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Introducing
The Elliott Studio Arts 66-001 Vacuum Tube Reference
full function stereo preamp
"Here's a gorgeous sounding tube pre that boasts a pair of ECC99 input tubes, point-to-point wiring, 5-input connections, a phono-stage that comes standard and a wonderful sounding headphone jack. I'm enjoying it thoroughly and should also add that it's build quality is top flight" ~Clement Perry - Stereotimes
"The instrumentation and arrangements in this collection offer up a masterclass in textural content, beautifully rendered thru the ESA 66-001p preamp... The Elliott preamp does a fine job imparting the textural and rhythmic content of these often challenging, propulsive tunes all displayed with great soundstage and pinpoint imaging throughout this unique and innovative recording.."
~Greg Voth - Stereotimes (reviewed here)
The first thing that struck me about the Elliott Studio Arts 66 - 001P preamp was the excellent packaging of the unit. The set up was logical and easy. The machine gets only slightly warm when in use. You can barely notice it. It operates in complete silence.
After a minute of warm up it delivered the kind of sound I was more than impressed with. The voice handling is magnificent. The immediacy of instruments is jaw dropping. Instruments are well connected to their sources..
The sense of presence was almost unbelievable. Voice was better than I’ve ever heard, even than my 10 year old well regarded tube preamp. The immediacy of voice and instruments is exceptional. The only sonic artifact that I can perceive is the exceptional presentation of music. I’m very happy with this preamp. There is just more there there.
Thanks Kevin! ~Harry-Murphy - Satisfied customer
Now available, this preamplifier has features not found on many high-end minimalist products; like balance, mute, true summing mono and headphone output. The phono stage has flat RIAA response, low noise and wonderful dynamic sound. The headphone output is tapped off the output transformer and drives low and medium impedance headphones wonderfully. The sound has rock-solid bass, smooth liquid midrange and detailed extended highs. Everything you would expect from a tube preamp with the bass control and extension of solid state.
The phono preamp design incorporates an input stage using a FET / Triode cascode that has 45dB of gain and very low capacitance.* The passive RIAA equalizer is nested between the first and second stage and has a loss of 20dB. The second stage is a 20dB recovery amp that has a low output impedance giving a total gain of 45dB. It is simple and doesn't use feedback for equalization of the RIAA curve, has low noise due the the high gain input and has a low impedance drive output.
*It has been shown that excessive capacitive loading creates a non-ideal Q in the filter created by the inductance of the phono cartridge and the capacitance of the input circuitry -see Ray Futrell's "The LP Terminator" - Audio Xpress 01/03. Low capacitance input is also important for interfacing with a MC step up transformer.
The line stage is two sections. First a medium gain amplifier that has a low output impedance for driving the volume and balance controls. This isolates the sources from fluctuating input impedance and frequency response relative to the volume control setting. The second stage amplifier is also medium gain and drives an output transformer that knocks the overall gain down to a reasonable level for driving an amplifier for an overall gain of 14dB.
Many preamps will output up to 20 volts peak to peak which is way more than most amplifiers need for full output. But vacuum tubes are high-gain devices and need to breath. The 66-001 lets the tubes live their at high-gain operating points while the output transformer lowers the output gain via the turns ratio from primary to secondary. This gives the advantage of lower noise floor, lower gain and lower output impedance for rock-solid drive; the output impedance is less than 10 ohms- it will drive any power amp, tube or solid state, over long interconnects with no high frequency losses. For those with low sensitivity speakers the output can be wired for 20dB of gain.
For the home theater buffs out there, we now offer an optional HT bypass function that will route any signal present on the 'video' jacks to the second output whenever the power is off so that the signal from your surround system is "passed through" the preamp to your power amp and speakers. This enables you to use your two channel system as part of your multi-channel theater setup.
Features and Specifications:
*Non-inverting design
*Unbalanced inputs / unbalanced outputs
*Input impedance = 100K
*Fully point to point construction with high temp wiring and silver solder
*Hand-matched high quality parts used throughout
*FET / Triode cascode phono stage input topology for high gain and low noise
*MM RIAA passive equalized phono input (47K input impedance, 15pf capacitance)
*RIAA stage gain = 45dB
-S/N ratio: 76dB, reference -40dB in @ 1kHz, +5dB record out, no weighting
*Line stage gain = 14dB (can be wired for 20dB on request)
-S/N ratio: 100dB, reference 1V p-p out, no weighting
*Tube compliment: 2 ea. 12AU7A - phono stage, 2 ea. ECC99 - line stage
*High-quality Alps Blue volume pot
*Balance control out of direct signal path
*Volume and balance controls nested between amplifier stages providing constant load on phono stage and line inputs for consistent frequency response
*Mono (true summing) and Mute switches for added convenience
*5 line level inputs
*Record output jacks
*Dual main output jacks
*Optional HT bypass function
*Transformer coupled output - headphones and main outs
*8 ohm output impedance - will drive 8 ohm speaker to 1 watt!
*Fully regulated external solid state power supply for low noise
*30lb shipping weight
*5-year limited warranty on parts and labor (not tubes) -
All units are hand built personally by me, burned in and auditioned in my reference system for 1 week before shipping. All units ship with frequency response and distortion plots. Ships in sturdy carton with custom foam inserts.
PRICE: $5595.00* (free shipping in continental US)
Line stage version: $4595.00* (free shipping in continental US)
*Plus applicable taxes
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New Blog!
Click Here to read about building the 66-001
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Stereotimes 2010 Publishers Choice "Most Wanted Component"
Hand-Built Vacuum Tube Amplifiers, Tube amp, affordable tube amp, stereo tube amp, tube preamp
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