three

A bit off-topic, though it has to be said: that's a spectacularly lovely looking rig - and back on-topic, the Enki is a lovely complement

A very good choice in my opinion, these really are lovely amps - excellent implementation and an easy-to-use form factor. I haven't used the Sadowsky pre, other than in a Sadowsky bass, but can imagine that the two units work very well together. What a lovely, dinky but very capable rig.

I’d concur with the OP. Very transparent but highly capable and solid - the best of the class D amps I’ve tried. I’ve paired with a Monique and Warwick Hellborg pre with no problems at all in terms of power and headroom.

I've had this with some Trace amps too - especially older models (which were otherwise brilliant!). Thanks @Dan Dare for the explanation - that makes a lot of sense. I have an Agi DB750 that's entirely quiet as it has diagnostic and protection circuits/relays that are activated at switch on (start up is delayed by around 20 seconds). I also have powered monitors (ATC) that are perfectly silent at power-up but present a pronounced bump at power-down. The manual alludes to this and indicates that it's entirely normal and non-problematic. A bit of a surprise as most of the amps I've used either have almost no (or a relatively small) thump at power down

I got a bit tired of selling basses on here at what I considered very reasonable prices (in-line with some assumed/imagined community ethos) only to see them re-appear in shops in very short order and at very inflated prices. There's a particularly egregious example on sale in London at present. That isn't to say that there aren't some wonderful, generous and community-minded members on here, and I still sell on BC occasionally. However, I tend to simply sell basses on consignment these days. Easy and less depressing

Thanks very much Kev - I'm a big fan of EXL strings and there are some absolute bargains listed here!

I tend to use light (or very light) rounds and find Fender 5250XLs (40-95) to be good value - they're usually around £20 a set but I've found some at real bargain prices. I don't have them on my Sire U5 at the moment but suspect they'd work well. I have shorties with a separate tailpiece and bridge (and 2+2 headstock) and generally find 30-90s work well. I ordered specifically for these basses from Newtone, and with precise measurements - the results have been very pleasing