Which preamp for Symphonic Line Kraft amps?

Jonathan_s,
Thanks for the prompt reply.
I will certainly keep you in mind if I make it to Houston. My Dad's school friend lives there & teaches Pharmacology at Univ of Houston. And, I have another friend in Katie.

Indeed, you cannot go wrong with either a CAT or S-L preamp. If you get the CAT, as you well know, the tubes come from Ken S after they get thoroughly screened. They are current production & cost a modest amount. Ken does not believe in NOS tubes, as you know.
In the Erleuchtung you could use NOS tubes but I supposed well screeened current production tubes from a reputed dealer will be easier on the pocket-book.
The RG3 is supposedly very good sounding & I'm told should end your quest for a preamp.
The sonics of tubed vs. s.s. is a perennial & endless debate!! Hard to say what you would lose - everyone listens differently.

Jonathan,

The Kraft amp has a 10K input impedance and a high sensitivity. In my experience (very limited), you need a preamp with a very low output impedance, moderate gain (12 db or so), and dead silent. I have a Kraft amp and RG3 MK4 preamp. I did own a ARC REF3 for a while but found it lacking in bass, dynamics and it had a low level hiss that was distracting at night. In the end I gave up and resigned myself to trying the SL preamps. I have tested both the tube SL preamp and now the RG3 MK4. Both do the job. I have also heard of many state side Kraft owners having excellent results with CAT preamps. I decided not to pursue this because the CAT can have too much gain and then you hit the noise problem.

Good luck in your search.

Jay

Jay;

Thanks for the input - I have a tubed crossover that I'm using between the preamp and amp. I just looked at the specs and the output impedences are 600 ohms on the high pass and 180 ohms on the low pass. Hopefully that leaves me safe (over 15X on the high pass)... The new CAT Renaissance has switchable gain (I believe, I want to say between 15 and 26) and a 100 ohm output impedence.

Cheers...

Jonathan,

600 Ohms may be too high. 100 Ohms is more like it. Remember the SL tube preamp has 100 Ohm ouptut impedance and the SL RG4 RG3 preamp has a 1 Ohm (not a typo) output impedance. If you had the opportunity to try the CAT, that would be ideal. Make sure the stepped attenuator does not provide too much gain and not enough resolution on the low end of the scale. Very few tubed preamps have low output impedance. In your case, it may not matter because the preamp drives the crossover. The crossover is responsible for driving the amp and that should be tested before purchase.

Jay;

Thanks again for the observations - you're right that since the crossover is what's driving the amps that's what counts. I also have the stock solid state crossovers that come with the speakers and they have an output impedence of 50 ohms. I have to say that I much prefer the tube crossover - its input impedence is 60k, and the stock Dali crossover is 20k).