Which preamp for Symphonic Line Kraft amps?

Jonathan_s,
you lucky so & so - a PAIR of Kraft amps! That should be -s-w-e-e-t-!!
Are you anywhere close to NC that I can drop in sometime to listen to (what seems an excellent) your setup??

which exact preamp really depends on your sonic taste. I've used the CAT preamp with great success.
A good friend of mine has tried out both the Erleuchtung & the RG3 MK4 (which he owns now). The Erleuchtung "lights" up the soundstage like only a tube preamp can. It is a bit light on the bass compared to the RG3 Mk4. Additionally, the Erleuchtung has a lot of tubes inside - each of the 5 inputs has a tube buffer, then 4 tubes for the line stage, 4 for the built-in phono stage. So, that adds up to 13 & I'm missing 1 tube somewhere - so total 14 tubes!
Both the RG3 & Erleuchtung mate very well to the Kraft amp - the RG3 has better (balls to the wall) bass.

Bombaywalla;

I am in Houston should you ever make your way down to this part of the country...

I need 4 identical channels of amplification for the Dalis, so I needed 2 of the stereo Kraft amps. I'm guessing that I can't really go wrong with either a CAT or a Symphonic Line preamp, but I haven't really seen much on the web about the latter. I'd like to use a solid state amp and get away from tubes (it can get very expensive to use NOS tubes), but I'm not sure how much of a penalty would be paid to go to the RG3 mk4 vs using one of the tubed units.

Jonathan_s,
Thanks for the prompt reply.
I will certainly keep you in mind if I make it to Houston. My Dad's school friend lives there & teaches Pharmacology at Univ of Houston. And, I have another friend in Katie.

Indeed, you cannot go wrong with either a CAT or S-L preamp. If you get the CAT, as you well know, the tubes come from Ken S after they get thoroughly screened. They are current production & cost a modest amount. Ken does not believe in NOS tubes, as you know.
In the Erleuchtung you could use NOS tubes but I supposed well screeened current production tubes from a reputed dealer will be easier on the pocket-book.
The RG3 is supposedly very good sounding & I'm told should end your quest for a preamp.
The sonics of tubed vs. s.s. is a perennial & endless debate!! Hard to say what you would lose - everyone listens differently.

Jonathan,

The Kraft amp has a 10K input impedance and a high sensitivity. In my experience (very limited), you need a preamp with a very low output impedance, moderate gain (12 db or so), and dead silent. I have a Kraft amp and RG3 MK4 preamp. I did own a ARC REF3 for a while but found it lacking in bass, dynamics and it had a low level hiss that was distracting at night. In the end I gave up and resigned myself to trying the SL preamps. I have tested both the tube SL preamp and now the RG3 MK4. Both do the job. I have also heard of many state side Kraft owners having excellent results with CAT preamps. I decided not to pursue this because the CAT can have too much gain and then you hit the noise problem.

Good luck in your search.

Jay

Jay;

Thanks for the input - I have a tubed crossover that I'm using between the preamp and amp. I just looked at the specs and the output impedences are 600 ohms on the high pass and 180 ohms on the low pass. Hopefully that leaves me safe (over 15X on the high pass)... The new CAT Renaissance has switchable gain (I believe, I want to say between 15 and 26) and a 100 ohm output impedence.

Cheers...