Quickie is 7dB; Foreplay III has 10dB gain.
The circuit posted is topologically very similar to the original Foreplay, except for C7 which is unnecessary and the use of the 6922 (Foreplay uses 12AU7). I'll forgo the temptation to otherwise critique it; I haven't even heard it.
One reason Foreplay has lower gain is the use of a shunt mode level control, which provides 10dB of attenuation (optionally more) before the signal reaches the tube's grid. You can use that with any preamp of course.
Do look at my white paper on signal levels and noise, linked from the Community page. I usually apologize for the level of detail, but as you're an EE I probably don't have to ... :^)
If you are going for good tube sound, try to avoid circuits with negative feedback. Cathode followers are of course negative feedback circuits; that's why when we use them we go to some lengths to minimize their sonic impact. A more expensive way to get good sound at low gain is to use an output transformer, which also provides a low output impedance but without any feedback.
However, I strongly recommend that you spend less than half your budget on your first try - you are likely to learn something, and want to do it better the second time! I learned this philosophy from a really excellent teacher in a class on design of experiments...
