it the best system I've heard.
So, check out B&K gear. I prefer tube gear but must admit the B&K gear sounds much more musical than my older NAD or Aragon gear. A great bang for the buck.
prior to that had had a small preamp - Superphon I think.
That also sounded darn nice for the money.
rpeH
Good luck

Your not going to want to hear this, but for about $125 you can get a used Chase RLC-1 remote controller. This unit is a basic line controller, e. g. pre amp but has a remote that does all the controls. The remote controls line source selection, balance, tremble, bass and volume. It produces 'clean' sound equal to a $5K unit that I have. Check e-bay. The unit comes up often. Well worth a try, if you don't need a phono in a unit. .

Thanks for the suggestions. I was a total dufus and forgot to list that I have a phono preamp, a NAD PP-2. Not sure if that would change any suggestions.

It certainly doesn't need to be used gear, new is fine, but I'm not sure I can get a decent piece for under $200 by buying new.

That Maverick Audio pre looks interesting. I'll be checking out preamps all day it looks like.

Thanks again.

Lots of good suggestions here. Looks like you got some homework to do. FWIW, there's a little discussion re: Maverick over @ Audio Circle. Good luck.