Just word on a combo I've been working with for about 6 months now and absolutely love. I stumbled upon these by default and actually got a steal on both the Cascade v55 vacuum tube mic (list $699) and Trident S20 dual solid state mic preamp. (list $1999 - got mine from Guitarget for $805) I ended up buying a second v55 and use the pair for everything from acoustic guitar to vox to drum overheads. With my Royer R121 ribbon for electric guitars, strings and such (mostly dynamics on the rest of the drums) I hardly ever reach for my Neumann, AKG 414 or various RODE and Sennheiser mics.

My other pres are avalons but considering I bought two v55 Tube mics and a the S20 Dual pre for a total of about $1700 I haven't found a more cost effective, high quality or versitle set up. GC still carries the Trident and I don't understand the bad press. Very warm, clean and transparent. The Cascades are made in China, fairly unknown. Solid state pres are fine if you're already using a tube mic and with the money I saved I bought a TC Reverb 4000 ($2200) another stellar piece.