Mapletree 4SE w/PS2 Users describe strong/weak pt

Strong points are sound stage, presentation,and price. The only weak point I have is the pre and power supply are very lightweight. I added some brass 10g scale weights on Herbies dots.I'm extremely happy with the pre and have no trouble recommending it to anyone.

If you need to add mass, have the pre made to accept monster brass footers, like the Edensound Bearpaw or the briefly produced "Fat Bastard" which I use. Otherwise get the commercial varieties around. The very Expensive Mapleshade products to the cheaper Chinese BBC brass cones and so on.
The only other pres that have that Octal sound which come to mind are the AE-3 from Cary which should come up at around your price point. The problem is they don't come around that often. The second thought is the lesser versions of the SLP-05 Cary. Their other 6SN7 pres like SLP 98s etc. They are prolly more than you want to spend.

I have an Ultra 4se and I love it, I think they are a great bargain for their cost especially if you can get a nice used unit. The factory umbillical (sp?) cable from the power supply is a little cheesy and can be upgraded, do a search on that and you will find the info. This is my first tube pre and Im thrilled with it.

My 2A/SE Linestage:

Strong: quality build with excellent personal support; point-to-point wiring; able to use inexpensive 12SN7s if desire; simple circuit; custom gain per input; L/R balance; quiet; wonderful sound.

Weak: so light weight that cables can raise it off the shelf; no remote.

My conclusion: quality sound and build far far far out weigh the weak points. After all, that is why I am in this audio rabbit hole - quality sound.

Weak: so light weight that cables can raise it off the shelf; no remote.

Actually the doctor can outfit it with remote now