Power Amp match for Pre amped LD MKIII / LD MK IVSE - Recommendations anybody??

The pre-outs on all of the little-dot units are 600ohms, which is pretty standard, so compatibility should not be a big issue.

I’ve never used an MKIII or MKIV but I do have two Little-Dot tube amps from their prior series, the II+ and II++.  Both function excellently as pre-amps.  I use them (either one or the other) in conjunction with two large vintage Yamaha amps to power two pairs of vintage JBL speakers.  It’s difficult to pinpoint what I feel is “lacking” because in any situation where I found something lacking I’d just change my tubes around until I found a better match.

I’ve had this setup for a number of years now and it continues to blow me away every time I listen to it.  In addition to the warmth the tubes provide it also seems to make the sound livelier and more energetic in general.

The amps I use probably aren’t the sort of amps you are looking for, but even though both date back to the 70s they have pretty impressive figures.  240wpc into 8-ohms, 20hz-30khz, 0.005% THD.  Both amps in the picture have almost the same internals; the bottom amp is merely the pro version of the top amp.  You can find some pretty amazing deals on amps like these on eBay, especially the pro amps.

Pardon the dust :)

The units I have (II+ and II++) actually pre-date the MKII but they are fairly similar.

I looked up the Marantz 1072 and it does not look like it has pre-out & main-in jumpers.  Many vintage receivers/integrated amps like that will have those connections, which after you remove the jumpers would allow you to feed the pre-amp outputs of another unit directly into the amp section ("Main In") of the receiver/integrated amp.

Example:

The tape inputs (or any of the inputs) on the 1072 are expecting a fixed level input from a source, which is probably why it sounds bad as you increase the volume on the little-dot.  Unfortunately I don't know of any way for you to hook up your little-dot to that integrated amp.

One thing that is sort of nice is that many older vintage receivers that have stopped working likely only have issues somewhere in the pre-amp section.  The amp sections of these units aren't particularly complicated so they tend to be a bit more robust.  I've purchased a number of receivers for as little as $10 such as a Pioneer SX-1050 (125wpc into 8ohms) that had a completely non-functional pre-amp section but I just fed my preamp right into the main-in jacks and the amp section still worked perfectly :) 

I intend to purchase Little Dot MK4 SE (headphone/pre amplifier) to work with existing Bel Canto REF150S Class D switching power amplifier. I reckon matching between these two equipments involves impedance and signal level. While impedance matching can be achieved easily for most power amplifiers (600 ohm output vs 10k ohm input with RCA connection), there is serve mismatch in maximum signal level (10 Vrms output vs 1.1 Vrms input). In other words, volume control of the Little Dot MK4 SE preamp must be set below 1/10 of full scale to avoid maximum level at speaker outputs of the power amplifier. Many power amplifiers such as the Bel Canto REF150S do not come with any volume control and have a fixed gain of 27dB which make the matter worst. Fortunately gain of Little Dot MK4 SE can be set through switches for 3x,4x,5x and 10x.

I have sent email to David (little.tube@gmail.com) yesterday for the issue of mismatched maximum signal levels and still awaiting for his answer before making purchase.

Six months has passed since your first post, what kind of power amplifier (input specifications ?) you have settled with to work with the Little Dot pre-amplifier ?