High Output Preamp for First Watt SIT-3?

I also have a SIT-3.  I recently sold my Magnepan 3.7i, but I can tell you I was surprised at how good the SIT-3 sounded on them within reasonable volume. I currently have Devore 0/96 (nominal impedance 10 ohms) and the SIT-3 doesn’t seem to be a great match for them. I recently got Tekton Moabs (4 ohms) and the SIT-3 is a very nice match and very musical combination.  The SIT-3 is a wonderful amp with the right speaker

Charles, I apologize if that was the impression, there have certainly been some informed and cogent replies except that they were not addressed to the question at hand. I was just somewhat surprised by the fact that the subject heading - the search for a suitable high gain preamp for the SIT-3 quickly devolved from the first post into "you have the wrong speaker-amp combo". That was not what the poster was asking for or about, but since that appeared to way the thread was going, I threw in my two pennies worth on Maggies and their infamous power requirements. Frequently it's an issue of how the speaker behaves across it's impedance curve and the demands that makes on partnering amps. For example, driving Quad ESL 57's has never been about watts but finding amps that can cope with the ESL's wicked load impedance behaviour. After all, Peter Walker drove them with 15W amps. Similarly, I drive my Harbeth P3's with 10 watts (admittedly near field) from a Luxman SQ Integrated with great success. My SIT-3/20.7 run was simply an experiment, in normal existence , they are driven by 450W VAC amps, which is more appropriate. Someone once told me that "tube watts are not the same thing as SS watts and Class A watts are not the same thing as Class A/B watts". I think there's some truth to that. I am planning to match my SIT-3 up with Harbeth 30.2's but within a near field listening envelope and I am pretty confident it will work well, albeit not to head banging levels. I would still love to hear some thoughts from everyone on appropriate high gain preamps to pair with the SIT-3. The Modulus 3B has a ton of gain but customer service and reliability issues plague the Company. Happy to hear some input on that. Thank you.

Hi kinara,
I understand your point regarding the straying away from the original thread inquiry about high gain preamplifiers. I just believe that people were trying to point out that this wasn’t simply an issue of additional ’gain'  to solve the problem expressed by the OP. In fact he (murphbass) later in this thread came to the realization that adding more gain to his system via a preamplifier wasn’t the course he wanted to follow.

BTW kinara I do happen to share your appreciation of high quality low power amplifiers. I’ve been a very happy owner of an 8 watt 300b SET amplifier for over 10 years. I do readily acknowledge that it (terrific as it is) is not the right choice for everyone and speaker selection requires thought and scrutiny.
Charles

Murph, if you are still looking for a preamp I would suggest going back to Herb's review of the SIT-3 in Stereophile. He did indeed find a good match with the Maggies.

"The SIT-Maggie combo generated a distinctive, liquid, ribbon-tweeter clarity that also flattered sopranos in a way not bested by any other amp-speaker combination I've tried. Voices and instruments were no less there than they were with the Pass Labs XA25 or the Bel Canto Design e.One REF600M, and that's saying a lot—those amps make really SOLID sound with the Magnepan .7s. Wilder still, the SIT-3 generated more relaxed, natural detail and a bigger, better-mapped soundstage than I'd previously thought possible with these humble planars."

Given that success, look to Herb's preamp choices. He uses two -- the Rogue RP-7 and the PrimaLuna DiaLogue. He did not say which one was better in this case. You might send him an e-mail and ask.

- Robert