I've used preamps and power amps nearly my entire career. My first preamp was a Demeter VTBP-201. My last one will be, too. Just a great preamp that makes exactly what you put in it louder. Very satisfying every night I play it. Consistent room to room. Indoors or outdoors. In a variety of styles. I've tried em all. It is my favorite, unless tube type distortion is needed. Then I turn to my #2, an SWR Interstellar Overdrive.
The IOD is great. Two separate D.I. outs, variable level on the clean side. Clean, it resembles the Demeter enuff it's not a total shock. But add true tube Overdrive and it's a whole other monster.
Power amps I always use Crown. There are others out there, but I like Crown's sound and history, so I just look for one of em. QSC, Peavey, Crest and others all make great power amps, too. And if you like your current amp's sound, just need more power, you could probably slave just a power amp to your current amp's preamp.
I use big cabs, too. And with all my experimentation with filters and such, I've found it just as effective to roll my lows off on my preamp a bit as the volume increases. A lot of what I read about 410 cabs and what they supposedly lack is a bit crazy to me. I've used em forever and never had an issue hearing one. I learned my skills in another era, when no one had filters and compressors. Those were for the stars. We couldn't afford em. So we used the eq that came on our amps, learned what our cabs like and didn't, and part of what I learned was that my pulse could be communicated to the others in the band thru stage coupling. Cutting my lows to save speakers, yet still providing the pulse the other band members feel is an art. Putting my speakers on stands, eliminating coupling and lows with stands and filters left my bands less tight. And with bigger cabs, I can hear myself far better than with a small cabinet onstage. Right now my rig consists of a Demeter preamp, Crown power amp (it has a nice hpf if you want to use it) that provides 550 watts at 8ohms and 1100 watts at 4ohms, bridged. It can run four 8ohm cabs if I want, or just one with plenty of juice. I paid 450 fer my rig bout 2.5 years ago. It is killer. The Demeter never breaks up. Clean signal for days. Tight, articulate. And if you need more eq options, their H series preamp has parametric eq.
Today, tho, their are a frightful amount of both rack and floor preamps that would do what your asking very well. From simple ones like my Demeter and Alembic preamps, to "everything but the kitchen sink" models like the Darkglass stuff or old Eden Navigators. Any of them will work well. It's all really what you wanna sound like. There's an option for everyone. And they all work well if you spend time learning how they work. Each is a bit different. But that's why I like my Demeter. Simple, consistent and awesome! Luck on your search. And don't pass on a very old, but tried and true, pedal pre. I carry a SansAmp BDDI I use as a preamp on occasion with my Crown. Just fer fun. It is great! Especially when you don't want anyone to see what you're using. Heh.
