Tube Preamp for possible Bryston 4B SST2 amp

Great amp. Great amp. What is your budget or range? What are you looking for in a tube pre? Put another way, what are your 'sonic priorities'? Extension? Dynamics? Transparency? Detail? Bass? Midrange magic?

Personally, i've favorted CJ pre's for 12 years, but have listened to many. ARC Ref 3, 5 are both good and available at steep discounst today. Shindo also good though strong emphasis on pure, pure tonality and low noise floor (signal-to-noise 119db), but perhaps not the strongest on deep, rythmic pulsing upper bass.

Hi Elizabeth,

I've read many of your posts and enjoyed learning from them. Thanks for taking the time. Just curious - how would you compare the 4BSST2 to any of the earlier generation? i have read most of the reviews of the SST2...mainly focusing on it having a 'purity of treble' that in earlier generations might have been characterized as 'very clean' (sterile by other people's standards).

Where on the spectrum does the treble (and the rest of the amp's tonality) now sit (relative to Krell, ML, Gryphon, Vitus, Soulution, ARC, etc...) Thanks for any guidance!

I have the 4B SST2 for my bass speakers in a tramped system and use a Mystere CA21 tube preamplifier. Works great together.