Ideal Preamp for McCormack DNA225/Paradigm 100 V.2

I'm in the same boat as you, I also have Paradigm Ref. 100's V2. Currently using a B&K 7250 with a Denon 3802. I'm looking for a new 2 channel set up to drive these speakers. My big question is, for these speakers, is it important to have tone controls? On some recordings such as Sade, the bass is big and deep. If I turn the vol. up a little, I usally back the bass control down a bit. I'm also looking at the McCormack DNA225/RLD-1 set up. I've heard this set up a couple of times and have been impressed, plus there is now an upgrade for the amp. I hope you get some responses on this thread, they would help me out also, good luck! Chris.

Give us some idea of how much you want to spend, new or used, remote or no, etc.

Definitely consider one of 2 options:

(1) a good passive pre (McCormack's were made for this)
(2) a tubed pre (high input impediance on these amps makes this a good match)

There's a tradeoff either way though:

Passive's, as a rule, don't have the dynamics that an active pre brings to the party. So if you're into chamber music or soft jazz, OK. If you're a rocker or into big scale classical, then not so good.

It's very hard to find any active preamp that is as transparent as a passive (for somewhat reasonable $$$). So if you go with the passive first you might have to spend a good amount of money to find an active preamp that sounds as pure as ANY passive.

Enjoy the search,
Bob