Marco your answer RE: Croft and Eminent Audio

Hi Marco,

My name is Matt O'Donoghue I was one of the main web designers for EA from 2003 till 2006. I have known Glenn and Amar personally for over ten years and have worked with both on the marketing side since 2002.

Yes it is true that Glenn Croft and Amar Bizwas parted company since around June 2006. Glenn no longer manufactures Croft amplifiers for Eminent Audio and is forming his own new company. Amar attempted to continue manufacture on his own employing the service of a third party engineer but we have heard of no real production ocurring as a result.

I do know that up until a few weeks ago most of EA's distributors were unaware of the true nature of the split and of Glenn's current status with regard to EA. I can tell you that Glenn is currently in legal dispute with Amar over co-ownership of EA and fair distribution of EA's assets for which Amar now holds full control.

If any members are offered EA products for sale by Amar they should bear in mind that ownership of those products is subject to legal dispute in the High Court.

As for me, my loyalties are for Glenn who I am assisting to set up his new company "Croft Accoustics", Glenn is well and looking forward to a new and positive future free of the influence of Mr Biswas. His new website is at http://www.croftacoustics.co.uk where he can be contacted directly for all servicing and repairs of valve amplification (including Croft obviously). A new small range of products to be annouced in due course as soon as Glenn can get back into production.

I hope that this helps to clarify matters.

Regards, Matt.

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Originally Posted by matodono1

Hi Marco,

My name is Matt O'Donoghue I was one of the main web designers for EA from 2003 till 2006. I have known Glenn and Amar personally for over ten years and have worked with both on the marketing side since 2002.

Yes it is true that Glenn Croft and Amar Bizwas parted company since around June 2006. Glenn no longer manufactures Croft amplifiers for Eminent Audio and is forming his own new company. Amar attempted to continue manufacture on his own employing the service of a third party engineer but we have heard of no real production ocurring as a result.

I do know that up until a few weeks ago most of EA's distributors were unaware of the true nature of the split and of Glenn's current status with regard to EA. I can tell you that Glenn is currently in legal dispute with Amar over co-ownership of EA and fair distribution of EA's assets for which Amar now holds full control.

If any members are offered EA products for sale by Amar they should bear in mind that ownership of those products is subject to legal dispute in the High Court.

As for me, my loyalties are for Glenn who I am assisting to set up his new company "Croft Accoustics", Glenn is well and looking forward to a new and positive future free of the influence of Mr Biswas. His new website is at http://www.croftacoustics.co.uk where he can be contacted directly for all servicing and repairs of valve amplification (including Croft obviously). A new small range of products to be annouced in due course as soon as Glenn can get back into production.

I hope that this helps to clarify matters.

Regards, Matt.

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Yeah!! go for it Glenn - strike a blow of freedom for the techie. Now if a certain Hamish had had the personal balls to do this, instead of taking an easier way out, then the UK hi-Fi industry might even now look a completely different place.

Waddya think Guy :lolsign:

Hi Matt,

Welcome to the forum :)

And thank you very much for the information about Croft. This is very interesting as I had no idea that the two had parted company since 2006! I was under the impression that this had only happened recently. It would certainly explain though why Amar wasn't returning my calls...

I must admit he always did come across as a bit 'dodgy', although he was always unfailingly pleasant.

I will contact Glenn directly through the website details you posted, as there are a number of things I would like to ask him. I certainly hope that his new venture goes well. He makes fabulous products!

Marco.

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Originally Posted by Richard

Yeah!! go for it Glenn - strike a blow of freedom for the techie. Now if a certain Hamish had had the personal balls to do this, instead of taking an easier way out, then the UK hi-Fi industry might even now look a completely different place.

Waddya think Guy :lolsign:

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Hi Richard,

Thanks, I am sure that Glenn will appreciate that note of support. The whole situation is very unfortunate, especially when the trust and genuine good nature of an individual such as Glenn Croft is abused in such a manner.

None of this quite matches the tragedy which befell Hamish Robertson but needless to say there are certain individuals within the British hifi industry who will have to look at themselves in the mirror and find some pretty funky excuses with which to justify their conduct.

I for one am glad that I don't have to live with that particular brand of lie on my conscience.

Regards, Matt.

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Originally Posted by Marco

Hi Matt,

Welcome to the forum :)

And thank you very much for the information about Croft. This is very interesting as I had no idea that the two had parted company since 2006! I was under the impression that this had only happened recently. It would certainly explain though why Amar wasn't returning my calls...

I must admit he always did come across as a bit 'dodgy', although he was always unfailingly pleasant.

I will contact Glenn directly through the website details you posted, as there are a number of things I would like to ask him. I certainly hope that his new venture goes well. He makes fabulous products!

Marco.

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Hi Marco,

I am glad to be the one who represents Glenn's side of the matter. And yes contact him directly, I am sure he will welcome your support. Thanks for your reply and welcome to this Forum.

Best, Matt.

No problem, Matt. Nice to have you here :)

Glenn is one of the old school highly respected British audio designers I admire greatly. I own a Charisma X preamp, which is superb and has one of the best all-valve phono stages I have ever heard.

Tell us about your own system, and if you have any pictures pop them in the Gallery.

Marco.

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Originally Posted by Marco

No problem, Matt. Nice to have you here :)

Glenn is one of the old school highly respected British audio designers I admire greatly. I own a Charisma X preamp, which is superb and has one of the best all-valve phono stages I have ever heard.

Tell us about your own system, and if you have any pictures pop them in the Gallery.

Marco.

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Hi Marco,

My system is obviously Croft!

Namely a Croft Epoch SE pre, Croft Twinstar II SE power, Bluenote Kaola CD (valve output) Spendor SP1 speakers rewired with tweaked crossovers, I also sometimes setup with my Quad ELS 63's. I am also a friend of Arthur K (pink, Funk etc) so I run one of his Funk tt's with a Bluenote U3 unipivot and Grado Silver cart.

Cables are Townhend Isolda speaker cable with a mixture of Chord Sig, Siltech STA G3 and Funks own "Wraith" interconnects. I use power chords of my own design. my site is http://www.mats-enterprise.co.uk for details of my various audio projects and system pictures.

The site is grossly out of date, being a web designer I never actually work on my own site but it will give you an idea about what I get up to.

Regards, Matt.

Hi Matt,

Nice system!

I heard the Bluenote CDP at Amar's (is he still at Trinity cottage?) and was very impressed - queer looking thing, though! ;)

How dose the Twinstar sound? I've always wondered about that one. At the time when I bought the Charisma X I was into the hybrid combination of a valve preamp and solid-state power amps (ECS EA-1 monos) as I was (wrongly) under the impression that valve amplifiers sounded a bit 'warm and soft'.

Since then however I've embarked on a bit of a valve power amp journey and currently am experimenting with some Chinese stuff, a Tube Distinctions Copper amp (amazing) and a pair of EAR 509 monos, which are stunning. I wondered how the Charisma would sound with the Twinstar on the end... Maybe you fancy a trip to North Wales? (I'm about an hour and a half away) :lolsign:

SP1s? Love 'em. I have a pair of SP100s and wouldn't change them for the world. It's very hard to get their addictive balance of virtues in most of the speakers made today.

I'm also a friend of Arthur's - great guy, although I probably haven't known him for as long as you. He's up to his eyes at the minute with his new (top-of-the-range) tonearm, and certain 'challenges' he's facing, as you'll no doubt be aware! He's also a member here but simply hasn't had the time to post. He takes on far too much himself, but then if you know Arthur, I'm sure that won't come as too much of a surprise!

Incidentally, have you heard the Croft floor-standing speakers? If so, what do you think? I thought they sounded superb but looked a bit 'home-made'. Were these designed by Glenn or someone else?

Marco.

Hi Marco,

Thanks. The Twinstar may be to your taste but it sort of depends what you want from your hifi. Last week a long term BC1 owner came up from London because he wanted me to check his speakers out for faults. He was used to the slightly coloured sound that BC1's produce and also associated electronics which produce a softer sound which allows you to listen lazily for hours without fatigue. He didn't appreciate my setup. He would have been happy to sacrifice detail for a softer presentation.

My system is tuned to be hyper detailed and slightly forward in presentation. I don't subscribe to the idea that a system has to be able to play endlessly without getting in your face. In fact my system will not play all of my music. If there are faults in production or brightness/sibilance in the recording my system will reproduce it and so some tunes become unplayable. My philosophy is that an F1 car only really works optimally on one corner of a circuit so why do audiphiles expect to produce performance systems without making any compromises. I associate the term "musical" with "compromised".

The Croft speakers you asked about were nothing to do with Glenn. They were Croft by badge only. In fact they were imported American affairs for which Amar paid a fraction of the Retail asking price. I never liked any of the range. They had nice treble and mid but the loaded bass always left me empty.

Your Sp100's are a different matter, with a wide baffle and large bass unit the sound will be far more believable. I actually ran BC3's for a while but in the end had to give up as they fail to produce the coherence of the SP1 or even BC1. The SP100's are better but as they use the same bass cone as the older BC3 they suffer some of the same problems. Terry Miles at Spendor has recently revamped all of the speakers in the classic range and is especially pleased with the improved performance of the current version of the SP100. You may want to check them out.

Arthur K?

Yes well enough said. He will get the new arms past prototype stage and they promise to be spectacular. I will forward him a link to this thread and I am sure he can speak for himself.

I don't get up to North Wales very often but if you are ever passing by the Midlands you are welcome to pass by. Contact me direct via my site.

Best regards, Matt.

Hi Matt,

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The Twinstar may be to your taste but it sort of depends what you want from your hifi. Last week a long term BC1 owner came up from London because he wanted me to check his speakers out for faults. He was used to the slightly coloured sound that BC1's produce and also associated electronics which produce a softer sound which allows you to listen lazily for hours without fatigue. He didn't appreciate my setup. He would have been happy to sacrifice detail for a softer presentation.

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Well, from that description I think that I would like the Twinstar. The sound you describe above is the complete antithesis of what I look for in hi-fi, and how my system sounds. Also SP100s sound nothing like BC1s. I hate soft-sounding hi-fi!

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My system is tuned to be hyper detailed and slightly forward in presentation. I don't subscribe to the idea that a system has to be able to play endlessly without getting in your face. In fact my system will not play all of my music. If there are faults in production or brightness/sibilance in the recording my system will reproduce it and so some tunes become unplayable. My philosophy is that an F1 car only really works optimally on one corner of a circuit so why do audiphiles expect to produce performance systems without making any compromises. I associate the term "musical" with "compromised".

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I think the term "musical" in relation to a hi-fi system is very subjective - one man's "musical" is other man's "monotonous", or something else, and I wouldn't necessarily equate "musical" with "compromised". It's possible that our systems sound similar, but whilst mine easily shows up faults in production, it doesn't completely trash poor recordings - there's a balance to be had. I know how Croft and Spendors sound, though, so in certain ways I would expect our systems to have a similar sonic signature.

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The Croft speakers you asked about were nothing to do with Glenn. They were Croft by badge only. In fact they were imported American affairs for which Amar paid a fraction of the Retail asking price. I never liked any of the range. They had nice treble and mid but the loaded bass always left me empty.

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Yeah, I only got a brief listen to them - once at Amar's and once at Acton Gate Audio in Wrexham, where Amar had supplied a pair, and they sounded pretty good, but it's always hard to tell how good something actually is in an alien system.

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Your Sp100's are a different matter, with a wide baffle and large bass unit the sound will be far more believable. I actually ran BC3's for a while but in the end had to give up as they fail to produce the coherence of the SP1 or even BC1. The SP100's are better but as they use the same bass cone as the older BC3 they suffer some of the same problems. Terry Miles at Spendor has recently revamped all of the speakers in the classic range and is especially pleased with the improved performance of the current version of the SP100. You may want to check them out.

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I intend to have the 'R' modification (the revamping you speak of) carried out to my SP100s, and have spoken to Terry about this. However, I have other priorities at the moment (namely valve power amplifiers) that I want to attend to first. The SP100s have no problem in the bass if they're partnered and set-up properly.

I know exactly what you're referring to, but the use of custom-made Mana speaker stands and Transparent cables completely cures this. The bass I hear with the SP100s is deep, tight, rhythmic, and conveyed with serious authority. There is no overhang whatsoever, while the mid and top end is open, detailed and articulate. I suspect that the 'R' modification will improve things even further.

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Arthur K?

Yes well enough said. He will get the new arms past prototype stage and they promise to be spectacular. I will forward him a link to this thread and I am sure he can speak for himself.

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If you can get him to contribute then that will be a major achievement. Good luck! I would love to read Arthur's comments and thoughts on a multitude of things.

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I don't get up to North Wales very often but if you are ever passing by the Midlands you are welcome to pass by. Contact me direct via my site.

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No problem. I'll definitely give you a shout next time I'm in the Birmingham area. I'm down that way fairly often :)

Regards,
Marco.

Hi Marco,

I have passed on your kind sentiments to Arthur. I cannot say whether or not he will post--as you are aware he is mega busy. I have updated the site over the past couple of days if you want to know the latest about either the Saffire or the A.N.T.I. arm (certainly will give your modded 1210 a kick out of bed). For those who don't know the site is http://www.thefunkfirm.co.uk .

I will be working on Glenn's site over the course of this week also, adding past reviews and suchlike. Again for those who missed the earlier post the address is http://www.croftacoustics.co.uk .

You mentioned earlier that you liked the occasional Chinese amp. Personally I don't rate the chinese stuff and I know that Glenn hates it. However I have heard what Icon Audio do with their MB90 monoblocs. After buying them in they test and tweak with uprated caps,valves, resistors etc and at slightly less than two grand for a pair they might be an option for you. The sound is not earth shattering but considering the price you do get value. The site is http://www.iconaudio.com .

Otherwise I would wait for the new Croft Acoustics range to become available. Currently Glenn is dealing with the logistics of sourcing casework, facias, knobs and all the internals he will need to get started. It could still take a while.

Nice talking to you Marco.

Speak soon,

Matt.

Hi Matt,

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I have passed on your kind sentiments to Arthur. I cannot say whether or not he will post--as you are aware he is mega busy. I have updated the site over the past couple of days if you want to know the latest about either the Saffire or the A.N.T.I. arm (certainly will give your modded 1210 a kick out of bed)

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Thanks for passing on my regards to Arthur. I know he's mega busy, though, so I won't hold my breath with regard to him posting!

Yes, I think Arthur's Sapphire arm on my modified 1210 would be an interesting one ;)

It's something I've thought about, although it might be a touch 'overkill' considering what the modified 1210 cost, and my current system ethos of assembling 'giant-killers' that perform far in excess of their price tags.

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I will be working on Glenn's site over the course of this week also, adding past reviews and suchlike.

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I will put a permanent link to Glenn's site in our 'Creative Collections' section, as per our other selected websites from manufacturers we recommend.

Do you think Glenn would be interested in becoming a member? His contributions would be most welcomed, and I'm sure he would feel at home along with our other resident 'techies' such as Anthony Matthews from Tube Distinctions, Richard Dunn of NVA, and Guy Sergeant from Puresound, amongst others :)

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You mentioned earlier that you liked the occasional Chinese amp. Personally I don't rate the chinese stuff and I know that Glenn hates it.

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I should have qualified that by saying 'in modified form'. I've recently bought a Yaqin MC-100B direct from China and in standard form its ok but nothing special. However, after removing all the cheap Chinese valves and replacing them with those from Svetlana and Mullard the performance is astonishing (in conjunction with my Charisma X) considering it only cost me £300!!

I intend to have it fully modified with point-to-point wiring, improved caps and PSUs, etc, and see just how good I can get it to sound without spending too much money. At the moment, simply with a change of valves, it sounds as good as any currently available valve power amplifier I've heard up to £3000 - yes, that good! The way to look at the Chinese amps is that you get a good quality chassis for bugger all (which are very expensive to buy in the UK) and then you can simply put whatever 'bits' in that you want.

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However I have heard what Icon Audio do with their MB90 monoblocs. After buying them in they test and tweak with uprated caps,valves, resistors etc and at slightly less than two grand for a pair they might be an option for you. The sound is not earth shattering but considering the price you do get value. The site is http://www.iconaudio.com .

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I've read about the Icon Audio stuff, and it gets quite a good reputation, but I've never heard it. I don't think I would go there, though, as I doubt they would make a better preamp than the Charisma and I'm quite happy modifying the Yaqin on the power amp side.

Incidentally, as an aside, the Charisma really benefits from having the Yugoslavian and Russian valves inside (Ei ECC83 and Russian 6H9C) upgraded with NOS Mullard ECC83 and ECC35 respectively. The Mullards are not cheap, but, boy, what a difference they make! It transforms the Charisma X (mine has silver caps inside, incidentally) from an excellent preamp into a mind-bogglingly wonderful one, especially the in-built phono stage!

One quick one I would run past you is do you think there’s any mileage in having an external PSU made for my Charisma X? I always feel that mains transformers should be in another box separated from ‘delicate’ preamp circuitry (magnetic fields and all that). Maybe it’s a throwback from my Naim days! And also is there any sonic advantage in having separate volume controls for left and right channels as with some of the Croft designs? I would imagine there is because Glenn isn’t usually one for including anything that's superfluous to performance. If either of this is worth doing I would ask him to carry it out on my Charisma.

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Otherwise I would wait for the new Croft Acoustics range to become available. Currently Glenn is dealing with the logistics of sourcing casework, facias, knobs and all the internals he will need to get started. It could still take a while.

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Sounds interesting. I don't mind waiting because in the meantime I have enough to keep me occupied with the Yaqin. But I would certainly be very interested in one of Glenn's designs in the near future.

I think a trip to Birmingham is due in the next couple of months! I would like to bring my Charisma down, along with the modified Yaqin, to see what you think.

Marco.

I live near Birmingham (20 miles North) so next time Marco comes here we could pop down. I'm looking at a modded Puresound A30 valve amp. Guy Sergeant supplies it, Anthony Matthews modifies it and I love it. That's the plan anyway!

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Originally Posted by Steve Toy

I live near Birmingham (20 miles North) so next time Marco comes here we could pop down. I'm looking at a modded Puresound A30 valve amp. Guy Sergeant supplies it, Anthony Matthews modifies it and I love it. That's the plan anyway!

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Hi Steve,

Why wait? I work from home and am around most weekdays. Pop by if you want to hear something a bit different. Bring some kit and a few Albums.

I am contactable via my site http://mats-enterprise.co.uk/web .

Regards, Matt.

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Originally Posted by Marco

Hi Matt,

I will put a permanent link to Glenn's site in our 'Creative Collections' section, as per our other selected websites from manufacturers we recommend.

Do you think Glenn would be interested in becoming a member? His contributions would be most welcomed, and I'm sure he would feel at home along with our other resident 'techies' such as Anthony Matthews from Tube Distinctions, Richard Dunn of NVA, and Guy Sergeant from Puresound, amongst others :)

Incidentally, as an aside, the Charisma really benefits from having the Yugoslavian and Russian valves inside (Ei ECC83 and Russian 6H9C) upgraded with NOS Mullard ECC83 and ECC35 respectively. The Mullards are not cheap, but, boy, what a difference they make! It transforms the Charisma X (mine has silver caps inside, incidentally) from an excellent preamp into a mind-bogglingly wonderful one, especially the in-built phono stage!

One quick one I would run past you is do you think there’s any mileage in having an external PSU made for my Charisma X? I always feel that mains transformers should be in another box separated from ‘delicate’ preamp circuitry (magnetic fields and all that). Maybe it’s a throwback from my Naim days! And also is there any sonic advantage in having separate volume controls for left and right channels as with some of the Croft designs? I would imagine there is because Glenn isn’t usually one for including anything that's superfluous to performance. If either of this is worth doing I would ask him to carry it out on my Charisma.

Marco.

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Hi Marco,

Thanks for the link, that will certainly help us to re-establish. Glenn will need all the support he can get.

Sorry but I don't think that Glenn would be interested in Forum participation. You must remember that he has been building Amplifiers for over 25 years and it all gets a bit samey. He certainly does not want to spend any time talking about them. If you were ever to catch Glenn on a Forum it would be a baseball forum of which he is a massive fan. The other problem is that Glenn has a healthy dislike for computers (and typing), I myself have never received an email more than five lines long.

I asked about Charisma mods and yes it would be worth moving the PS offboard and uprating it at the same time to a beefier unit. Other than this Glenn would have to look at your unit in order to decide what else to do. As I told you on the phone earlier no two Charisma X's were ever the same. Amar was always obsessively tweaking and offering custom jobs, upgrades etc. The designs never stood still for long. This is not what is intended for the future models.

Also you asked about dual mono volume controls. It does provide a degree of improved Stereo separation and I think that Glenn does intend to reintroduce it for the future Pre's. It was discontinued in the Transvalve era because of the amount of stick that the reviewers (KK and suchlike) gave it. I don't know whether or not it is worth ripping up your CX to add it but you can always ask. I personally enjoy the convenience of a single pot on my pre and it saves a lot of time sitting there with my head cocked to one side trying to decide whether or not the channels are balanced (drove me insane).

I think that covers it for now, I did warn Glenn that an email is coming his way so you should hear back quickly.

Best, Matt.

Hi Matt,

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Thanks for the link, that will certainly help us to re-establish. Glenn will need all the support he can get.

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No problem - we'd like to support Glenn in any way we can. The link is up and running. When he's got a product range together please don't hesitate to advertise it here in our trade section, or anything else relating to Croft. When I ask Glenn to carry out modifications to the Charisma I'll also report about it on the forum :)

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Sorry but I don't think that Glenn would be interested in Forum participation. You must remember that he has been building Amplifiers for over 25 years and it all gets a bit samey. He certainly does not want to spend any time talking about them. If you were ever to catch Glenn on a Forum it would be a baseball forum of which he is a massive fan. The other problem is that Glenn has a healthy dislike for computers (and typing), I myself have never received an email more than five lines long.

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No problem - I understand, and it fits with his somewhat 'reclusive' reputation!

I trust though he'll reply in suitable detail to the email I sent regarding my friend's situation with a Charisma-X! ;)

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I asked about Charisma mods and yes it would be worth moving the PS offboard and uprating it at the same time to a beefier unit. Other than this Glenn would have to look at your unit in order to decide what else to do. As I told you on the phone earlier no two Charisma X's were ever the same. Amar was always obsessively tweaking and offering custom jobs, upgrades etc. The designs never stood still for long. This is not what is intended for the future models.

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Interesting. It did seem that way when I visited him, as he was always on at me to upgrade this and that or to try some new creation of his. Did he actually know what he was doing?

Good news about the external PSU. I will definitely contact Glenn regarding designing one for me and ask his advice about whatever else could be done to improve my CX.

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Also you asked about dual mono volume controls. It does provide a degree of improved Stereo separation and I think that Glenn does intend to reintroduce it for the future Pre's. It was discontinued in the Transvalve era because of the amount of stick that the reviewers (KK and suchlike) gave it. I don't know whether or not it is worth ripping up your CX to add it but you can always ask.

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I will because I would like to have this done. I like the look of it and the idea behind it. Thing is I fancy having the wooden fascia with the gold volume and source selector knobs I've seen on some of his previous preamp designs, so I might as well get the dual-mono volume controls done at the same time. Basically, the CX is my last preamp (as I really like it) so I would like to max-out the electronics/PSU and get it looking as nice as possible.

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I personally enjoy the convenience of a single pot on my pre and it saves a lot of time sitting there with my head cocked to one side trying to decide whether or not the channels are balanced (drove me insane).

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LOL. I wouldn't have thought it would be a problem if the controls were stepped and marked with an indicator so that you would simply set them each to the identical position, and then worry not about the balance! Or am I being too simplistic?

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I did warn Glenn that an email is coming his way so you should hear back quickly.

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Thanks for that. If you could perhaps "warn" him again (LOL!) as I haven't yet received an answer and my friend needs to know this information A.S.A.P :)

Cheers!

Marco.

Hi Marco,

Sounds like a good plan re your CX.

I should tell you that Glen will be more than happy to help you with sonics but you will encounter disinterest when you start talking about wooden facias and gold knobs.

Firstly, none of those parts are still available and if there were any they would still be at Trinity cottage under Amars control. Secondly Glenn was not much into the aesthetics, he only cares about sound.

Keep things simple and you will end up with a fantastic sounding pre.

Let me know how it goes.

Matt.

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I should tell you that Glen will be more than happy to help you with sonics but you will encounter disinterest when you start talking about wooden facias and gold knobs... Secondly Glenn was not much into the aesthetics, he only cares about sound.

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This I knew! Typical electronics designer :lol:

He's right, of course, but thing is I like my hi-fi to sound great AND look great, too. I hate it when equipment sounds fantastic but looks like someone's fifth year science project!

You mentioned something earlier about him sourcing knobs and fascias from somewhere. Do you know what these are like?

What I was after is look of the 'Absolut 1' shown here (maybe even the bits inside, too, depending on cost ;)) but with a different fascia material. Apologies for the link to Eminent Audio!

http://www.eminentaudio.com/spaw/img...olut1_main.jpg

I have to say that looks like a serious piece of kit! Check out those multiple transformers!! Did Glenn design that one?

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Keep things simple and you will end up with a fantastic sounding pre.

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In terms of circuit design, I agree. I have never heard a better sounding preamp than my CX, and I've compared it to others that are three and four times the price. Glenn really has a handle on how to design valve amplifiers.

Marco.

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Originally Posted by Marco

This I knew! Typical electronics designer :lol:

He's right, of course, but thing is I like my hi-fi to sound great AND look great, too. I hate it when equipment sounds fantastic but looks like someone's fifth year science project!

You mentioned something earlier about him sourcing knobs and fascias from somewhere. Do you know what these are like?

What I was after is look of the 'Absolut 1' shown here (maybe even the bits inside, too, depending on cost ;)) but with a different fascia material. Apologies for the link to Eminent Audio!

http://www.eminentaudio.com/spaw/img...olut1_main.jpg

I have to say that looks like a serious piece of kit! Check out those multiple transformers!! Did Glenn design that one?

In terms of circuit design, I agree. I have never heard a better sounding preamp than my CX, and I've compared it to others that are three and four times the price. Glenn really has a handle on how to design valve amplifiers.

Marco.

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Hi Marco,

I have artwork and photo's of a whole batch of real fancy stuff that never hit the site because I was not working with Amar towards the end. The designs were complex (yes all Glenn) case work cost a fortune and this was reflected in asking prices from between 6 to 14 K for various pre and power amps.

Even more bizarrely Glenn and I were looking at Croft price lists on a German dealer site the other evening where we found items priced at between 35 and 50 K per unit in the Croft range. The funny thing is that not only had these amps never been built but Amar had neglected to mention to Glenn that he had ever offered these prestige items to the Germans.

I have no doubt that Glenn could build a completely overkill amp for 50k and it would be a world beater but this is not what Croft was about. Remember back to the Micro era whereby a little giant killer pre-amp retailed for £125 in the mid eighties, and this was when hifi snakeoil bullshit was at it's thickest.

Frankly I think that Glenn hated all of the recent high end EA/Croft kit with the possible exception of the Om-Seti (on the EA site retail 12K) but even this unit caused untold grief to build and setup.

Glenn will be returning back to the old "Croft Micro giant killer" ethos for the new range. Nothing will retail for more than a grand. Plain black boxes and silver knobs will be all you get, but you can be guaranteed a killer sound which will trounce all at up to multiples of the £750-£1000 price points. There will be a pre, power and phono stage (MM only) and that is all I can say at this point.

There you have it, I have said more here than is currently published on the site. Be patient cos it will take a while to produce the new items. I think it will be worth it!

Regards Matt.

Hi Matt,

Great stuff - and very interesting. I'll reply in detail later.

Meanwhile you have a PM :)

Marco.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by matodono1

Hi Marco,

I have artwork and photo's of a whole batch of real fancy stuff that never hit the site because I was not working with Amar towards the end. The designs were complex (yes all Glenn) case work cost a fortune and this was reflected in asking prices from between 6 to 14 K for various pre and power amps.

Even more bizarrely Glenn and I were looking at Croft price lists on a German dealer site the other evening where we found items priced at between 35 and 50 K per unit in the Croft range. The funny thing is that not only had these amps never been built but Amar had neglected to mention to Glenn that he had ever offered these prestige items to the Germans.

I have no doubt that Glenn could build a completely overkill amp for 50k and it would be a world beater but this is not what Croft was about. Remember back to the Micro era whereby a little giant killer pre-amp retailed for £125 in the mid eighties, and this was when hifi snakeoil bullshit was at it's thickest.

Frankly I think that Glenn hated all of the recent high end EA/Croft kit with the possible exception of the Om-Seti (on the EA site retail 12K) but even this unit caused untold grief to build and setup.

Glenn will be returning back to the old "Croft Micro giant killer" ethos for the new range. Nothing will retail for more than a grand. Plain black boxes and silver knobs will be all you get, but you can be guaranteed a killer sound which will trounce all at up to multiples of the £750-£1000 price points. There will be a pre, power and phono stage (MM only) and that is all I can say at this point.

There you have it, I have said more here than is currently published on the site. Be patient cos it will take a while to produce the new items. I think it will be worth it!

Regards Matt.

---

Tell him to sell it on ebay - forget the dealers, they screwed him the last time.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Richard

Tell him to sell it on ebay - forget the dealers, they screwed him the last time.

---

Thanks Richard,

I don't think that will be necessary. There are a small number of highly trusted dealers/friends who will ensure that demand always outstrips supply.

Ebay has been a lifeline for many in the industry but does have the effect of devaluing a brand. Not really what we want.

Regards, Matt.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by matodono1

Thanks Richard,

I don't think that will be necessary. There are a small number of highly trusted dealers/friends who will ensure that demand always outstrips supply.

Ebay has been a lifeline for many in the industry but does have the effect of devaluing a brand. Not really what we want.

Regards, Matt.

---

Logic is not a lifeline.

Ebay is no lifeline for anyone, it is full of new start up businesses and it is a joy to see them. There is more new poduct and ideas around since, well hard to think, but probably 30 years.

Protect the brand name, that is a farce. Loyalty is as loyalty does, the rest is bullshit, just another form of, in this case snobbish, marketing.

Loyalty means giving customers the best deal in quality and price and no retailer has ever done that.

Its a new world, direct selling if not ebay then via a website I am sure you can create for him, does not diminish any brand.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Richard

Logic is not a lifeline.

Ebay is no lifeline for anyone, it is full of new start up businesses and it is a joy to see them. There is more new poduct and ideas around since, well hard to think, but probably 30 years.

Protect the brand name, that is a farce. Loyalty is as loyalty does, the rest is bullshit, just another form of, in this case snobbish, marketing.

Loyalty means giving customers the best deal in quality and price and no retailer has ever done that.

Its a new world, direct selling if not ebay then via a website I am sure you can create for him, does not diminish any brand.

---

Hi Richard,

You say it as you see it and I like that, don't get me wrong I am not against ebay. I myself have sold hundreds of hifi related items on ebay to all corners of the globe (username "matodono1").

Not only that but I have helped a number of my web clients market on ebay including a stonemason client of mine trying to sell gravestones (which almost succeeded if you can believe that).

Arthur K of the funk firm has sold loads of Achromats and Achroplats on ebay with listings that I designed, but that is as far as he can go. If he starts selling TT's direct he risks losing all of his dealers.

Unfortunately most people who spend more than £500 on a hifi product want to try before they buy and for that you need dealers. Selling new and unknown products on the internet (even if they are backed by positive reviews) is a big ask.

So the dealers are needed and ebay and dealers don't mix.

If your experience is different then I am all ears as I don't wish to miss any marketing tricks.

Thanks again,

Matt.

Hi Matt,

Quote:

---

I have artwork and photo's of a whole batch of real fancy stuff that never hit the site because I was not working with Amar towards the end. The designs were complex (yes all Glenn) case work cost a fortune and this was reflected in asking prices from between 6 to 14 K for various pre and power amps.

---

I would love to have heard that stuff - I bet it sounded amazing!!

Quote:

---

Even more bizarrely Glenn and I were looking at Croft price lists on a German dealer site the other evening where we found items priced at between 35 and 50 K per unit in the Croft range. The funny thing is that not only had these amps never been built but Amar had neglected to mention to Glenn that he had ever offered these prestige items to the Germans.

---

What was that guy like? :mental:

I'm normally a good judge of character, and I was right about him. He always struck me as a 'wide boy'. I'm just glad that I never bought anything from him!

Quote:

---

I have no doubt that Glenn could build a completely overkill amp for 50k and it would be a world beater but this is not what Croft was about. Remember back to the Micro era whereby a little giant killer pre-amp retailed for £125 in the mid eighties, and this was when hifi snakeoil bullshit was at it's thickest.

---

Yeah, I admire Glenn's principles of making superb sounding affordable amps, but part of me also feels it's a shame that a man with so much design talent doesn't want to 'spread his wings' and show the world what he can really do. I'm quite sure that if Glenn built an 'overkill' amp, such as you describe, it would be amongst the best available in the world - if not *the* best. However, I also appreciate his reasoning for not doing so. At the end of the day it's his life and his decision what he wants to do with it. I respect him for sticking to his guns.

Quote:

---

Glenn will be returning back to the old "Croft Micro giant killer" ethos for the new range. Nothing will retail for more than a grand. Plain black boxes and silver knobs will be all you get, but you can be guaranteed a killer sound which will trounce all at up to multiples of the £750-£1000 price points. There will be a pre, power and phono stage (MM only) and that is all I can say at this point.

---

That sounds very interesting. I'm sure there will be a decent sized market for that stuff, and that it will offer serious sound-per-pound value, as is usual with Croft equipment. A £1000 Croft amplifier, in my experience, will compete on a performance level with most other manufacturer's equipment up to £3000, or perhaps even more, and it will absolutely trounce anything at its own price level. I wish Glenn all the success in the world, and like I said, if we can help promote his products in any way just let me know :)

Marco.

If anyone is looking for the most recent off-topic parts of this discussion, they have been moved to Richard's "Rip off British Hi-fi industry" thread :)

The discussion here is about Croft and Eminent Audio only.

Marco.

It is wonderful that Glenn Croft is going to continue to enrich the hifi world
with his creative genius. I am so pleased with my Charisma and Dakshini.
As a classical musical fan, I find the sound he creates is unbeatable.
Good luck to Glenn. Yes, I agree sound is most important. 'Never judge a book by its cover'!
:goodthread:

Now Marco, regarding remarks on the best Sony CD player EVER thread...;) and regarding comments you've made above, I wish to gently remind you (being an SL1210 owner and all) that the best things most often come in smaller leaner packages...

You want Glenn to show us what he can REALLY do? Well, he will, with this new range!

Any half decent electronics engineer can make a superb product with enough money to throw at it (and I doubt Sony were short of a penny or two when your CD player was designed and produced). What Glenn's doing (and did on the early stuff) was to make a giant killer using the best components he could find whilst keeping it simple. Careful choice of component tolerances (easy now 1% or better resistors are ten a penny) and using valves well up to the job can make a superb product for not much dosh. OK the outside won't be of Sony "ES" quality and we're going to have TWO volume controls again (GGGRRR!!! :)), but I bet it'll make your over engineered CD player sound better than ever (and mine too possibly.....). The phono stage should be good too and a great UK made upgrade for Cambridge 640 owners (apologies to NVA, I don't know your products).

Regarding selling to dealers or eBay, Glenn's products have ALWAYS fetched great prices on eBay and I suspect it's us that know, posting on sites like this one, that have kept these prices up, as the great unwashed out there won't know what a Croft product is and may not even care - I can't even state Ken Kessler's helped here as few people buy HiFi Snooze these days.. Dealers on the whole are desperate yet ignorant, pompous a*seh*l*s by and large and either want indefinite loan stock to try to sell from, or will try to shaft the small guy as they themselves are shafted by the big ones.... - if it takes one to know one then I ashamedly hold up my hand, although I hope I improved with age and maturity/knowledge...

If Glenn has a small number of friends who happen to be dealers (and I know one very well indeed) then hopefully they'll do a great job in spreading the word and keeping his product "clean." If he made up some high current mains filters as he used to, or decent, not too expensive interconnects or something, he could possibly sell these on ebay, but I doubt he'd have the inclination to do so, or the time to be honest.....

Hi Dave,

This is quite funny because I'm actually taking my Croft preamp down to Glenn on Monday to be modified!

Incidentally, I agree with everything you've said about Croft (and Glenn).

I'm in the middle of a listening session right now but I will comment in more detail later, and let you know what modifications I'm having done to the Croft. Save to say though they are significant, and will no doubt improve an already superb preamp... :smoking:

Marco.

P.S Achilles, welcome to the forum - we'll chat later :)

Hi Dave,

Quote:

---

Now Marco, regarding remarks on the best Sony CD player EVER thread...;) and regarding comments you've made above, I wish to gently remind you (being an SL1210 owner and all) that the best things most often come in smaller leaner packages...

You want Glenn to show us what he can REALLY do? Well, he will, with this new range!

---

I know all about the "smaller leaner package" thing, and adopt this principle as much as possible in my system. I can assure you that each component I own has been carefully chosen to do a specific job to the highest standard whilst achieving excellent sound-per-pound value. This is very important to me, as the days of me chucking tens of thousands of pounds at hi-fi (such as I did in my Naim days) are long gone. I like to use my considerable experience now to source equipment which performs well in excess of its price tag and adopt lateral thinking, which is precisely what the modified SL-1210 and Yaqin valve amp are all about.

Yes I've heard all about Glenn's new range of products from the man himself, and I'm sure they will be quite something. Glenn's going back to basics after being controlled by Amar's deluded vision of what type of Croft products should be represented in the marketplace, and I'm sure his new range of amps will be veritable 'giant-killers' in the true Croft tradition, as we would expect from Glenn.

His new amps will be priced affordably and will offer serious sound-per-pound value. I will be in regular contact with Glenn over the coming months so I hope to be amongst the first people to hear the prototypes. The Art of Sound will also be working closely with Glenn (and Matt O'Donoghue) to promote Croft Acoustics. Look out for an exclusive review of some products soon!

Quote:

---

Any half decent electronics engineer can make a superb product with enough money to throw at it (and I doubt Sony were short of a penny or two when your CD player was designed and produced). What Glenn's doing (and did on the early stuff) was to make a giant killer using the best components he could find whilst keeping it simple. Careful choice of component tolerances (easy now 1% or better resistors are ten a penny) and using valves well up to the job can make a superb product for not much dosh. OK the outside won't be of Sony "ES" quality and we're going to have TWO volume controls again (GGGRRR!!! :)), but I bet it'll make your over engineered CD player sound better than ever (and mine too possibly.....). The phono stage should be good too and a great UK made upgrade for Cambridge 640 owners (apologies to NVA, I don't know your products).

---

I agree with all that, although I actually like dual-mono volume pots! Ultimately, when properly designed, they are more accurate and give better stereo. Phono stages Glenn has always excelled at, and I've yet to hear a better MM valve phono stage than the one inside my Charisma-X, despite having heard some very expensive phono stages both valve and solid-state. My phono stage will be getting better, too, as will the rest of the preamp due to some modifications he will be doing to my preamp and also Ian Walker's Charisma-X.

Glenn is building a pretty serious off-board PSU for our preamps in a separate case; with huge over-specified multiple transformers inside and it will be linked to the preamp itself. This will remove the existing transformer in the preamp from the vicinity of the control circuitry and therefore reduce noise, which should give more headroom, and generally clean up the sound. MOSFET regulation will also be replacing the existing valve type, Alps Black Beauty pots will replace the current Alps Blues, and finally all existing, fairly low grade, RCA sockets will be replaced with Eichmanns.

I'm looking forward to the difference this will make and will report on the forum in due course. The amps should hopefully be ready for the first week in June :smoking:

Quote:

---

Regarding selling to dealers or eBay, Glenn's products have ALWAYS fetched great prices on eBay and I suspect it's us that know, posting on sites like this one, that have kept these prices up, as the great unwashed out there won't know what a Croft product is and may not even care - I can't even state Ken Kessler's helped here as few people buy HiFi Snooze these days.. Dealers on the whole are desperate yet ignorant, pompous a*seh*l*s by and large and either want indefinite loan stock to try to sell from, or will try to shaft the small guy as they themselves are shafted by the big ones.... - if it takes one to know one then I ashamedly hold up my hand, although I hope I improved with age and maturity/knowledge...

---

Did you used to be a dealer? If so, I didn't know. It's ok, I'll not hold it against you! :eyebrows:

Joking aside, I agree entirely with what you've written. Croft equipment will always be niche products aimed at true enthusiasts and not the mass-market, which is exactly what we want. I'm sure Glenn couldn't care less about anything else. He just quietly gets on with what he does best, and that's making world class amplifiers at 'real world' prices.

Quote:

---

If Glenn has a small number of friends who happen to be dealers (and I know one very well indeed) then hopefully they'll do a great job in spreading the word and keeping his product "clean."

---

That's exactly how he'll be promoting and selling his products, as Glenn has a core of tried and tested dealers over the years that he's friends with so I'm sure they'll make sure his products are sold in the right way to people who enjoy music and put sound quality first and foremost with equipment before unnecessary asthetic fripperies and nonsense like WAF factor. We will also help as much as we can here, too.

Quote:

---

If he made up some high current mains filters as he used to, or decent, not too expensive interconnects or something, he could possibly sell these on ebay, but I doubt he'd have the inclination to do so, or the time to be honest.....

---

I didn't know he made stuff like that, but like you say I doubt he'll have time at the moment for anything else other than designing his new product range and doing some jobs for customers with existing Croft amplifiers. It's definitely great news that Glenn is back on the scene, and good that this unfortunate business with Amar doesn't seem to have jaded his enthusiasm. I'll be sharing a curry and a few beers with him soon with friends so I'm sure there will be many interesting things to discuss!

Marco.

Didn't you know I'm an ex-unwashed? I thought you knew...

The difference was, I was also one of those geeks who collected carrier bags of brochures at shows in the seventies and, what's unforgivable, I read them cover to cover, along with every mag published at the time. My descent into delirium was completed in 1981 when I was driven from London to Glasgow by no less than Ivor and Charlie themselves and my Linn chip was firmly inserted where the sun don't shine, only to be firmly removed when I heard NAS turntable systems and Croft amplification, as well as a reminder of how good much EAR is at a higher price...

It is wonderful that Glenn Croft is going to continue to enrich the hifi world
with his creative genius. I am so pleased with my Charisma and Dakshini.
As a classical musical fan, I find the sound he creates is unbeatable.
Good luck to Glenn. Yes, I agree sound is most important. 'Never judge a book by its cover'!