Solid State preamp Brands

I am a tube gear fan.  While I don’t think Ayre gear sounds particularly like tube gear, and their stuff is not tonally warm, I like their sound for some reason. 

Classe is not low-fi. It's actually great value, like most Canadians, serious, no BS, quality materials, good design

Classe is pretty good gear though I wonder if they are still the same company I remember back in the day when I lived in Canada.

I have used a few SS preamps in the past, they include:

• Benchmark LA4 + HPA4 (use this now with a Schitt Aegir amp)
• Holo Serene KTE (use this now with a CODA #16 amp)
• Schitt Mjolnir V3 (use this on a very cheap active speaker, but a good Class A preamp)
• Schitt Freya+ (not as good as the Mjolnir v3)
• BAT VK-42SE (very warm and not as detailed as LA4, Serene, Mjolnir V3)
• Topping pre90 (crap, but it could have been good if played nice with ALL amps)
• Bryston BP-20 (to bright)

I actually ordered a shipping box for my Benchmark HPA4. The empty box arrives tomorrow. I gave my head a shake and cancelled those plans to sell. I was going to keep the Mjolnir V3 instead. I am keeping the Serene, HPA4, and Mjolnir V3 long-term.

Only preamp that I thought was better than the HPA4 and the Serene was a passive attenuator (I think this is the term) a friend had built. Definitely better than the Serene that I like a lot on my home system.

Add Moon North Collection to the list. Volume control is superb and the pre is fantastic. Also a streamer, DAC, phono stage that you may prefer over some of those separates.

SPL