Marco your answer RE: Croft and Eminent Audio

[matodono1]

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.

[Marco]

Hi Matt,

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)

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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 .

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.

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.

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.

[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!

[matodono1]

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!

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.

[matodono1]

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.

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.

[Marco]

Hi Matt,

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

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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 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.

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).

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?

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

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.

[matodono1]

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.

[Marco]

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.

This I knew! Typical electronics designer

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?

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

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.

[matodono1]

This I knew! Typical electronics designer

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.

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.

[Marco]

Hi Matt,

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

Meanwhile you have a PM

Marco.