Gate Audio valve preamplifier with phono stage
Selling my really lovely Gate Audio valve preamp with phono stage.
This is a really well thought out valve preamp with a rather nice MM valve phono stage built in - all point to point wired, something like a Croft, only to my eyes the looks of the Gate are far superior with its lovely solid wood fascia and enamel cover for the case.
Info is a bit thin on the ground for these but I do see that the Emporium has one for sale at the moment: http://www.emporiumhifi.com/pre-owne...with-mm-phono/ this appears to be the same model, slightly different in cosmetics (shiny gold plated knobs, but no enamelled top).
Worked spectacularly well with a Croft 5C power amp I bought from Alan (Firebottle) but due to space constraints for my second system this has been sold, so the preamp is now redundant.
It uses 4 x 12AX7s, two each in the preamp and phono sections respectively. It arrived at me with some cheap Chinese tubes in the preamp section and nothing in the phono stage, I replaced these with Svetlana winged C’s and JJs respectively. The Svetlanas are NOS I’d been saving for a special occasion, the JJs brand new from Watford valve. It’s had very little use since these were fitted. It also has two valves in the power supply, acting as rectifier and regulator, but I forgot to take a note of what those are when I opened it for pics!
A few marks on the enamel top, and like most valve preamps, it’s not 100% silent if you turn the wick right up with no music playing, but nothing that intrudes in actual use, indeed it’s one of the most enjoyable, tuneful preamps I’ve ever had a play with.
Offered at £300 collected from Bracknell area, Berkshire, though a meet up at a sensible distance (M4, M3 etc) is possible. Not keen to post but might be persuaded to at seller’s risk.
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Originally Posted by montesquieu
