twotone
24-03-2014, 17:14
Hi Guys, I've decided to try a valve phono stage or integrated amp so I've decided to offer this superb phono stage for sale.
There's plenty of very good positive reviews and comments regarding these amps espeically here on AOS which has a couple of very good threads regarding these amps.
Getting one of these amps isn't easy as you have to first buy a donor CA 640P or CA 651P which are now going for over £60 on ebay and then you have to send the amp to Jez Arkless for him to mod the amp which means you go into a queue as he only works by himself and all of these amps were produced by Jez on a first come first served basis.
This usually means a wait of anything up to five or six months depending on how busy he is and the time of the year and so on.
I ordered this unit back in July last year as a 'standard' modded MM version without the optional MC/MM switch, the cost of this 'standard' version was £160 plus postage back and forth to Jez and also plus the cost of the donor amp which was another £30 or so.
I received the amp from Jez in early Oct 2013 and it blew me away completely and it certainly lived up to all of the positive reviews that Jez had received for the amp on the various Hi-Fi forums such as PFM, The Wam and on AOS.
However I noticed after about six weeks of using the amp that there appeared to be a problem with the stereo image which seemed to be all or mainly to the left channel plus I was getting a boosted loud output to the right speaker sometimes which only lasted about two or three seconds but I was a bit concerned about this so I sent the amp back to Jez who said that he couldn't find any problems with the amp but since the amp was with Jez I decided to have it upgraded to his Turbo version and I've had it since Feb this year and it certainly is a definite upgrade from the standard modded version of the amp, IMO.
I've since changed my integrated amp and have had no further problems with the stereo image or the boosted output so can only presume that my old amp was maybe the source of that problem as I've never had a repeat of those issues since the Turbo amp went back into my system. I am currently using the Turbo amp through the line stage of my Rega Brio-R integrated amp.
The Turbo version of the amp costs a further £190 plus postage back and forth to Jez. This amp is also the MM version however as noted above you can have a switch installed for £25 to enable the phono stage to be used with either MM or MC carts or for LOMC carts you can use either a headamp (Jez produces one of these too I believe) or a SUT or you can have the amp converted to a MC setup.
The switch or MC setup costs £25 but the amp has to be sent to Jez for this work to be carried out however Jez has kindly informed me that he will do this work for me for £13 plus postage so if the new owner decides to have this work done then I'm sure that Jez will do work for the same price. My name is on the inside of the amp so it will be easy for Jez to see that this amp was mine in the event that the new owner does decide to have the switch fitted.
The phono stage comes with a Maplins PSU (please see photos) and the internals of the amp are identical to another forum member's Turbo version of the amp, the only difference between the two amps is that the switch for MC/MM is fitted to the forum member's amp so if anyone wants those photos then I'll send them via e-mail but I don't want to post them on the forum as the member's name is on the amp.
I have just recently bought a new (to me) cartridge, a Reson Reca MM cart and the seller of the cart advised me to try the Reson with a valve phono stage which is why I'm now offering this phono stage for sale although I can see me regretting this sale having waited so long to get one of these amps.
Regarding price, I would like to recover most of my costs, I reckon that I've spent about £420 in total on the phono stage inc the Maplins PSU etc therefore I am prepared to accept £375 for the amp which includes postage to a UK postcode by RM next day signed for.
I'm quite happy to post this abroad at cost as I have the original CA box and packaging, I expect insured postage to mainland Europe will be about the £25 mark but please get in touch for a more accurate price.
I'm happy to accept payment by PPG, BT, personal cheque (the amp will be posted when funds clear) and of course cash on collection with the postage discount from me here in Glasgow.
Please PM me for more info or photos etc.
Thanks
Tony
Some reviews and threads
http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/s...41&postcount=1
http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/s...5&postcount=19
A rather long thread here but well worth reading if your not familiar with the mod and the amps.
http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/s...ss+Turbo+Phono
http://i1297.photobucket.com/albums/ag37/Tony_Cosgrove/Arklessfront_zps439d9c1d.jpg (http://s1297.photobucket.com/user/Tony_Cosgrove/media/Arklessfront_zps439d9c1d.jpg.html)
http://i1297.photobucket.com/albums/ag37/Tony_Cosgrove/arkturbo2_zpsb93062df.jpg (http://s1297.photobucket.com/user/Tony_Cosgrove/media/arkturbo2_zpsb93062df.jpg.html)
http://i1297.photobucket.com/albums/ag37/Tony_Cosgrove/ARKturbo3_zps7697857c.jpg (http://s1297.photobucket.com/user/Tony_Cosgrove/media/ARKturbo3_zps7697857c.jpg.html)
http://i1297.photobucket.com/albums/ag37/Tony_Cosgrove/ArkPSU_zps25ef0200.jpg (http://s1297.photobucket.com/user/Tony_Cosgrove/media/ArkPSU_zps25ef0200.jpg.html)
There's plenty of very good positive reviews and comments regarding these amps espeically here on AOS which has a couple of very good threads regarding these amps.
Getting one of these amps isn't easy as you have to first buy a donor CA 640P or CA 651P which are now going for over £60 on ebay and then you have to send the amp to Jez Arkless for him to mod the amp which means you go into a queue as he only works by himself and all of these amps were produced by Jez on a first come first served basis.
This usually means a wait of anything up to five or six months depending on how busy he is and the time of the year and so on.
I ordered this unit back in July last year as a 'standard' modded MM version without the optional MC/MM switch, the cost of this 'standard' version was £160 plus postage back and forth to Jez and also plus the cost of the donor amp which was another £30 or so.
I received the amp from Jez in early Oct 2013 and it blew me away completely and it certainly lived up to all of the positive reviews that Jez had received for the amp on the various Hi-Fi forums such as PFM, The Wam and on AOS.
However I noticed after about six weeks of using the amp that there appeared to be a problem with the stereo image which seemed to be all or mainly to the left channel plus I was getting a boosted loud output to the right speaker sometimes which only lasted about two or three seconds but I was a bit concerned about this so I sent the amp back to Jez who said that he couldn't find any problems with the amp but since the amp was with Jez I decided to have it upgraded to his Turbo version and I've had it since Feb this year and it certainly is a definite upgrade from the standard modded version of the amp, IMO.
I've since changed my integrated amp and have had no further problems with the stereo image or the boosted output so can only presume that my old amp was maybe the source of that problem as I've never had a repeat of those issues since the Turbo amp went back into my system. I am currently using the Turbo amp through the line stage of my Rega Brio-R integrated amp.
The Turbo version of the amp costs a further £190 plus postage back and forth to Jez. This amp is also the MM version however as noted above you can have a switch installed for £25 to enable the phono stage to be used with either MM or MC carts or for LOMC carts you can use either a headamp (Jez produces one of these too I believe) or a SUT or you can have the amp converted to a MC setup.
The switch or MC setup costs £25 but the amp has to be sent to Jez for this work to be carried out however Jez has kindly informed me that he will do this work for me for £13 plus postage so if the new owner decides to have this work done then I'm sure that Jez will do work for the same price. My name is on the inside of the amp so it will be easy for Jez to see that this amp was mine in the event that the new owner does decide to have the switch fitted.
The phono stage comes with a Maplins PSU (please see photos) and the internals of the amp are identical to another forum member's Turbo version of the amp, the only difference between the two amps is that the switch for MC/MM is fitted to the forum member's amp so if anyone wants those photos then I'll send them via e-mail but I don't want to post them on the forum as the member's name is on the amp.
I have just recently bought a new (to me) cartridge, a Reson Reca MM cart and the seller of the cart advised me to try the Reson with a valve phono stage which is why I'm now offering this phono stage for sale although I can see me regretting this sale having waited so long to get one of these amps.
Regarding price, I would like to recover most of my costs, I reckon that I've spent about £420 in total on the phono stage inc the Maplins PSU etc therefore I am prepared to accept £375 for the amp which includes postage to a UK postcode by RM next day signed for.
I'm quite happy to post this abroad at cost as I have the original CA box and packaging, I expect insured postage to mainland Europe will be about the £25 mark but please get in touch for a more accurate price.
I'm happy to accept payment by PPG, BT, personal cheque (the amp will be posted when funds clear) and of course cash on collection with the postage discount from me here in Glasgow.
Please PM me for more info or photos etc.
Thanks
Tony
Some reviews and threads
http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/s...41&postcount=1
http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/s...5&postcount=19
A rather long thread here but well worth reading if your not familiar with the mod and the amps.
http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/s...ss+Turbo+Phono
http://i1297.photobucket.com/albums/ag37/Tony_Cosgrove/Arklessfront_zps439d9c1d.jpg (http://s1297.photobucket.com/user/Tony_Cosgrove/media/Arklessfront_zps439d9c1d.jpg.html)
http://i1297.photobucket.com/albums/ag37/Tony_Cosgrove/arkturbo2_zpsb93062df.jpg (http://s1297.photobucket.com/user/Tony_Cosgrove/media/arkturbo2_zpsb93062df.jpg.html)
http://i1297.photobucket.com/albums/ag37/Tony_Cosgrove/ARKturbo3_zps7697857c.jpg (http://s1297.photobucket.com/user/Tony_Cosgrove/media/ARKturbo3_zps7697857c.jpg.html)
http://i1297.photobucket.com/albums/ag37/Tony_Cosgrove/ArkPSU_zps25ef0200.jpg (http://s1297.photobucket.com/user/Tony_Cosgrove/media/ArkPSU_zps25ef0200.jpg.html)