Best sounding preamp-amp for Paradigm Studio100v2

Aragon 24K or Auruum with 4004MKII or two 4004MKII's vertically bi amped. Very cheap. Or a set of Palladium mono's. I have all the above with 100's ver2 and 20's ver2. Aragon’s made my 802's sing. Incredible base control and glorious mids.

I had a system with Paradigm Ref 100 V2's for about a year and a half. I had great sound with and Electrocompaniet 120 dmb amplifer and the 4.6 pre amplifier. The EC did a wonderful job taming the treble characteristics of the metal tweeter. The midrange was excellent and the imaging extended out from the speakers. The low end was great too. Not boomy, but tight and controlled. Not nearly as tight as a a Krell, but accurate and with better mid range and a better treble. The paradigms seem to respond well to high current amplifier designs. I really loved my Paradigms but I would steer you towards a slightly warm solid state design. The BAT solid state is very nice too. Depends on your tastes. I like to listen to mostly rock, rockability, and a little electronica. If you like that type of music and enjoy a good presentation of a soundstage the EC/paradigm combo is really quite good. Make sure you budget for a good source. A nice CD player took my setup to a much higher level of enjoyment and listenability.

I hope you get a chance to hear alot of brands. Ask for in home auditions from some good local dealers. Otherwise rely on the tin eared opinions of the denizens of these boards. Good luck.

I am currently using a BAT VK3i pre-amp (tube) and a Marsh MSD a400s amp (ss). Great sound. Tried various ss combos, but like this the best. I had a Music Fidelity A3CR pre-amp before and it was very good, but A-B'ed it for several and all picked the BAT. I think the 100v2's are one of the true audio bargins. My wife and I auditioned many speakers in the $1k to $4k range and found these to be the most pleasing esp with jazz, blues, and female vocals. (Hooked up to Sony C333ES CD player, ML 36 DAC, Nordost Blue Heaven (XLR) IC's and Kimber 8TC speaker cables (bi-wired).

You might consider a David Berning ZH-270 amplifier that comes with an attenuator, that way you can eliminate a pre-amplifier and a set of IC's. The ZH-270 is a great amplifier and in my opinion, one of the best for the price. The technology is ahead of its time (only weighs 10 lbs., believe it or not). Check the wonderful reviews and threads about this amplifier.

If you have a chance, audition the LFD Mistral SE. It is rated at 80 WPC and is very open, warm and tube sounding. Sam Tellig did a review on it and was very impressed. They retail for a little under $1,900.00.