The NAD 165BEE has very nice sound, but in my personal experience, all their gear I have owned has quality control issues after a bit (can't speak to their higher cost level products, however). If you go on some well regarded forums, you can find excellent gear in your stated price range. I have a couple SS preamps I like very much, then I finally went with a tubed preamp that made my solid state amps sing, so Ive long been a fan of buying better equipment used rather than average mass market stuff. Enjoy the search and check out some forums like Audiokarma, Audiogon, Head-fi and many others....Randy B.

Oh, and watch out for eBay. Easy to get burned.