Greetings!
There are a lot of good, used preamps in your price range. The problem is the remote. I would try calling Rogue Audio. They may have a "B" stock of the Metis preamp. Or, they may sell you that amp for around $1K. I own a Rogue 99 that has the same tubes as the Metis. I'd like to point out that preamp uses the 6SN7 tubes. This tube is very musical and a large variety of different tubes in this family are cheap and available. This makes for a great opportunity for tube rolling and experiencing an audible change with the tube. I have noticed some of the premier botique preamps like Modwright have switched to the 6SN7 tubes for their preamp and Oppo player mods. Some very nice Cary audio preamps also use the 6SN7 tube.
Many of the high end tube preamplifiers have been using the 6H30 tube. This Military tube is quite nice, but they all sound the same and cost a ton of cash. Not much opportunity for tube rolling. Enjoy!