My premium pre experience is limited to Grace, Avalon, UA 610 & 710, Millennium, Little Labs LMNOPre (my fave of all BTW).
Project Studio pre's besides the VTB-1 & Onyx include...
Aphex 107/various entry & mid level Joe Meek units/M-audio DMP2/etc.
Chris
P.S. My fantasy pair pick, would be the LMNOPre for "clean". And get the Silver Bullet for variable "character".