The CAE 3+SE is arguably one of the best pre-amps out there. It’s been in production for years and the user list is HUGE. A couple of my friends owned systems that were build around it and the tones were amazing. It has 3 great channels, from clean to lead. Each channel has a drive and volume control and a 3-band EQ. Then there’s a switchable tube-powered EQ that you can add to any of the channels. I am using it as a lead boost to get a bit more volume, it makes the life of the sound engineer easier. Each channel also has an independent circuit so it can be tweaked. As a result, you have 3 killer channels. The clean is Fender-based, the gain channels are more Marshally although they definitely have their own thing going. Although there are plenty of mods available, mine is unmodded and I have no desire of having it modded. At one point, somebody installed a bunch of Orange Drop caps, might have been Peter Van Weelden but I’m not sure.
My power amp is made in Italy by Advance Tube Tech. It runs EL34s and is just a great 2x50w power amp. I compared it with some other power amps and for me this is the one. It sounds big and tight and is a great combination with the CAE 3+SE. I’m running it with SED EL34s. The build is spot on and after plenty of years of use, I haven’t had the slightest issue with it. It has a solid low end and with a powerful presence control can be dialed in perfectly.
