Hello,
I am not familiar with the CAT so I will restrict my comments to the Blue Circle and Joule preamplifiers. Both should do just fine and give a warmer, not overly analytical sound. Bobby shows with Joule gear all the time and Merlin/Joule is known to be a great combination. I used Blue Circle gear (BC-2 amplifiers & BC-3000 preamp) and VSM-MX speakers and that was a very good combination too. I believe that Bobby also recommended this combination at one time. I highly recommend Gilbert... he is a good guy who supports his products and customers.
I am not familiar with the CAT so I will restrict my comments to the Blue Circle and Joule preamplifiers. Both should do just fine and give a warmer, not overly analytical sound. Bobby shows with Joule gear all the time and Merlin/Joule is known to be a great combination. I used Blue Circle gear (BC-2 amplifiers & BC-3000 preamp) and VSM-MX speakers and that was a very good combination too. I believe that Bobby also recommended this combination at one time. I highly recommend Gilbert... he is a good guy who supports his products and customers.