An Indepth Review of a Highly Modified Nick Gorham Croft Epoch
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|The Nick Gorham modded Croft Epoch|
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Prices will vary depending upon what you want doing. Expect to budget bewteen £500-£1000
THE MODIFICATIONS
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Here's what's been done.
The Eichman phono sockets were replaced with WBT silver RCA outputs.
The RIAA has been corrected to within 0.2db accuracy.
The output now via L+R channels is within 0.2db
Internally its been rewired with silver.
The Seiden selector switch has been fitted.
The Khozmo attenuator has been fitted.
The tape circuit has been dismantled due to several components interfering with the signal path.
Yannis Tome 420+ litz cabling has been fitted to match my 420+ litz tonearm cable.
Additional internal silver + PTFE has been used to & from phono, Input selector volume and preamp.
The suggested SCR + Rike PIO caps were replaced with OIMP & Mundorf alternatives due to the latter not being made anymore.
The suggested Precision wirewound resistors were changed with Charcrofts / Audionote / Takman as needed.
We did not go down the route of individual regulators for each valve as what was already in was consider more than adequate for the job.
We did not do down the route of a separate transformer box with separate 500VA transformers for each channel. As the PSU was consider AOK.
Additional mods have been bandied around the forums but for now I'm sticking with the above.
Intro
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Nick tested my Sovtek valves and were deemed to be ok but he felt the amp could do with some NOS valves which have been duly ordered. All music was played using Sovtek valves in the preamp. This journey started quite some time ago when on a whim I purchased a little Croft Micro Basic and was completely blown away by what the little croft could do. At the time a Radford preamp had been doing preamp duties in my valve system but was displaced with the little Croft. Several forum members had very heavily modified Croft's and on this basis and from what I heard with the MicroBasic I decided I wanted to jump on the bandwagon. Several months of searching led to a Croft Epoch at a reasonable price which had undergone some modification by Glenn Croft. Surgery commenced after many more weeks were spent speaking to various owners of Croft Preamp's with regards the best upgrades and another several weeks spent talking to the various valve Guru's. The amp was duly dropped of at Nick's place and then (rather stupidly, cos I bought a new business) left over in Halifax for several months. Listening has taken place over several weeks as time and volume levels allow. A large selection of music has been utilised, bad recordings, good recordings, new stuff, old favourites to try and get an accurate feel for the new preamp. The Croft was used alongside my Reference Garrard 301, with SME3012 tonearm, Ortofon silver meister SPU, 4 Box Paradise phonostage, PS Audio P10 power regeneration and Pheonix Engineering PSU+Tachometer, and finally the Sondex S100 power amp. Yannis Tome cabling was used throughout. I used my Tannoy Monitor 15" Gold's in RFC Warwick cabs with RFC reference external cross overs. I've already got an extremely good idea of how my valve system sounds with many hundreds of hours over the years listening to all myriads of music, changes to the system should be easily heard.
General Notes
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Nick modified the preamp and like a Mike New technics mod, a Paul Hynes PSU or a Beresford DAC you can be more less (90%+) sure you going to see an improvement when you've parted with your hard earned and duly recieved your kit back. The initial parts list was slightly modified, Nick suggested some changes whilst others came out of necessity due to parts no longer being available or being produced.
Spending time with the newly modded Croft has been a revelation and shown just what the Croft can do when "breathed upon". Previous low volume listening was ok but nothing special. Now I have better seperation between the left and right speakers, the soundstage is both wide and deep, each instrument has it's own very well defined space. This improves further when the volume is increased. The Croft is now a very honest transcriber of what's on the vinyl it does not suffer poor recordings and promptly highlights this through the speakers. This preamp really starts to boogey when we get the volume raised. I'd never put my valve system down as a system that could do heavy progressive metal until now. Dream Theater never sounded so good on my valve system, the song The Dark Eternal Night on the Systematic Chaos album sounded heavy, brutal, and extremely purposeful. It still does not compare to the Solid State system that I own, but there again I never want it to. The 301 has never done a bass as well. The newly modded pre-amp has had additional benefits in my system.It's now easy to see the old pre-amp really was holding back the potential of the big tannoy speakers and the paradise phonostage. The paradise is truly a magnificent transcriber of vinyl reproduction. compared the paradise to my Sugden and Ortofon SUT setup over on my solid state system and talked about the paradise being behind them in several genre's of music, well that's now changed. Jazz on well recorded albums is siblime a good example being Miles Davis on the Ascenseur Pour l'echafaud (Jazz Track JWR 4503) whilst poor recordings such as the Cal Tjader Soul Burst (Verve) album make me wonder why I spent the money of the vinyl. Perhaps that's the biggest downside to the new upgrades to the croft pre-amp. My valve system was bought and designed around playing Jazz on cold evenings whilst drinking whisky and chatting to friends over the various forums. The valve system now does this and more and can now quite happily play any genre of music and still sound excellent. The pre-amp seems to have given Jazz emotion whilst prog now seems extremely structured rather than muddled. Baroque now seems to have an added dash of attack vocals seem to have a shade more detail
(the Croft was already excellent at reproducing single vocals over the Tannoys). It is now easy to see that the old Croft added colouration and made music sound lazy. Low level listening is now a joy, properly cleaned records are silent and even those which still pop and crackle have been improved markedly detail and clarity at low levels is exceptional and only improves proportionally as the volume is increased. My whole valve system has now gelled and I can honestly say with hand on heart that it's totally transformed since getting the newly modded Croft pre-amp.
THE MUSIC
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Lee Morgan - Search for the New Land - Blue Note 84169 2014 repress - Valve SOVTEK 6SL7
There is a well defined 3D soundstage with very placed instruments with a great deal of seperation and space bewteen the instruments in the soundstage.
The soundstage has plenty of width and depth. Every instrument can be very easily followed and it is quite easy just to concentrate on the one instrument to see what
it adds to a track and where it lives in the soundstage. Low volume listening has proven to be a winner with the preamp throwing lots of detail. I have no need to turn the volume up to ear splitting levels whilst trying to listen for microdetail which I may have missed on previous listening sessions.
Marillion - Script for a Jesters Tear - EMI 2013 repress - Valve SOVTEK 6SL7
The opening piano is solid and I'm hearing echo's on the synth's not heard before in the opening track Script for a Jester's Tear. This preamp has an ability to
control the soundstage and unravel the complexity of knotty prog compositions very easily. Instrument seperation is the best I've heard this Croft produce since owing it. I'd say that there appears be a little more heft behind the bass. The soundstage is very cohesive and 3D in nature.
Variations - Andrew LLoyd Webber
Julian LLoyd Webbers Cello sang to me in the middle of the soundstage, taught, muscular. Gary Moore's guitar was frenzied and accurate whilst keyboards seemed to have more attack, notes seemed better defined. The leading edge of note appear to have more harmonics which seemed to hang around in the soundstage for longer than I'm used to. My initial findings about this pre-amp are being confirmed in that it can really unravel the complexities of a recording and purvey them across in a cohesive soundstage where instruments have plenty of space no matter how fast and complex the music.
J.S. Bach - Toccata & Fugue in B Minor - Readers Digest - Valve SOVTEK 6SL7
Cavernous, deep, wide. Probably not the best recording for assessing baroque music but it certainly now sounds a lot better than previous outings on the Valve system I own. Bass in some instances did getting a little "bloomy" in area's but this is the first time that I have such an affect with the music that I have tried with the new pre-amp. This pre-amp did a great job of making the Tannoy speakers disappear and gave the impression of a very wide soundstage with the Organ pushed far back into the soundstage. You got the impression that you were sitting several rows back from the main event. The attack of the playing surprised me and I had to do a double take of the Eagle tachometer to make sure it was locked into 33.33 rpm (at was).
Tom Jones - Decca - Valve SOVTEK 6SL7
I listened to Thunderball. Tom was planted slap bang in the middle of the soundstage, stick work on the cymbals shimmered whilst strings played with a silky
touch to the back left of the soundstage. Tom sounded fabulous and I felt like I was sat twelve feet away on one of the tables pictured on the front cover of the album. There is something really special about these old DECCA recordings. I've never heard vinyl capture live performances as well and boy did my system sing with Tom in the middle of the soundstage. Little details like the echo of his microphone during talking in between songs to listening to the audience talking between themselves as they listen and laugh at his adlibbing, brilliant. Additional little things like hearing the slight croakiness in his voice during some of the songs. Brilliant!
I've listened to numerous other Genre's and albums and keep finding the same improvements from album to album.
Positives
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Surface noise has improved.
Instrument seperation has improved markedly with more space between instruments.
Soundstage has been pushed back further and is more "3D" in composition.
Channel seperation has been improved the soundstage appears more equal is distribution (hard to explain this one).
Low level listening is now full of detail
The Tannoy Warwick cabs do a vanishing act (These are bigger than Lockwood cabs) on many genre's of music.
Honestly portrays what's on the vinyl, bad recordings stick out like a sore thumb.
The 301 now does BASS!
The valve system now appears to have emotion.
Has removed a bottle neck in the system.
Negatives
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Too bloody addictive.
Maybe provides too much insight for some.
Sovtek valves perhaps not the best for review purposes and more to come with better quality 6SL7's?
Why didn't I do this sooner?
SS
CD Teac VRDS25X(Audiotuned) DECK 1210 Mat Crystal Audio Mods MN Base/Bearing/Platter+Ebony armboard Feet Isonoe PSU Paul Hynes SR7EHD-27XL/DCSXL Ag DC lead/3 Stage Regs/Recap PCB+No Pitch/Strobe/Light ARM SME V(Kondo Ag Rewire&Tags) MC Cadenza Black FGS CABLES Arm Yannis SPD-4 IC Yannis 222 Litz+Ag bullets Power WAR PRE ATC SCA2 SPEAKERS ATC 50ASL STANDS Atacama PHONO Sugden Masterclass PA4 SUT Ortofon ST80SE POWER PSAudio P10
VALVE
PRE Croft Epoch(Modded) AMP Sondex S100 (Modded) SPEAKERS Tannoy 15"MG+RFC Warwick cabs+ Ref XO + Batpure supertweeters DECK Garrard 301 Mat Teunto Bearings 401(Bastin) Plinth Bamboo Arms 3009/3012 PSU Eagle+Tachometer MC Ag Meister II/FGS + Ortofon SPU MONO CABLES Arm Yannis 420.5 Litz+ SpeakerPC Tripple C+WBT-0681 Ag IC Oyaide FTVS-510 AgWBT 0110Ag Phonostages Paradise(4 Box Mega-Modded) / Croft Musicmaker
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Originally Posted by Jimbo
. I'll start listening to the new valves tomorrow and then I have some NOS RCA red bases to go through.
