Starting to make some enquiries :eyebrows:.
Starting to make some enquiries :eyebrows:.
Good stuff, Andy! So how were the 'posh' valves, compared with what was in it before? Both the RCA Red Bases and ECC35s should be stonking.... :)
Marco.
They sound great. Just playing around with some Mullards at the moment I've not even touched the RCA's. I'm looking into Valve regulation.
Getting upgradeitis again. Might have to get this booked in somewhere for some more work.
I decided to update my 6GV8 and 85A2 valves today in the Croft. I have no idea how old or knackered my current "billy no-name" valves are. So, we now have a General Electric and Tesla military grade jobbies on order. I have no idea what to expect but it makes sense to replace as just about everything else has been on this pre-amp :ner:.
I had a whole bunch of 85A2 voltage reg valves to evaluate from Glenn. All the usual suspects and they did actually make a difference to the sound. Think I have an RCA and a Siemens left but I had some really rare stuff including one with radioactive signs all over the box!:eek:
Oh dear, more upgrades (potentially). So I'm looking into getting the Croft modded with the following
Modded to accept 5691 valve's only
Dual mono power supply to each channel
Individual valve regulation.
Now looking at getting a few quotes.
I have noted references to upgrades to Croft pre-amps and realise there are numerous members who have undertaken varying degrees of this type of work.
And purely latching on to this particular thread to raise the question since it is the most recent on the forum.
From a very simplistic point of view (and I hold my hand up as knowing little about this subject) I presume everyone is initially eager to achieve the best 'bang for their bucks' and thereafter some of the work may be quite intricate/costly but still worthy of considering ?
Understandably we all have differing tastes and I expect what suits some will not appeal to others, but is there a generally accepted view that by carrying out 'such and such' - a certain result is achieved ?
Everything I read sounds very interesting and it would be good to know how those type of mods benefit your system(s).
I appreciate this is a big ask - but I suspect there isn't just me in the dark and hopefully others would equally benefit from knowing a few recommended mods. Thanks in anticipation.
There a lot of Croft amp users on this site Mark and I would say a good majority of us have had at least some modification done. Croft amps are hard wired (No PCBs) so they are easy to work on but obviously best to consult Glenn Croft himself as to what mods you want doing. I think we all start with a standard, off the shelf amp and then the quest begins! So much can be done with them it would be a long post to note them all and it would be good if the individuals who have had modifications did a write up of their own experiences. One of the simplest mods is too simply upgrade the standard valves to NOS which can gain you a considerable improvement in sound quality however all other mods usually require surgery.
The list of improvements can be endless but just to give you an idea of ares that can be improved:
Power supply - dual mono, separate box, increase in size
Line stage - change of valve type , more sophisticated arrangement to lower impaedance.
Socket and input/output connector upgrade
Capacitor upgrades
Valve regulation
Voltage regulation
All of these upgrades have a bearing on the sound to a greater or lesser degree.
In my case I had a 25R preamp upgraded to include a better line stage built around a better valve type and replaced all valves with NOS. This gave the amp a very noticeable upgrade in sound quality, more detail, bigger sound stage and more refinement. Later on I intend to improve the PSU, probably with a separate unit.
To get an Idea of other modifications and improvements Marco, Black Adder and Rexton have all had a fair bit of work done and it would be best if they detailed what this was, but I think most has been mentioned in posts by them over the last few years.