Looking for recommendations on a preamp upgrade in the < $500 range (XLR ins)?

Primary use is acoustic guitars (6 & 12) and vox ... also for mic'd electric G amps, but of lesser importance.
I'm using the UCX pres which are fine, but I'm researching options.

I have:
6 channels on a Mackie 1402 VLZ.
4 more on a 1202 non-VLZ Mackie.
2 more on a Aphex 207 (non "D")

I was looking at the FMR RNP as well as the GA Pre-73 ...and maybe the Focusrite ISA One.
Anything else I should consider?
(kinda going to the next level past the ART and Behringer stuff....)

Any reason why I should NOT stick with the Mackie/Aphex?
Or to reword it: Will the RNP/GA Pre-73 give me anything I don't already have?   

Thanks,
JM 

The GAP will have a "color" that you don't have with your mackie or aphex pres.  transformer "color" is added in the GAP similar to the Neve 1073.  you can "dial in" the amount of color you want but with this pre, you cannot get "clean gain" because that's not what it's designed to do.

The ISA One is also a transformer "Neve" clone, but not of the same design, it's based (loosely) off of a 110 console.  It is much "cleaner" than the GAP but still has a little transformer color to it.

The RNP is a "clean gain" pre and the differences between it and the mackie/aphex will mostly only be lower noise.  the RNP is a good preamp for the price and has pretty good clean gain.

so to answer your question, 2 of them will add more "color" to your sound and you may or may not like that - it depends on what you want for your sound.  the other will have a much lower noise level than your current pres and will be clean gain.

Good stuff, thanks Beag.

I think - all things equal - the RNP would be closer to the UCX pres in cleanliness ...for the most part.
Extra clean pres would be ok, but for variety's sake, the GAP might be a better choice since I currently don't have that "color".
The middle ground would be the I1.

I'm financially unprepared to go down the 1K pre road, but someday....
   

there's another type of "color" which is tube pres.  the tube pres in the sub $500 range are typically starved plate design, which means it has a clean transistor preamp and then adds a path of low voltage tube to mix in with the clean gain pre to give you some "dialable" tube "warmth".

these starved plate designs actually aren't too bad.

a true tube preamp usually starts in the $600 and above.  I think the cheapest ones I know of are pres like The Brick and the UA 610 Solo.

I have owned a GAP and for the price range it's an excellent pre of that type.  I ended up selling it because it just wasn't what I wanted, but not because it wasn't good.  it was actually VERY good for what it is.

I currently own a True Systems P-solo for my "clean gain" and I have a starved plate design ART TPS II for my "tube warmth" pre.  I would, some day like to get a true tube pre like the UA 610, but that's on my wish list.

I would want to try it and see if it make a difference I liked, that's the bottom line. That's a lot of money to spend to make what might be a 5% difference. 

I REALLY love my Black Lion Audio Auteur. I even have a shoot out of it, the RNP and the Great River on my website. http://obiaudio.com/2010/07/09/pre-amp-shootout/

Try the Warm preamp for something different.  A color premap based on the old transfomer API 312.  Nice bottom.  Vintage sounding, dual impedence, good components.  High gain, which, if you haven't used a hg preamp (how's the apex on that?), allows much more freedom of mic placement.   Good DI, too.  I would choose that for something different than bog standard interface preamps.  $400.

The ISA One is a good choice.  Better than the standard preamps, tons of gain, lots of other tricks, and sounds good.  Does clean, with a hint of the transformer tone.  Very nice, but not as different as the Warm.

The RNP are great, and you get 2.  Not vintage sounding (warning, word of the day there) since there are no transformers, but are good all arounders.

You can't go wrong upgrading (if everything else is taken care of - ie. mic, room) w/ any of the above.  The Warm would be the most dramatic difference in sound.  Or the Gap.  But I notice Beagle has sold his and you don't have to upgrade the components in the Warm.

@

Hey Jeff,

If you're looking for something to complement the "neutral" preamps in the UCX, it's hard to go wrong with the GAP Pre 73.  It's one of the very few lower cost preamps (sub $500) that is a standout.

The ISA One is a great preamp.
I'd describe it as "silky"... sounds somewhere between a neutral preamp and a typical Neve design (as was already mentioned).

The Solo 610 is another option.
It has a round "soft" sound.

Excellent! thanks, guys.

A few of those mentioned I wasn't aware of, so I'll take a look at those as well.
Ultimately, I'll get a couple of these, just a matter of what order I get them in.

I only have experience with the ISA one but like it very much. It's also an excellent DI, FWIW.