I'm busting to visit my dealer friend to hear these amps. I asked for pics of his demo ones ages ago, but I don't think sending images by email is quite his bag...
They look good enough and the volume controls are ok I suppose (moan, whinge).
Glenn has offered to have my old preamp back for mods. I just can't afford to do anything right now sadly (bread and water for supper soon if things don't change).
Still, the prices are excellent, bearing in mind he sells through a few dealer friends and he's also very happy to service his old models (although they're usually very reliable I think).
I hope Glenn sells as many as he can make. Brilliant!!!!!
I can't go on and I can't go back, I don't feel so matter of fact,
I tried and tried to make good sense, What's the good to try it all again?
Dito that from me.I hope Glenn sells as many as he can make.
Pass on my best wishes to Glenn will you Matt.
Ian.
Looks great. I have only ever heard one Croft preamp (Ian's) and it sounded bloody fantastic!
Last edited by aquapiranha; 24-02-2009 at 19:07.
They swim... the mark of Satan is upon them. They must hang.
FLAC / WDTV Live / Cambridge Audio / Tannoy VX12
Croft amps (pre or power) are, and have always been, veritable 'giant-killers' - you're paying for pure out-and-out performance and simplicity of design refined down to a fine art, all hand built by a talented designer with many years of experience, and not badge-snob hi-fi or 'audiophile jewellery' full of extraneous aesthetic fripperies unconnected with sound quality. Ultimate sonic performance is all that matters to Glenn. His are designs for true enthusiasts and music lovers.
The retail price of Croft products therefore does not reflect the level of sonic performance within. Quite simply because of that they will compete with, and in many cases outperform, designs costing many times their price. The heavily modified Charisma-X Ian Walker and I use is undoubtedly one of the finest sounding preamps I've ever heard at any price. It has been in use in my system in one form or another for over four years and I have no intention of ever selling it, which is the best endorsement of a product I can give!
I will be having a listen to the new Croft designs soon and comparing them to my own preamp to see how close they get to it at much lower cost, plus the prospect of hooking up with Matt and Glenn again and mixing that with beer and curry is too tempting to resist
Stay tuned folks for a full review in due course!
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & regulator mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat with Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight. Isonoe feet & boots. Ortofon RS-212D tonearm with Denon DL-103GL, in a Denon PCL-300 headshell, fitted with Funk Firm Houdini and Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp and Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp, fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Thanks to Steve, Dave, Marco and Ian once again for your support.
I have just uploaded a page of the few dealers that Glenn intends to start with. Here goes http://www.croftacoustics.co.uk/dealers.html all are available for advice on equipment and demos.
Best, Matt.
*looks on in envy from far away*
Hi Matt,
any talks with asian distributors? There's a lot of us here who're always keen to listen to smaller named players who offer terrific VFM and would rather put their resources into eking out performance rather than marketing. (I'm using an astintrew setup myself)![]()
kelvin.
.my salvation.kab technics sl-1200mkII/AT33PTG/achromat . philips dvd963sa (modded analogue stage) as cdp . pioneer tx-410 stereo tunertrichord dino phono preamp + dino ncpsu . astintrew at2000+ integrated ampalr-jordan note 3
You can't 'ave 'em Bong, 'coz we want them all for ourselves![]()
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I can't go on and I can't go back, I don't feel so matter of fact,
I tried and tried to make good sense, What's the good to try it all again?
*swears in an ancient tongue*![]()
kelvin.
.my salvation.kab technics sl-1200mkII/AT33PTG/achromat . philips dvd963sa (modded analogue stage) as cdp . pioneer tx-410 stereo tunertrichord dino phono preamp + dino ncpsu . astintrew at2000+ integrated ampalr-jordan note 3
Why does Glenn Croft always insist on separate L/R volume controls? I always *hated* that in my SIP preamp (still in the garage).