best tube preamp under a 1000 for B&K 200 sonatas?


I have a pair of the B&K mono block sonatas...currently using a B&k ss pre....I would like to step into a tube pre but don't want to spend more than a grand. Definitely buying used. Running paradigms studio 60's. All suggestions welcome. Thanks
magnus89
Hello,
I see a TAD 150 Signature posted on Agon. I owned one 4 years ago. A very nice sounding tube preamp for its price point. Has no short comings really - just sounds right. Has remote, only uses (2) tubes so tube rolling is not too costly. It has a phono section but to be honest it's not that good. The value here is in the line stage.
If you could get it for $775 I'd jump on it.

I also see a Mapletree preamp posted. Have not heard one though. I've read they sound great but they are not much to look at. That could be a great bang for the buck so to speak.

Good luck!!!!
I could be mistaken, but I seem to remember that the B&K M200's having a fair low input impedance of 22K(?) Ohms. I had a friend use a Sonic Frontiers Line 3 with 4 factory matched B&K M200's with balanced inputs with great success some years ago. But I doubt you'll find that pre for a grand or less. Do your B&K M200's have balanced inputs?
Hello,
I see a TAD 150 Signature posted on Agon. I owned one 4 years ago. A very nice sounding tube preamp for its price point. Has no short comings really - just sounds right. Has remote, only uses (2) tubes so tube rolling is not too costly. It has a phono section but to be honest it's not that good. The value here is in the line stage.
If you could get it for $775 I'd jump on it.
I'd be careful - that TAD 150 isn't a signature (near as I can tell based on the pictures). So $775 may not be a "jump on it" value. That said, I have a TAD 150 sig that I have used with my B&K M200's and it worked great. I have been driving my M200's for the past 3+ years though with a Musical Fidelity Nuvista preamp. The Nuvista isn't a traditional tube amp - it uses miniature "Nuvistors" which are more tube than they are transistor, but they look like a transistor. It's a great preamp and it's a great combination. They can be found used from time to time for ~$1000 but since there were only 500 made they aren't common.