You can check the listennings sessions @ http://www.thelistenningsessions.com .
They have plenty of mic pres with samples.
In my opinion i would choose a Great River or John Hardy.
They have 1 channel pres in that price range.

The challenge I'm having here is finding a great sounding, versatile mic-pre for under $1k. I'd prefer a channel strip - but to find one of high quality under $1k may be difficult.

I would recommend getting the best preamp you could get.
Don't EVEN think about getting a cheap all in one because it may get you further away from the sound that you're chasing. I ALWAYS BElieved that if the instrument and voice were good and the microphone and preamp were good YOU SHould not need to EQ or COMPress.COnsider the AMEK or TRIDENT but antything else may not specifically make any better results than the preamp you may already have.

IMO the only pre listed worth considering is the Amek Neve 9098. This is a very versitle mic pre and you cannot beat the EQ section. You will find double duty for this one. I have a pair of them in my rack and I love them.

Look at a Sebatron vmp 1000e or 2000e ... these are within your reach and they are fabulous!

Awesome. Thanks for the recommendations. I've read a lot of the other posts re: pre-amps, and it looks as if the Sebatron's are very highly regarded. What do you all think of the Drawmer 1960?

I had one and I hated it. The pre was noisy and the comp sounded very colored ... a lot of squishiness ... It was very difficult to use without hearing side effects.

You can get the single channel Great River ME-1NV for $1,075.00.

I have the 2-channel MP-2NV version and it's wonderful. It's also very versatile with the DI inputs, the different mic interfacing options, and the ability to range from clean to "thick" depending on how you use the gain staging. There is plenty of gain for ribbon mics too (70db). Ribbons seem to be getting very popular (again) recently, so whatever pre you end up with, I'd recommend looking for at least 60db of gain and preferably a bit more.

You can also get one channel of John Hardy or Speck for < $1,000.

While I agree that the Amek is the top of that particular list, and probably an industry standard, the Vintech should not be overlooked as well as the Trident.In someone with mad skills as an engineer the Meek can sound very upfront.The rest are you get what you pay for.(edit)..OOPs I completely missed the Toft which is a nice design and ,this is not from my experience but by those I trust, has a very sweet and usable EQ section.Or so it seems.