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Thread: Fire bottle MM pre arrives at Tarzan Towers

  1. #1
    Join Date: Sep 2009

    Location: Essex, UK

    Posts: 3,445
    I'm Andy.

    Default Fire bottle MM pre arrives at Tarzan Towers

    Well, you have to try something for nothing don't you? After all it would be rude not to, firstly l would like to say that Alan (Firebottle) has been a perfect gent through this little adventure, anyway you want to know how it sounds right?

    First impressions of the courier box was one of a good impression, nicely packed! The unit is very well made and plugging it in and setting up was straight forward enough.

    Cartridges used;

    Stanton 500 ( original)

    Stanton V500 (l believe)

    Denon DL103 (ORTOFON T5 Step-ups used here)


    The unit sounds good straight out of the box and does get slightly more refined ( more on this word later) as the unit warms up, the casing gets warm.
    There is plenty of gain on offer here, with just a little tube noise if you put your ear on the speaker cloth, but all of my T-amps are very quiet so this was expected.

    Right, cutting to the chase the unit is very refined, open, musical with awesome bass performance and very dynamic which is refined(that word again) an enjoyable all day listen if you ask me,all the above points are important to me,so l really enjoyed my time with the Firebottle pre, the only phono stage l had to compare it with was my trusty CA 640P ( Hi Jerry) the Firebottle was an improvement over this in all areas. Special mention again to the bass performance and how the unit unravelled instruments in the sound stage, all in all a good little pre!


    For;Dynamic, full, musical, refined and and good bass performance.

    Plenty of gain.


    Well built.


    Against; Nothing really- possibly may be too refined for some.



    Oops nearly forgot mucked about with power cords and these changed the sound a fair bit, both the MG2.5DPS and Nordost Shiva ( hi David)) sounded good.


    Whilst typing this have been listening to Pink Floyd's Echoes and Hergest Ridge two of my favourite albums really enjoying them so it is all good!
    System; Michell Gyrodec SE/ Orbe Clamp/ Gert Pedersen armboard mod/ HR PSU/ SME V / J7 Tonearm cable/Ortofon Cadenza Black// Jez Arkless Turbo nutter B------ /Trichord Dino+

    Amplification and loudspeaker set up is at the moment being split into two groups, comprising the following;


    1. Same sources as above; SONY TAF-770ES/SONY CDP761E/Cable Talk 3.1 loudspeakercable/ Harbeth Compact7ES2/ Stands

    2. Virtue Audio Sensation M451battery PSU, ClarityCaps upgrade/ Sensation M901/Russian PIO caps with Teflon bypass caps upgrade/ JT Dynamic PSU with various tweaks/ Connex Audio 5N Litz loudspeaker cable, Impulse H6 Loudspeakers.




















    Me so horny- Impulse H6 Horny

  2. #2
    Join Date: May 2008

    Location: Lancaster(-ish), UK

    Posts: 16,937
    I'm ChrisB.

    Default

    Thread moved to 'Stroke of Genius' as that's where reviews belong.

  3. #3
    Join Date: Sep 2009

    Location: Essex, UK

    Posts: 3,445
    I'm Andy.

    Default

    Oops ta
    System; Michell Gyrodec SE/ Orbe Clamp/ Gert Pedersen armboard mod/ HR PSU/ SME V / J7 Tonearm cable/Ortofon Cadenza Black// Jez Arkless Turbo nutter B------ /Trichord Dino+

    Amplification and loudspeaker set up is at the moment being split into two groups, comprising the following;


    1. Same sources as above; SONY TAF-770ES/SONY CDP761E/Cable Talk 3.1 loudspeakercable/ Harbeth Compact7ES2/ Stands

    2. Virtue Audio Sensation M451battery PSU, ClarityCaps upgrade/ Sensation M901/Russian PIO caps with Teflon bypass caps upgrade/ JT Dynamic PSU with various tweaks/ Connex Audio 5N Litz loudspeaker cable, Impulse H6 Loudspeakers.




















    Me so horny- Impulse H6 Horny

  4. #4
    Join Date: Oct 2012

    Location: The Black Country

    Posts: 6,089
    I'm Alan.

    Default

    That's fantastic Andy, I'm well chuffed you liked it, and gave such a good review.
    It is the first attempt at designing a valve phono preamp, so I must be doing something right

    I had read that pentodes weren't the thing to use in a phono stage but as I had a couple in the spares box that's what I used

    I have asked Francois to PM his address so you can pass it on to him.

    Cheers (just downing a Jenlain beer - wonderful)
    Alan
    I love Hendrix for so many reasons. He was so much more than just a blues guitarist - he played damn well any kind of guitar he wanted. In fact I'm not sure if he even played the guitar - he played music. - Stevie Ray Vaughan

  5. #5
    Join Date: Sep 2009

    Location: Essex, UK

    Posts: 3,445
    I'm Andy.

    Default

    My pleasure Alan, going to have a little listening session thisevening before it goes to Francois, thanks again
    System; Michell Gyrodec SE/ Orbe Clamp/ Gert Pedersen armboard mod/ HR PSU/ SME V / J7 Tonearm cable/Ortofon Cadenza Black// Jez Arkless Turbo nutter B------ /Trichord Dino+

    Amplification and loudspeaker set up is at the moment being split into two groups, comprising the following;


    1. Same sources as above; SONY TAF-770ES/SONY CDP761E/Cable Talk 3.1 loudspeakercable/ Harbeth Compact7ES2/ Stands

    2. Virtue Audio Sensation M451battery PSU, ClarityCaps upgrade/ Sensation M901/Russian PIO caps with Teflon bypass caps upgrade/ JT Dynamic PSU with various tweaks/ Connex Audio 5N Litz loudspeaker cable, Impulse H6 Loudspeakers.




















    Me so horny- Impulse H6 Horny

  6. #6
    Join Date: Aug 2010

    Location: Bergerac, France

    Posts: 567
    I'm Francois.

    Default

    Andy should have my details now,

    So I am really excited to try the Firebottle Phonostage in my system.

    I will keep everyone posted on the first impressions!

    Cheers

    F
    Francois, Bergerac, France
    Source component/s:
    Musical Fidelity M1 Dac, Allo Digi One, Sony SCD-XE800, AVID Ingenium Twin arm, Audio Note Arm One, Groovemaster II 12in, Audio Note IQ3 MM, Denon DL103R MC, Croft Basic 25, TQ Iridium Phonostage, Puresound T10 Stepup Transformer, Zavfino majestic tonearm cable
    Amplification:
    Audio Note OTO PP, Dussun V6i
    Loudspeakers:
    Triangle Comete ES, Klispch RP600M
    Cables/stands:
    Quadraspire, Belden 9497

  7. #7
    Join Date: Apr 2009

    Location: Sheffield

    Posts: 2,026
    I'm Confused.

    Default Price?

    Have you arrived at a price or did I miss something?
    Dave.
    DaveK.

    My System:
    Power: Belkin PF40, Custom.hifi.cables Hydra and DC PSUs.
    Sources: Self built HTPC with Xonar ST sound card, NAD T585 multi disc player, Sony BDP-S350, Squeezebox Touch, Techncs SL1210 (mod'd) + Nagaoka MP30, Thomson Sky HD box.
    Amps etc.: 2 x Mini-T amps, MF-X10D Valve buffer clone, StanDAC 7520/Caiman (mod'd).
    Speakers: Mission 774s with added super tweeters
    Cables: best I can afford and likely to change except Homar's RF attenuated co-ax's and Mark Grant USB and HDMI cables. I also like silver i/cs and speaker cable.

  8. #8
    Join Date: Oct 2012

    Location: The Black Country

    Posts: 6,089
    I'm Alan.

    Default

    No need to be confused Dave, I haven't mentioned a price on the open forum.

    I'm probably mad for doing this 'cause it takes a lot of hours to build, and if it was a commercial outfit you'd be looking at a retail price of up to a grand for this performance.
    Introductory price is £230 + p&p.

    Alan
    I love Hendrix for so many reasons. He was so much more than just a blues guitarist - he played damn well any kind of guitar he wanted. In fact I'm not sure if he even played the guitar - he played music. - Stevie Ray Vaughan

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