I'm not sure if doubling the Mini-1s up will make ant difference either but for the sake of £100 it's gotta be worth a try . Stans Capella , on the other hand , used as a preamp brings some very useful gains in SQ for not much money IMO .
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I'm not sure if doubling the Mini-1s up will make ant difference either but for the sake of £100 it's gotta be worth a try . Stans Capella , on the other hand , used as a preamp brings some very useful gains in SQ for not much money IMO .
Yep, I preferred both Amptastic amps (-T and -1) with a pre in front - it rather increased the total value of the amplification, though. I think my Restek pre retailed at £4k! :lol:
I saw this little valve pre in the Wam classifieds and thought "Yum, I'll have that".
I've been thinking about getting a valve pre to complement my solid state Restek for quite a while, and Paul (Mr Whippy) writes a good line in sales patter. :eyebrows:
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/i...psdbfjcvha.jpg
A Bottlehead "Quickie" battery powered valve pre-amp, DIY kit built.
Inputs and outputs on the top panel, with the volume control a bit lost in the middle! .... very convenient :nono: !
And it's not exactly the tidiest setup I've ever seen. :scratch:
Ah, I see that I have failed to keep my blog up to date - I've been using for the past week or so a passive stepped attenuator pre from Hifi Hangar - their PSA02 - and very nicely transparent it is, too. That's it in the foreground.
Postie arrived when I was part way through listening to a piece of music so I unpacked the wee beastie, paused the music, inserted the Quickie (that does sound rude) and pressed play.
Whoops - it was like changing the MBLs into a horn design! - immediacy and dynamic contrast, the sound kind of exploded but in a good way!
I'm seriously impressed by this pre, it puts the startle factor back into the music.
On the downside, their is a slight loss in ultimate rez compared to the passive (and my active ss Restek pre), and very deep bass is just a tad lightweight. But hey, nothing is perfect and the Quickie seems to complement my Citation 12 power amp very nicely.
Hopefully a deal is in the offing to obtain a valve power amp, that will be interesting.
Looks like you need some nice lightweight (DNM?) leads!
Hadn't noticed your current Citation 12! A classic (just like my Hafler DH200....)
Was over your way on Tuesday too (Ross)-should have called!
Chris
Ah, shame Chris - you could have popped in. :)
According to my zoom one of the valves is barely in the socket...
Oooh.... You've grown a Beard!! :D
Marco.
That's not an amp it's a bloody radiator ;)
I'd love to fettle with a valve amp or 2... Maybe later in the year but that looks amazing!
Hmmm....
I know these sound great but do they make good toast?