Preamp for MA1 amp

Rushton, thanks for tempering my enthusiasm. I really did not mean to imply that the MP-1 could not be beat. It is just hard to imagine better sound than that coming from the MP-1.

Jkubina, I do think you seriously consider the MP-1 though. Again I will state that it sounds absolutely glorious. I am currently visiting my brother which has an MP-3 and it is sounding seriously good as well with a Rogue 88 amplifier.

Wellfed, I did not mean to temper your enthusiasm and I apologize if I sounded that way. I know that my enthusiasm for the Atma-Sphere amplifiers knows no bounds! I wish more of us could hear the Atma-Sphere preamplifiers to discover what Ralph Karsten has been able to accomplish. Your opinion of these preamplifiers certainly matches the comments I have heard from quite a number of MP-1 and MP-3 owners.
Kindest regards,

Hello Everyone,
Had to comment on this one, I have tried the Audible Illusions, CAT, CJ PV10 (I think) and the Joule Electra, all very good in thier own right, especially the Joule and then plugged in the MP-3, It was one of those few moments when my jaw dropped to the floor. The MP-3 was so much better than the others in almost every way. There is another thread going on relating to the Joule vs something else I don't remember but in that I had a similar story. I need to remind you that I own the MA-1 MKII amps so again there may be a synergy with Ralphs stuff going on here. I too was tempted to buy the Hovland but then I would have to change my system from a balanced to a single ended. I really don't know how much that buys me but the bottem line is that I really have no desire to try it.(Man does the Hovland ever look cool though) I finally ended up buying the MP-1 preamp. I really don't think you can do much better if you're running Ralphs amps. Besides you get to talk to Ralph which is always a kick. Good luck and keep us posted on which way you go.

Hello again Jkubina,
As an aside I haven't tried the phono stage yet but will soon as I am having my tonearn rewired for a balanced signal. A friend of mine that has tried it says it's killer.

I use my MA-2 mk 1 with the CAT signature mk3 to very good results, though i had to short one input tube to get the sensitivity down on the MA-2.
they work with RCA interlinks, the CAT is not fully balanced. The two partner very well, and i can recommend an audition ..
The CAT IS a great preamp, phono section is superb.
I am aware thru many conversations with many Atma-Sphere owners, that the MP-1 is bettering the CAT with any Atma power amp in a big way .
It may be mostly due to the Fully Balanced operation. i don't know.
It is a big investment over a CAT for sure, 6000 US for a CAT Ultimate versus almost 10 grand [without options] for the MP-1 !!
MAY it better the CAT ?!

Yes you may have guessed, i'm saving up.
OTL and vinyl, way to go for me.