Preamp for Clayton Audio S40?

Newbee,

>>IMHO the user should keep an open mind should he have an >>inclination to a tube pre-amp and not just blindly >>exclude one because of this reviewers comments.

Fully agree with your opinion! I'm of the same mind. However, when providing advice I've found it best to be conservative & maybe over-mindfull than the other way around. Hence my comments to David.
My overall opinion on pro reviewers is mixed for obvious reasons. However, many times I find that they do express a valid point & re. the Clayton they *just might* have a valid point. I don't have personal experience. I hope that some other Clayton users, who have compared the perf. using both SS & tube pre to see which is better, chime in here .

Would Clayton M100 work with Supratek Sarah (600ohm) ?
Did somebody try this combo ?

It's been a while since anyone posted here; I'm hoping people are still paying attention. I just bought a pair of Clayton M100s, to use between a Cary SLP-2002 preamp and Rick Reimer's Teton loudspeakers. (Source player is an Exemplar-modified Denon DV-2900.) Overall, it's a great, even phenomenal combination. But I think the gain of the Cary preamp might be a bit high for the Claytons. 10 dB gain attenuators help, but I'm still looking for advice on preamps. I'd especially like to hear from folks with actual experience on preamps for these amps.

Drdjchase, I am currently using a BAT VK-31SE preamp with my M100's and Vienna Acoustics Strauss speakers, and I'm very happy. I could live with this combination for a long time (very unusual for me). I'm not familiar with your speakers, they may have a higher sensitivity than my VA's (90 db, 4 ohm). FWIW, I also tried a solid state preamp (Threshold T2), but I preferred the definition and liquidity of the BAT. My VK-31SE has a maximum gain of 17 db. Either your Cary has more gain or your speakers are more sensitive, or you room is smaller (my room is 24 X 14 X 8.5).

Cheers,
John