I think I killed my brand new Croft Series 7 :(

[Jimbo]

Yes.

Series 7 pre, two stereo power, and a phono stage, out of the demo stock. I said to the dealer he should send the whole lot back, but he took another path. I felt crap about this as when he had been looking for brands I mentioned Croft as one to look at. He was ok about it, I felt very embarrassed.

There is no such thing as a Series 7 pre?

[Spectral Morn]

Lets hear the proof then from this dealer rather than hearsay from you.

Its fact, not hearsay and they are no longer in the trade having stopped dealing a few years ago. So you are calling me a liar, I was there when the phono stage, from that demo stock was faulty out of the box. I have said this stuff before and I don’t lie.

[Jimbo]

Its fact, not hearsay and they are no longer in the trade having stopped dealing a few years ago. So you are calling me a liar, I was there when the phono stage, from that demo stock was faulty out of the box. I have said this stuff before and I don’t lie.

You are making accusations and you offered proof!

[Spectral Morn]

There is no such thing as a Series 7 pre?

Series 25 pre.

[Spectral Morn]

You are making accusations and you offered proof!

I am offering facts. You want to call me a liar, be careful I will and can prove It in in court. So bring it on if you really want to.

[Jimbo]

Is there a problem at AOS?

[Spectral Morn]

Is there a problem at AOS?

Yes you calling me a liar. I honestly reported facts, you say you don’t believe me and I should prove it. I can. I don’t like being called a liar.

An ex dealer, who did Croft had way too many of his demo items go faulty, one of which was faulty in front of me. I believe the dealer, who while no longer in the trade I am still friends with. Those are facts. He rather foolishly continued to have Croft on his books till he closed his doors a few years ago. I would have sent the lot back if I had been in his shoes. He was way too nice at times.

[southall-1998_mk2]

If a Croft sounds 'Meh' then it's either tired valves or a very badly matched system in my experience. Apart from some of the slightly softer toned original 80's stuff (Series 4 power amps usually) which still let the music details through, I don't remember any of his products sounding 'meh' and *certainly not* the current models, which sound quite lively to me, even into older Harbeths............

To the OP, if Glenn can fit a delay or soft-start feature into the phono stage with no sonic penalty, I'd recommend suggesting he fits it as routine in production, as who knows who's going to own the stuff in the future and not everyone knows what to do in terms of using the stuff.

Like I said before, I've heard many Croft gear! Sounded below average to my ears! That's what my ears/brain tells me, and I greatly trust my organs. Not you or anyone else.

S.

[Marco]

Guys, we need to calm down here. Firstly, Neil is most certainly NOT a liar, let there be no mistake about that, and neither is Jim. In the past (I can't comment about new stuff, as I've little experience of it) Croft gear had problems with reliability, and in some cases, rather flaky construction. It happened. That's a fact, as I've experienced it myself.

However, it'd avoid putting a percentage on it, as it's impossible to be accurate.

That said, over the years, every manufacturer has had similar problems with their equipment. No-one produces faultless, perfectly performing equipment all the time, especially when it's a one-man band type of business, as everything is built by hand, not automated by computers, and issues will occur.

To my knowledge, in such circumstances, Glenn will always sort things out politely, quickly and efficiently, and never 'go quiet' and leave anyone with faulty kit, unlike some other small companies I've known of, so you'll never be left in the lurch. Glenn is very focussed on customer service. Quite simply, you have to be doing something right (and far more right than wrong) to have been trading successfully in this industry for, what, over 40 years? And in that time have amassed many thousands of happy customers all over the world.

But of course, no-one is perfect. All I can say though is that any Croft gear I've owned has performed flawlessly and never failed to sound superb, and Glenn has always been a pleasure to deal with; nothing has ever been too much bother - and if there were a 1000 more Glenn Crofts in today's hi-fi industry, building great value for money, superb sounding kit, it would be in a far better state than it is!

I hope Alfie manages to get his issue sorted, which I'm sure he will

Marco.

[Marco]

If a Croft sounds 'Meh' then it's either tired valves or a very badly matched system in my experience. Apart from some of the slightly softer toned original 80's stuff (Series 4 power amps usually) which still let the music details through, I don't remember any of his products sounding 'meh' and *certainly not* the current models, which sound quite lively to me, even into older Harbeths............

To the OP, if Glenn can fit a delay or soft-start feature into the phono stage with no sonic penalty, I'd recommend suggesting he fits it as routine in production, as who knows who's going to own the stuff in the future and not everyone knows what to do in terms of using the stuff.

Hi Dave,

Nice to see you checking in again and hope you're well? Btw, I got the email you sent months ago (before or around RD's passing), and meant to reply but forgot, so apologies for that. I wasn't ignoring you, mate!

As for Croft gear, we're singing from the same hymn sheet, but if someone thinks it sounds "meh" then they're entitled to their opinion. There could be a whole host of reasons for that, of course, notwithstanding the fact that the sound just wasn't to their taste, but some stuff just doesn't perform to its capabilities in some systems [the old synergy thing], and that can be especially true of amps and their relationship with the partnering speakers.

That's always worth bearing in mind, and not just automatically blaming the kit in question.

Marco.