Good tube preamp with Sony 5400

Anon..you are right,the other thread about the Sony was deleted.
Glad to hear from you again. I still have a little time to decide before I am ready to buy. I have been watching to see if a Doge 8 would come up on Audiogon to see what it may go for. The only one I have ever seen went for around 950 or 1000 with some extra tubes I think.
As far as it being worth it to me to spend the extra $...it would be because this will be my last purchase for a while.(im sure im the first to say that!)
I got a couple sacds in the mail yesterday and had a day off today so I tinkered around a bit. Initial impression was very crisp and detailed but maybe too bright. It may sound rediculous but I have some old Klipshe surround speakers hooked up to a Walmart special in my garage that this new "Genius Loves Company" cd sounded fantastic on. Balanced and easy to listen to.haha.
Sooooo...where is my upper region overkill coming from? I am hoping it is the preamp? Warmth and midrange is my focus. I think I have enough power with the Citation.
I guess you should go ahead and get rid of the Doge soon, I may know someone to take it off of your hands.:)
In terms of warmth I wanted to know how the preamps I was interested in ranked? Out of the Cary, Joule, Doge, and Mcintosh.

+1 on Thor Audio preamp. I heard it in a friends system. Competes with 5-10k preamps. I would happily live with it in place of my VAC Ren III preamp if I had to.

:) I won't be selling it that soon. I think a year is a more appropriate length of time to keep for me to something and get a feel for it. Wish I could help but don't have any experience with any of those preamp manufacturers' products in one system to comment. I'm sure someone will be able to offer a comparison, though. Lots of people on here who have owned lots of preamps. Good luck in your search. And let me know if you want me to remind you of this if I see you looking for any gear after you solve your preamp situation:

"this will be my last purchase for a while."

:)

What are the characteristics of Thor preamps?

I just read that Thor audio was sold a while back and a new line is scheduled for release next year.