Both Outlaw and Rotel target a specific niche that I like to call the high bang-for-the-buck niche. They're not all-out-assault, money-is-no-object makers, but neither are they your common mass-produced garbage. Instead, they both make products that I feel are outstanding values.

So basically, if money is an object (and it is for most people) but you still want high quality gear, both Rotel and Outlaw are excellent choices. In principle, Outlaw can offer you even better value-for-the-dollar than Rotel because Outlaw eliminates the retail store with its inherent mark-up. In practice, I haven't listened to enough products from either manufacturer to verify that this is the case.

Either way, you won't go wrong.

Now, you mention that you like a warm sound for audio. In that case (cue SoundHound), you may want to give a listen to a tubed-preamp.

There are two main camps in high-end audio: tubed and solid-state. The solid-state guys (like me) are purists: they want the music or film to sound exactly as the sound recording engineers intended; no better, and no worse. The tubed guys (like Sound Hound) want the best possible sound, even if it means that the sound is being altered to produce better sound.

Since you seem to prefer a warmer sound, tubes may very well be the right choice for you, and I'll leave it to SoundHound to list a few brands worth considering.

Jeff