John- Of all the brands you mentioned, the best choice is Sherwood Newcastle. Their combination is the best right now for the money under $3,500.

The NAD T163 is a great pre-pro for only $1500. It costs the same as the Newcastle. However to get the NAD T973 would cost you $2499. That would push you $1000 over your budget.

The Newcastle combo is the best combo right now, and to understand why, you first must understand who Sherwood Newcastle is. They are the biggest OEM in the world, and they make the equipment you see from Harmon Kardon, Yamaha, and others. OEM is where they make their money. The Sherwood and Sherwood Newcastle lines are their shot at their own piece of the market. By not having to outsource to an OEM or by covering for their own build costs they can release product at what is called an "unfair competitive advantage," in the business world. The Sherwood Newcastles cost less than the competition with much higher quality.

Just like Outlaw. Except Sherwood's product is currently newer, so they have more bells and whistles. Both Outlaw and Sherwood suffer from long delays in product releases or replacement. The Outlaw Receiver has been off the market for a year, and its replacement wont be out until next year (likely). Sherwood took something like 6 years between their pre-amp.

The NAD does sound 33% better to my ears. This is because the NAD amp is better than the Newcastle. Is it worth 33% more in cost? That is up to you.

I'd suggest buying the Sherwood Newcastle Pre-Pro and combining it with either the Sherwood Amp or the 7100 if you want to save money for NICE interconnects. Don't spend $2,500+ on equipment and then connect them together with Monster Cable products for instance. There are much better interconnects out there.