Best preamp for Symphonic Line RG4 MK4

Rfogel8, that was an informative post. I too use S-L RG1 MK4.
Have you heard the Symphonic Line preamps ? How do they compare to CAT and Atmasphere ?

One more question out of curiosity, Symphonic Line users mostly use difficult to drive speakers (Dynaudio, B&W, Apogee), I personally use ATC SCM40, do you think 60 - 100 watt OTL amp from Atmasphere can drive these kind of speakers well ? Or do we have to change our speakers to match these amps ?

Rfogel8's brother had the Symphonic Line RG-4's and tried the Symphonic Line Preamp. We thought the sound was very good, but the gain on the volume control was way too high. One little click from 0 and you were blasted with sound. No question the CAT is a way better preamp. Its always a good thing to have tubes somewhere in the chain. I personally think once you go all tube even the amp there is no looking back.

Jwm, thanks for explaining. My question still remains. Can a good tube amp like Atmasphere S-60 or MA1 drive a difficult load like Dynaudio or ATC ?

Atmasphere amps like a 6 or high ohm speaker. If your speaker is 4 ohms or dips lower I would not recommend an OTL. They do make an autotransformer, but at that point I would look at a good push pull tube amp.

When it comes to impedance, JWM is correct. He's also correct regarding the Speltz autoformers. Some may argue the point but they definitely defeat all the advantages of OTL. Duh, he's also correct when he recommends "tubes somewhere in the chain." He and I both agree, start with tubes in the linestage.

Pani, ATC claims 8 Ohm and "flat impedance curve" so I don't see a problem. At 85db, the SCM40 isn't all that efficient but I'm guessing the M60 monos would do the job. My MA-1's had so much gain driving my 6 Ohm, 90db speakers, I ended up removing one of the 6SN7's(at Ralph's recommendation) to give me finer adjustment at the lower end of the MP-1's volume control.