Tube Preamp for possible Bryston 4B SST2 amp

Thanks, Elizabeth. I think the Forte 4 was an amazing amp and after all these years remains in my all time great list. Far better, imho, than the forte 5. There was a sweetness, tonality and grainless quality in comparison that the Forte 4 had which was memorable. So with that in mind, i can calibrate your post about the 4BSST2...thank you! Good to know. If i ever get a chance, i know now to make sure give them a listen. Enjoy!

Hello Maleja,

Quite some time ago a friend bought my BAT 5i to use with his Bryston driving Thiels 3.7's. It was a nice improvement over the ARC preamp he had at the time.

best,
Tom

I have the 4B SST2 for my bass speakers in a tramped system and use a Mystere CA21 tube preamplifier. Works great together.

Hi Elizabeth,

I've read many of your posts and enjoyed learning from them. Thanks for taking the time. Just curious - how would you compare the 4BSST2 to any of the earlier generation? i have read most of the reviews of the SST2...mainly focusing on it having a 'purity of treble' that in earlier generations might have been characterized as 'very clean' (sterile by other people's standards).

Where on the spectrum does the treble (and the rest of the amp's tonality) now sit (relative to Krell, ML, Gryphon, Vitus, Soulution, ARC, etc...) Thanks for any guidance!

Great amp. Great amp. What is your budget or range? What are you looking for in a tube pre? Put another way, what are your 'sonic priorities'? Extension? Dynamics? Transparency? Detail? Bass? Midrange magic?

Personally, i've favorted CJ pre's for 12 years, but have listened to many. ARC Ref 3, 5 are both good and available at steep discounst today. Shindo also good though strong emphasis on pure, pure tonality and low noise floor (signal-to-noise 119db), but perhaps not the strongest on deep, rythmic pulsing upper bass.