2 channel pre perhaps with SPDIF Output preferably < $1000?

[elbandito]

I'm a little late to the party... Glad to hear that you've found a pre that suits your needs! I wanted to comment on this:

I have an ART Digital MPA that I like (it's the older model of one of the units that Yonce & Mild posted). I'm not sure I'd used it for classical guitar, at least all the time, but it's nice for vocals. I plug it into a MOTU Traveler.

I had a lot of clock problems. I wound up using an external clock (Black Lion Audo Microclock) and that got things working, but only at 96khz, strangely enough. If I knew I was going to have to buy an external clock, I might not have gone after the DMPA. I'm not 100% sure I know why I had so much trouble - could have been the DMPA, the MOTU, both of them, or maybe solar flares or evil spirits - I'll never be sure.

I've got the old DMPA Gold, which I'm assuming is the same one you have. I run mine into a Tascam US1800, using SPDIF and I have no clocking problems at 44.1 or 48k. I haven't tried it at 96k, though. That's not to say that it's been flawless but the kinks were easy enough to iron out. If I had to guess, based on my experiences, I'd say that the issue lay with the MOTU.

One thing I did notice is that the DMPA seems to steal sample rate priority, no matter what settings I'm using with the rest of my gear.