I owned a 4B and 7B's for nearly 10 years (upgraded to Rowland 2 years ago). I had great success with, in order:
Sonic Frontiers SFL-1
Melos SHA-Gold
Rogue 99 (non Magnum, later upgraded to Magnum)
But I think if I were in the market now, and I still had the 4B, I'd look at the Modwright 9.0. It's a great sounding preamp at a very reasonable price. You will want tubes in the preamp, and at that price level, choose a designer who is designing around reliable readily available tubes -- and not one who is running a nice but noisy tube too hot.
Good luck
Rich
Sonic Frontiers SFL-1
Melos SHA-Gold
Rogue 99 (non Magnum, later upgraded to Magnum)
But I think if I were in the market now, and I still had the 4B, I'd look at the Modwright 9.0. It's a great sounding preamp at a very reasonable price. You will want tubes in the preamp, and at that price level, choose a designer who is designing around reliable readily available tubes -- and not one who is running a nice but noisy tube too hot.
Good luck
Rich