AD Audio Satchmo Mk3 & LCR Phono Pre Amplifier

[WESTLOWER]

New...ish arrival
AD Audio Satchmo Mk3 & LCR Phono Pre Amplifier

I was already the user of David Coe’s AD Audio Satchmo Pre / Phono amp , which I used in conjuction with an original Radford STA 25 power amp. The combination was very good indeed and delivered a level of performance I could never have afforded off the shelf. The orignal Satchmo was hand built using point to point wiring with silver wire in the signal path, Kiwame carbon film resistors, LeClanche or Mundorf coupling capacitors, and JJ802s valves. It was very good.

As with most progressive thinking craftsman, David Coe never seems to stand still. After some time enjoying the trouble free satchmo pre came the breaking news from AD Audio that David had developed a new Satchmo that had him shouting from the rooftops about. I was happy with what I had in the system and the news of the new Satchmo Mk3 kind of fell on deaf ears, but the offer of a home demo by David himself was a no brainer, so the lovely Mrs Westlower knocked up some grub and left us sad men fiddling in the living room. We switched over to the New Satchmo Mk3 and it was instant.... using the line stage, streaming a digital feed, the music was just free. Great grip on the low end. detailed textured mid bass a yummy, juicy midband and a free open transparency to the top. It was a mouth open moment. Damn!, I was hooked.. We finished the evening and David wrestled the Satchmo Mk3 out of my rack and returned to Wimbledon. I was on the phone the next morning bugging him when he could fit me in and how long would it take...

In the interim after extensive talks with Tom (Montesquieu), Petrat and various others, it would appear this time was a clear opportunity to think about possibly taking the Phono stage to another place.

I’d been very happy with the on board phono stage in the Orignal Satchmo which utilised ECC82 & ECC83 but on real reflection,
after many visits to Tom’s place listening to his EAR 912, I had secretly lusted for a little more air and extension, maybe the original Stachmo pre’s Phono stage was slightly on the tubey cuddly side.

We thought about other ideas, one being the LCR phono approach which had been utilised in the excellent Vida LCR unit (£3,500) and the rather inexpensive Valab (around £600 landed), but both didn’t utilise valves anywhere in their circuits....
and I do like Valves in the phono stage.

David suggested incorporating the new Stachmo Mk3 with the MM phono stage using Silk LCR transformers AND the valves I wanted. Ok lets do it... It was a blind buy as I had not had the opportunity to hear such a Phono stage but given the quality demo Satchmo Mk3 promised I had total faith in David’s vision.

So fast forward a few months and my new Satchmo Mk3 incorporating the MM Silk LCR phono stage was here in the rack at Westlower Towers...

I use the Satchmo Mk3 LCR phono in conjunction with my external standalone Hashimoto HM7 SUT.

So buying semi blind....did it work??
Well I was utterly chuffed, it was evident from the first sides of vinyl played that the presentation had been lifted.
There was more oomph, greater speed across the transients, deeper tighter bass and real air to the top end.
The decay of notes seem to extend further. My main worry was would I lose out to the excellent midrange the previous Valve phono delivered? Well, Not a bit of it, this midband was unctious, yummy and detailed. The biggest thing I noticed was the LCR phono stage seemed to get deeper inside the notes. It opened up more texture everywhere. It was as near silent as can be, with only the faintest sound of valve at high levels without music, so nothing abnormal there for any Valve based stage.

Using the line stage in the Satchmo Mk3, the digital feed from Roon and Tidal was so dynamic, musical and classy.
No glare, no grain, just smooth but with the right scale and attack. Actually the line stage is so satisfying it could make my digital listening habits infringe on my beloved Vinyl listening time!

Anyway to conclude, the New Satchmo Mk3 LCR Phono really hits the spot. The build quality, the casework, the functionally and the musical delivery is just top notch and far exceeds my expectations and hopes.

I do have the unique privilege of hearing one of the best (ever changing) systems in the world, at will, locally, With Amps of the very highest calibre costing more than my Car / House combined. So I do have a reference point, certainly not to attain to but at least a slight nod to..

I couldn’t afford this level of performance off the shelf but the route of bespoke build from a talented engineer & true craftsman
is one I’m very greatful to have utilised. The AD Audio Satchmo Mk3 is indeed end game for this happy Jazzer.

Satchmo Mk3 Spec:
• hand made, point to point wired
• Valve complement 2 x 6SL7s, 2 x 5751s
• LCR phono stage (optional)
• RIAA eq to -+ 0.5db 20hz - 20khz
• Twin choke custom power supply
• Khozmo attenuator (in yours)
• 4 inputs, 3 line, phono


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