FOR SALE: Firebottle Plus Phono Stage

[Elephantears]

Excellent MM/MC Phono Stage, well known and justifiably popular on this forum. £300 plus postage or pick up in London SE23.

I said some time ago that I think Alan has achieved just the right balance between the classic valve values of tonal naturalism and refined spaciousness, along with good dynamics. It's altogether well rounded and clearly the product of a good listener (and notably, I think, a designer who uses Quad ESLs - this seems to me to share some of the same values as classic electrostatic speakers).

I believe the MM stage has 44dB gain and the MC stage has 61dB, but it might be slightly more. Alan would be able to confirm. It's set at 100 Ohms for MC and 47KOhm for MM.

I had plans to use this in a second vinyl system but that is not going to happen, so I'm also going to be selling my 401 and Audionote Arm One. It would have been a lovely system but there just isn't really the space for a deck in the family room. Unfortunately I can't use the FB Plus in the main system because I use a Grado low output MI cart, which is 0.5mV output but require 47KOhms loading.

http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb412/andreweastham/IMG_8885.jpg (http://s1204.photobucket.com/user/andreweastham/media/IMG_8885.jpg.html)


http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb412/andreweastham/IMG_8886.jpg (http://s1204.photobucket.com/user/andreweastham/media/IMG_8886.jpg.html)

[Elephantears]

I thought I had a buyer for his, but they seem to have disappeared, so still available.

[Elephantears]

bump

[Elephantears]

Now SOLD, with some regret. A magical phono stage and I'm sad to see it go.

[petrat]

I use a Grado low output MI cart, which is 0.5mV output but require 47KOhms

Hi Andrew .... interesting choice .. what is your vinyl set-up?

[Elephantears]

It's a Fletcher Omega Point 5 with a 12" Ace Space Arm, then the Grado Statement Reference going into a Trilogy 907. The Grado is not well know in the UK, but I've found it hard to beat, at leat at this price point, though I do yearn for their top model, The Statement. The only disadvantage is that they are unshielded, so it takes some effort to get the earthing right, make sure your cables aren't close to the mains and all that palaver. But it's rewarding. It's got a very good combination of body, dynamics, and staging and always sounds very natural. I guess the interesting comparison would be with an SPU.

Just to qualify what I said about the reason for selling the FBPlus in the ad; the Grado is supposed to take 47KOm, and when I've tried it loaded down before it's sounded rolled off. So I never even tried it with the FB, which I know to be 100OHm. Anyway, this morning I plugged in the FB just to check the PSU was working before I packed it up. The shock was that the Grado didn't sound at all mushy or rolled off. It sounded great. 'What have I done?' I thought!. I'm still scratching my head; it really shouldn't work with the Grado loaded down like that. Anyway it affirmed that the FB has this rare magic; even if it doesn't have the same level of resolution and the stunning clarity of my Trilogy, it does have a special something. It's fantastic with jazz especially.

[petrat]

Thanks Andrew.

Very nice TT set-up .. I've always loved every Tom F turntable I've ever heard. In fact, the turntable in my second system was unashamedly 'inspired' by the Fletcher Omega ... https://www.divineaudio.co.uk/analogue-works-turntable-zero-plus

Interesting about the cartridge, as I have heard lots of good things about the better Grado cartridges on US forums. I am sure the Statement Ref would be a great match with my Brinkmann arm and the mm input on my preamp, so maybe I'll have to investigate further. I used to have a Cartridgeman Music Maker, which is based on the Grado Gold, and although it was really very good, I found it a real pig to set up properly ... have you had any such problems, other than the induced hum?

[Elephantears]

So Peter, you have the Analogue Works TT; very interesting. It's good that they have taken the DNA from Tom's decks. Also the Pear Audio decks, which I think were devised with advise from Tom; they look very nice and are getting good reviews in the US. For me the Omega Point 5 is a deck for life; I love it.

Regarding the Statement Ref; it wouldn't be good into the MM input, because it is 0.5mV output. The Statement series are very odd beasts in that they have low output but the loading of MM carts. I briefly had the Reference Reference, which is 5mV output. It was good, but not as good as I'd hoped, although I hadn't fully run it in before a catastrophic accident (beware the Grado stylus guards; that's all I'm going to say). For some reason, the low output Grado's have the edge in refinement and clarity.

As for your question about set-up; they are pretty unfussy. The fussiest cart I've had was an AT50ANV; I found it very tricky to get it setup so that it would track the high frequencies correctly, although when I did have the setup right it was exceptional. The Grado is much easier. It's not that sensitive to tracking force and in general it tracks superbly.

They seem to be changing the range now so that the Statement are 1mv output. To me that seems awkward; too high for MC stage gain and too low for MM.

[petrat]

Thanks, Andrew ... very interesting!