Croft Epoch pre-amp. Some nice upgrades.

[Infinitely Baffled]

I am looking to sell my Croft Epoch pre-amp. This unit dates, I would guess, from the early nineties but it is in immaculate condition save for a small blemish on the gold fascia panel just to the left of the right-hand volume control, which I have tried to show in the photo. Croft amps are of course well known and popular on this forum for their excellent sonic performance, and the Epoch is fully in the tradition; I think it was the model above the Croft "Micro" at the time. The built-in phono stage in particular is exceptionally good and equals - or betters - several expensive stand alone stages. The performance of this particular amp has been further enhanced by the removal of the two original Croft-installed volume pots and their substitution by two mono DACT stepped attenuators. This gives a very major improvement in sound. Also, the signal path wiring for CD and tuner has been replaced with pure silver solid core leads. The phono signal path is unmodified. The phono stage includes two Sovtek ECC83 valves at the moment. A further significant upgrade can be had by replacing these with Mullard NOS CV4004 military spec items. I have two of these to hand - well-used but still measure well and perform perfectly - and they can be included in the sale (at extra cost) if the buyer wishes.

Here are some pictures of the amp:

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g266/garib22/DSC01041_zpsv3hbddjr.jpg (http://s58.photobucket.com/user/garib22/media/DSC01041_zpsv3hbddjr.jpg.html)
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g266/garib22/DSC01042_zpsojfpu68j.jpg (http://s58.photobucket.com/user/garib22/media/DSC01042_zpsojfpu68j.jpg.html)
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g266/garib22/DSC01043_zpsgccnq39t.jpg (http://s58.photobucket.com/user/garib22/media/DSC01043_zpsgccnq39t.jpg.html)
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g266/garib22/DSC01044_zpsfhnmzucx.jpg (http://s58.photobucket.com/user/garib22/media/DSC01044_zpsfhnmzucx.jpg.html)
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g266/garib22/DSC01045_zpseuqnom5t.jpg (http://s58.photobucket.com/user/garib22/media/DSC01045_zpseuqnom5t.jpg.html)

I am asking £450 with the Sovtek valves installed or £500 with the Mullards as well. Postage on top of that.
IB

[donmarrese]

Epoch with those mods for 500...I'm foaming at the mouth! That's cheap!
I would buy, but already have one;-)


Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[Infinitely Baffled]

Epoch with those mods for 500...I'm foaming at the mouth! That's cheap!
I would buy, but already have one;-)


Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

Buy a second, Don. You could start a trend in pre-amp bi-amping!
IB.

[Alfonzo]

A great pre that can be made superb by getting Glenn to mod further and add the off board power supply and a few internal tweaks. Mine is going nowhere!

GLWTS

[martian sunrise]

How does this compare to the modern series?

[Infinitely Baffled]

How does this compare to the modern series?

I have never had the opportunity to compare them, I'm afraid.
Anyone?
Cheers. IB.

[eksiil]

I've gathered two things from my own exchanges with Mr Croft: (1) properly upgraded, earlier preamps can beat the stock 25R (but it seems not the 25RS); (2) direct comparisons are, however, greatly complicated by the differing topologies.

[Lawrence001]

How does this compare to the modern series?

This range was Vitale-Epoch-Epoch Elite. This does not correlate exactly to Basic-25-25R as the Epoch has valve regulated power supply which the 25 doesn't have. So maybe somewhere between the 25 and 25R?

But note the last point about different topologies.

[eksiil]

more subjectively: I had a Micro 25 (running various NOS valves) which was replaced by a Mega Micro II (a generation older than the Vitale-Epoch-Epoch Elite range), substantially updated by Mr Croft, with a 12-valve separate PSU. I think I may have lost some analytics (looking back, the 25 presented music like Morse code), but gained vastly in detail, overall coherence, musicality and realism (the latter especially in the midrange). put another way, the 25, even with NOS Mullards, never got my foot tapping. the MMII does, with abandon.

[Infinitely Baffled]

Bump.

[Marco]

I have never had the opportunity to compare them, I'm afraid.
Anyone?


IME (and with Croft gear it's extensive), what you're selling would comfortably outperform most of the modern stuff. The dual-mono DACT steppers alone would almost guarantee that! ;)

Seriously folks, this is a superb preamp at a bargain price. Sonically, think £1.5k, minimum. Therefore, for £450 my advice would be to get your wallets out, tout-suite, before someone smarter than you beats you to it!!

:exactly:

Marco.

[alcarmichael]

So in your opinion Croft has taken a backwards step with the likes of the 25 and 25R he currently offers?

[The Black Adder]

+1 Marco.

These are very special indeed.

Hi Alex, I've lived with the current models of pre and this baby with a few upgrades will most certainly out perform them.

Good luck with the sale, great price and someone will be very happy indeed :)

[mikeyb]

I'm tempted to buy it just to see what the fuss is about and try and marry it with a power amp ( that I don't yet own lol )

[Marco]

So in your opinion Croft has taken a backwards step with the likes of the 25 and 25R he currently offers?

No, the new stuff simply extracts a different 'flavour' from an existing tasty cake... ;)

Marco.

[Marco]

I'm tempted to buy it just to see what the fuss is about and try and marry it with a power amp ( that I don't yet own lol )

Lol - I applaud your lateral thinking! :D

Seriously though, once you hear how music gets under your skin, with a preamp like that, there's no going back.... It's a no-brainer buy for anyone who wants a 'final' preamp, or the basis of one for gentle modding, to turn into such.

Marco.

[Jimbo]

No, the new stuff simply extracts a different 'flavour' from an existing tasty cake... ;)

Marco.

Nicely put Marco, and of course that flavour can be changed easily with a great selection of NOS valves and upgrades.

[Infinitely Baffled]

Thanks to Marco, Josie and Jimbo for the encouragement. Cheques in the post all-round!
Cheers.
IB.

[alcarmichael]

+1 Marco.

These are very special indeed.

Hi Alex, I've lived with the current models of pre and this baby with a few upgrades will most certainly out perform them.

Good luck with the sale, great price and someone will be very happy indeed :)

Can you please expand on the mods required with approximate cost?
I currently have a 25R/RS but I am intrigued by this.

[Infinitely Baffled]

Sold, paid for and soon to be on its merry way!
Thanks to all contributors.
IB

[Alfonzo]

About time - was abargain and a bit