What pre amp to use in my system?

Why are you targeting the pre as a means of solving fatigue? Maybe is the speaker/amp combo...FWIW I had a 1080 with the older B&W CM4 and they worked fine. Upgraded to the 804S and got fatigue. Replaced the 1080 with McIntosh MC275 (tubes) and it is magical. BTW, I still have my Rotel RC1070 pre, which is the next to go in the upgrade list.

The amp/speaker combo is arguable the most critical link in the chain (without wanting to start here the old argument about whether source or speaker/amp is more important!). If you are comfortable with what you have there, then looking for a pre is fine. Otherwise you might be better off saving for a while longer.

My 2 cents.

OK, fair enough.

Have you tried Rotel RC1070? It was $400 new back 5-6 years ago, and I still have it. It's a good match with the RB1080.

If it were me I would probably try and save more and buy a used unit from A'gon. Maybe a Rowland Capri? Sorry can't help much in that price range. McIntosh, Classe, Rowland, Mark Levinson, Conrad Johnson are generally regarded as good matches with B&W. Willing to have tubes?

BTW, if you decide to buy older stuff make sure to have it recaped.

Horacio

Gte,

I can't answer how the RC1070 sounds as it's the first pre I've had and don't recall very well how others sounded back 5 years ago when I was hunting. I guess the RC1070 + RB1080 + B&W CM4 combo sounded better than other options back then. But remember that with the 804S I thought the sound was a bit too harsh, maybe due to the higher resolution of the 804 vs CM4.
Can you try it? Many Rotel dealers also carry B&W.

About home built units: be careful. Do you know people who have any of those units? Any reason why you should trust the person making the offer? Assuming it's a good faith offer, does he know enough to make you a good pre? Keep in mind resale value will likely be close to nothing.

FWIW, I meant RC1070 + RB1080 + 804S sounded harsh. With the CM4 the 1070+1080 sounded good to me.