montesquieu
17-12-2016, 21:16
For sale - my Modwright LS 36.5 linestage.
First purchased back in April from Jack at BD Audio, but it developed a never-before-seen failure which Dan at Modwright wanted to examine, so it went back to the US and a brand new, freshly manufactured one arrived at the end of May in its place.
I'm selling because I have the oportunity to pick up an EAR 912 'Professional Tube Control Center' (£11k retail) at rather more sensible (but still eye watering) money - being an out an out vinyl nut, the 912 is a bit of a dream item for me, being arguably the very best, no compromise, full-featured phono preamp + combined linestage out there. It has all the functionality I'll ever need for vinyl (two inputs, multi-adjustable in terms of impedance and gain for just about any MC cartridge out there, meters for managing this) as well as a very good line stage and crucially for me, a tape monitor loop where I can insert my box of tricks for handling 78s and early Mono recordings with non-standard equalisation which sadly the Modwright doesn't have.
The Modwright does have some cool features like switchable absolute phasing, mono and mute buttons, and an AV bypass setting, as well as fully balanced inputs and outputs, and transformer output to keep the gain sensible and the output impedance very low.
I did my research before I bought the Modwright, listening to quite a few high-end pre's including an Audio Research Ref 5SE (also £11k retail), the Shindo Aurigies and Monbrisson. I found the Modwright (£5k retail) way ahead of both Shindos, and in my view it the Ref 5 very close indeed, to the point where the balance of cash isn't worth spending. I would characterise it as transparent, open, clear, 3D and spacious, great with instrumental and vocal timbre, quiet (exceptionally quitet, even) - although it's a tube preamp (tube rectifier and a pair of twin triodes) it has many of the best characteristics both of tubes and of solid state. This concurs with the reviews online. If I didn't need the functionality, it wouldn't be going anywhere.
I added a Valvo-branded Mullard (identifiable from the glass code) GZ34 rectifier which adds just a hint of warmth, the original Sovtek is there if you want and there are lots of alternative rectifier options if you want a play, as well as fancy cryo'd military versions of the 6H30 twin triodes.
I am looking for £2k for this, which given the fact it's barely seven months old and includes the Mullard rectifier seems very fair, a very early one seven years old was the only recent one listed and that went for £1800. The current model (ie mine) has a fabulous thick, solid block of alloy remote that can double as a cosh to whack burglars with (far better than the old remote), and new/better control buttons on the facia. I would rather it be collected from Bracknell area or meet up within a sensible radius bounded say by the M25/M4/M3/A34 'triangle'. However I do have the original double box and all the packing in which it arrived from the US, so its also available for courier collection.
I am away quite bit from mid next week so logistics may be tricky till after Christmas. I'm sure most people are thinking Christmas anyway rather than hifi.
Sorry for the crap pics, though they are better than the ones I tried to take last night - being carved from solid alloy then annodised black, it's a bugger to get a picture of..
http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x440/montesquieu61/MW1_zpsjrt5r9sc.jpg
http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x440/montesquieu61/MW3_zpsjceg0tdt.jpg
http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x440/montesquieu61/mw2_zpsepdcve3e.jpg
First purchased back in April from Jack at BD Audio, but it developed a never-before-seen failure which Dan at Modwright wanted to examine, so it went back to the US and a brand new, freshly manufactured one arrived at the end of May in its place.
I'm selling because I have the oportunity to pick up an EAR 912 'Professional Tube Control Center' (£11k retail) at rather more sensible (but still eye watering) money - being an out an out vinyl nut, the 912 is a bit of a dream item for me, being arguably the very best, no compromise, full-featured phono preamp + combined linestage out there. It has all the functionality I'll ever need for vinyl (two inputs, multi-adjustable in terms of impedance and gain for just about any MC cartridge out there, meters for managing this) as well as a very good line stage and crucially for me, a tape monitor loop where I can insert my box of tricks for handling 78s and early Mono recordings with non-standard equalisation which sadly the Modwright doesn't have.
The Modwright does have some cool features like switchable absolute phasing, mono and mute buttons, and an AV bypass setting, as well as fully balanced inputs and outputs, and transformer output to keep the gain sensible and the output impedance very low.
I did my research before I bought the Modwright, listening to quite a few high-end pre's including an Audio Research Ref 5SE (also £11k retail), the Shindo Aurigies and Monbrisson. I found the Modwright (£5k retail) way ahead of both Shindos, and in my view it the Ref 5 very close indeed, to the point where the balance of cash isn't worth spending. I would characterise it as transparent, open, clear, 3D and spacious, great with instrumental and vocal timbre, quiet (exceptionally quitet, even) - although it's a tube preamp (tube rectifier and a pair of twin triodes) it has many of the best characteristics both of tubes and of solid state. This concurs with the reviews online. If I didn't need the functionality, it wouldn't be going anywhere.
I added a Valvo-branded Mullard (identifiable from the glass code) GZ34 rectifier which adds just a hint of warmth, the original Sovtek is there if you want and there are lots of alternative rectifier options if you want a play, as well as fancy cryo'd military versions of the 6H30 twin triodes.
I am looking for £2k for this, which given the fact it's barely seven months old and includes the Mullard rectifier seems very fair, a very early one seven years old was the only recent one listed and that went for £1800. The current model (ie mine) has a fabulous thick, solid block of alloy remote that can double as a cosh to whack burglars with (far better than the old remote), and new/better control buttons on the facia. I would rather it be collected from Bracknell area or meet up within a sensible radius bounded say by the M25/M4/M3/A34 'triangle'. However I do have the original double box and all the packing in which it arrived from the US, so its also available for courier collection.
I am away quite bit from mid next week so logistics may be tricky till after Christmas. I'm sure most people are thinking Christmas anyway rather than hifi.
Sorry for the crap pics, though they are better than the ones I tried to take last night - being carved from solid alloy then annodised black, it's a bugger to get a picture of..
http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x440/montesquieu61/MW1_zpsjrt5r9sc.jpg
http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x440/montesquieu61/MW3_zpsjceg0tdt.jpg
http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x440/montesquieu61/mw2_zpsepdcve3e.jpg