Colin151
17-10-2016, 20:01
Up for sale is a rare opportunity to buy a unique one of a kind, SJS Arcadia transformer coupled line level preamp with maxed out spec. A real thing of beauty.
This preamp has a different design to the standard SJS Arcadia preamps and uses transformer coupled output instead of cap coupled output. I personally prefer it and was going to hang onto it for a good while before selling but I reluctantly need to get rid of all my hifi as I’m going to be moving abroad next year. I already sold a SJS Arcadia Model 1.5 preamp a while back but kept this preamp as I prefer it's sound. The transformer output makes the music flow a little better and the overall sound is more natural. It still has the great transparency and other great qualities of the cap coupled models. Absolutely none of the bloat or over rosiness that many valve preamps are guilty of.
This preamp originally made back in the late 1990s (like all the other cap coupled Arcadias were) but this particular pre was a one off as Simon Shilton told me that although it had better performance he decided not to go ahead with producing more of them due to the extra cost of the transformers, which would have made the retail price significantly higher. In Simon's more recent more expensive preamp designs he went back to transformer coupling to get the extra magic it brings.
This preamp was bought in December 2014 from SJS. It had been serviced and upgraded to top specification and at that time, including pure silver wiring, tantalum resistors and other top spec capacitors etc. The circuit design is different to the cap coupled models but the quality of the parts is the same kind of maxed out level as the Arcadia Model 2. The tubes used are 5842/417a tubes. The power arrangement I believe is the same high quality valve rectified/choke input filtering type as the cap coupled models.
Although it does not have the copper case of the Model 2 it does have the famous Panasonic “for audio” volume pot (same pot used in the Model 2) which is discontinued and is highly sought after. This sells for £300 alone on the used market. (The SJS Arcadia model 1 and 1.5 use the Alps Black beauty pot instead)
The output impedance of this preamp is lower than the standard SJS preamps (about 500 ohms compared to 2K I believe) so it will drive lower impedance amps (such as many solid state amps) without a problem. So no impedance matching issues.
The gain is a little higher than the cap coupled Arcadias at 18 dB (compared to 10 dB).
The condition is pretty nice. There are some small marks on the casing here and there but it’s not noticeable unless you look close.
There is more circuitry underneath compared to what is shown on the internal pics (like the Tantalum resistors and other parts) but I don’t want to take it apart completely...
When you consider how much other quality tube preamps with transformer coupling cost (such as the Audionote M3 or the Kondos) this can be considered a bargain and a unique opportunity. Whoever buys this preamp will not regret it.
Asking price is £1900 for this beauty.
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/Colin15150/IMG_6531.jpg
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/Colin15150/IMG_6521.jpg
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/Colin15150/IMG_6556.jpg
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/Colin15150/IMG_6546.jpg
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/Colin15150/IMG_6548.jpg
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/Colin15150/IMG_6550.jpg
This preamp has a different design to the standard SJS Arcadia preamps and uses transformer coupled output instead of cap coupled output. I personally prefer it and was going to hang onto it for a good while before selling but I reluctantly need to get rid of all my hifi as I’m going to be moving abroad next year. I already sold a SJS Arcadia Model 1.5 preamp a while back but kept this preamp as I prefer it's sound. The transformer output makes the music flow a little better and the overall sound is more natural. It still has the great transparency and other great qualities of the cap coupled models. Absolutely none of the bloat or over rosiness that many valve preamps are guilty of.
This preamp originally made back in the late 1990s (like all the other cap coupled Arcadias were) but this particular pre was a one off as Simon Shilton told me that although it had better performance he decided not to go ahead with producing more of them due to the extra cost of the transformers, which would have made the retail price significantly higher. In Simon's more recent more expensive preamp designs he went back to transformer coupling to get the extra magic it brings.
This preamp was bought in December 2014 from SJS. It had been serviced and upgraded to top specification and at that time, including pure silver wiring, tantalum resistors and other top spec capacitors etc. The circuit design is different to the cap coupled models but the quality of the parts is the same kind of maxed out level as the Arcadia Model 2. The tubes used are 5842/417a tubes. The power arrangement I believe is the same high quality valve rectified/choke input filtering type as the cap coupled models.
Although it does not have the copper case of the Model 2 it does have the famous Panasonic “for audio” volume pot (same pot used in the Model 2) which is discontinued and is highly sought after. This sells for £300 alone on the used market. (The SJS Arcadia model 1 and 1.5 use the Alps Black beauty pot instead)
The output impedance of this preamp is lower than the standard SJS preamps (about 500 ohms compared to 2K I believe) so it will drive lower impedance amps (such as many solid state amps) without a problem. So no impedance matching issues.
The gain is a little higher than the cap coupled Arcadias at 18 dB (compared to 10 dB).
The condition is pretty nice. There are some small marks on the casing here and there but it’s not noticeable unless you look close.
There is more circuitry underneath compared to what is shown on the internal pics (like the Tantalum resistors and other parts) but I don’t want to take it apart completely...
When you consider how much other quality tube preamps with transformer coupling cost (such as the Audionote M3 or the Kondos) this can be considered a bargain and a unique opportunity. Whoever buys this preamp will not regret it.
Asking price is £1900 for this beauty.
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/Colin15150/IMG_6531.jpg
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/Colin15150/IMG_6521.jpg
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/Colin15150/IMG_6556.jpg
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/Colin15150/IMG_6546.jpg
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/Colin15150/IMG_6548.jpg
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/Colin15150/IMG_6550.jpg