What preamps outshine the Aesthetix Calypso?

I just got a TRL Dude and am compltely blown away by it. Better then any pre I've had.

VAC preamp's are top shelf, though you will likely have to go used to stay in your budget. But their gear is solid and VAC provides good service to second owners, so I wouldn't hesitate. I picked up my VAC gear here on Audiogon and it has been rock solid.

Mcondon,
Given the ongoing Lightspeed passive thread with all it`s raves and praise I`m rather surprised this did`nt work out for you.

A CAT SL1 Ultimate should prove to be more dynamic - perhaps their greatest attribute [?], besides being very neutral for a tube preamp. There are others I like too, but for dynamics, the CAT would be the one I would audition (a fine phono stage too on those that come with it).

The Lightspeed did not work for me...I was picking up a lot of intermittent noise, seemed to be RF noise, related to using single-ended components and interconnects in a Manhattan high rise apartment. I also found that the Perfect Wave DAC sounded a little too strident through the Lightspeed. This has to reflect the shortcomings of the PW DAC, which seems to need a tube preamp to sound its best.

In some ways, I am trying to recreate the really wide soundstage and low-end weight that I had with my original low end set-up, which consisted of a Northstar DAC, a Manley Shrimp preamp, and a B&K 4420 power amp. Although it could be fatiguing, I loved the REALLY wide soundstage and low end weight. Great for listening to rock. Sort of trippy sounding in a good way. The current setup sounds achingly beautiful at times with well-recorded music, but at other times is a little too dull. Maybe I am being nostalgic about a wide soundstage, but am forgetting that shortcomings of such a sound signature, which is listener fatigue after long listening sessions.