Looking for a 16 channel mixer with excellent preamps

I've just got a soundcraft spirit f1 mixer and found that instead of connecting the ouputs of my apogee rosetta 200 audio interface to my monitors, if I connect the soundcraft f1 mixer to the rosetta 200 outputs then the outputs from my mixer to my monitors the sound is a little bit clearer and sounds more real, like when I listen to a bjork cd it sounds eerily like she's in my studio singing in front of me instead of me listening to a cd of her singing.

My question is does anyone know of a 16 channel mixing desk for about £600 that is a lot better sound quality than the soundcraft f1? If the soundcraft is good then I wanna go a bit further and get an even better sounding mixer. I know souncraft have released a new EPM series mixer with their excellent GB30 preamps in, the same preamps they have in the big touring mixing desk but I dont know how good the sound quality is of the new range.

Also which would be the better overall sound quality out of a mackie 1604vlz pro and a soundcraft fx16 mixer? Any ideas who actually has the better sounding preamps?

i find it strange that breaking the direct chain between your audio interface and monitors with a low-end soundcraft actually makes the sound cleaner. If anything, i would of thought it would add more hum and feedback. I guess these kind of things are very personal though. Having said that, i really dont believe that a Mackie 1604 will give it that extra punch that you want. I have heard wildly mixed reviews about the 1604; some people seem to swear by them, others claim they use the mixer as an ashtray.

You can try looking into an Allen/Heath Mixwizard series. Apparently they are perfect for the home studio environment as it doesnt take up a whole lot of space, and its quite good for both home and live use.