I've owned an RG-1, RG-7 and finally RG-4's. I used Cat's with all of them and there's a nice synergy. For the money, the Cat is hard to beat. My favorite was the Sig. Mk 2 which used 12AU7's in the line rather than 6922's.
I owned Cat Sig. Mk 1, Sig, Mk 2, Sig. Mk 3, Ultimate 1, and finally Ultimate 2; all with phono. After the Symphonic Line's, I went with CJ Premier 12's(OK but not that great) then VTL 250 monos(very nice).
I'm now running Atma-Sphere MP-1 Mk3 with phono and MA-1 Mk3 monos and I'm done looking. The MA-1's are wonderful; way more believable than anything I've had previously but the MP-1 preamp is the key to it all. It totally outclasses any of the CAT's or anything else I've heard. Waaay more refined, smoother, cleaner and just plain more believable.
I liked the Sym. Line gear a lot but you'll never get that 3-D organic sound that tubes provide. If you want that flesh on the bones sound, you'll have to go all tubes. If you want to stick with the RG-4's, I'd look for a good used MP-1 pre which would be a nice compromise.
Just my 2 cents!
I owned Cat Sig. Mk 1, Sig, Mk 2, Sig. Mk 3, Ultimate 1, and finally Ultimate 2; all with phono. After the Symphonic Line's, I went with CJ Premier 12's(OK but not that great) then VTL 250 monos(very nice).
I'm now running Atma-Sphere MP-1 Mk3 with phono and MA-1 Mk3 monos and I'm done looking. The MA-1's are wonderful; way more believable than anything I've had previously but the MP-1 preamp is the key to it all. It totally outclasses any of the CAT's or anything else I've heard. Waaay more refined, smoother, cleaner and just plain more believable.
I liked the Sym. Line gear a lot but you'll never get that 3-D organic sound that tubes provide. If you want that flesh on the bones sound, you'll have to go all tubes. If you want to stick with the RG-4's, I'd look for a good used MP-1 pre which would be a nice compromise.
Just my 2 cents!