Mapletree 4SE vs. TAD 150 signature best sound???

Yeah, it seems the phon stage of the TAD 150 is the weak point. i have a B&K Pro 10MC Sonata series pre that I am contimplating keeping just for the phone?? I am not sure if it's equivalent to the TAD or and improvement.

I can't comment on the Mapletree but I used a TAD 150 sig with a DNA-1 for several years and enjoyed the combination. One downside to the TAD 150 is the phono stage, which may or may not be important to you. The phono stage is ok but I'm not sure it's as high quality as the line stage inputs.

On the plus side, Paul Grzybek--the man at Busy Bee audio who imported and modified the TAD-150--is a class act. I contacted him with a technical question a few years ago and he responded in a matter of hours. It's nice to see someone committed to his products years later.

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Not familiar with the TAD, but the Mapletree sounds ALOT better than its price would suggest. Made by a retired Professor of electrical engineering, it seems to be a no BS product with a lot of good circuit and overall design behind it. Not audio jewelry on the outside perhaps, but one heck of a good sounding piece of gear.

The Mapletree wins by more than a little. The TAD is a very nice sounding pre,and the remote is handy. The Mapletree is a fantastic sounding pre,but you get no remote. I believe the difference is the use of octal tubes in the 4A SE,point to point wiring,and tube rectification.I'm using a Silver plus upgraded DNA-1

Are they equivalent in soundstage, bass and treible reproduction?