Glenn Croft is building amplifiers again! CroftAcoustics.co.uk
- Thread starter matodono1
- Start date
matodono1
Trade: Sonik Kables
Hi McShads,
Sorry for the slow response, I don't come on here all of the time but will answer questions when I do.
Glenn is currently enjoying the Cricket season and is presently only working on repairs and upgrades. I currently have four amps waiting to be picked up for upgrades here at my home. Glenn does encourage upgrading of older designs as it does allow him a degree of variety in his working day.
Yes the old range is confusing and was seriously afflicted by the greed of Amar Biswas who would offer upgrade components at seriously bloated prices. All of the old EA products were designed and built by Glenn. Amar built nothing but was responsible for minor tweaks to existing designs using components which Glenn was not always happy about but tolerated as part of a difficult business partnership. There was an attempt by Amar to employ a third party engineer but only two or three pieces of equipment were produced before Amar effed it all up by not paying the poor bloke (yes Amar we know all about that one too).
So to answer your questions..........
Upgrading second hand equipment is a viable option as new amplifiers will only be available in small numbers and only built to a finite specification.
Glenn is generally proud of the Twinstar range but wants to distance himself from the Transvalve coined phrase. The new amps are related to the Twinstar/Polestar amplifiers but will henceforth be known as "Hybrids" (which is what everyone else calls the mixture of SS and valve technologies but this was not good enough for AB).
It is fairly safe to say that amplifiers such as the Om Seti, Twinstars IV, V, VI, high spec Polestars, priced by EA at £3000 plus will never be repeated. And the same goes for the expensive/complex pre-amps such as the Absolut, Absolut 1. There will definitely be no more Integrateds of any description. Future OTL's are also highly unlikely.
In many respects the best Croft amplifiers have already been built and are unlikely to be bettered (unless of course Glenn has a massive change of heart concerning his current career course).
If you can get hold of a TS IV or Charisma X or some legitimate* item of prior prestige EA stock, I would advise that you do so and contact Glenn via the site (www.croftacoustics.co.uk) as to the most suitable upgrade plan. Many of the newer techniques can be applied to older designs, this includes replacement of caps, resistors, valves and even hybridization of whole sections of old circuits where possible and applicable. My own Epoch SE pre-amp will soon be going back to Glenn in order to have an off board PSU fitted and other internal work performed. Effectively my pre will become an equivalent to the old Charisma X. The sky is the limit and you can spend a little or a lot. Several customers have recently dropped off equipment at mine to be worked on and all have reported significant audio improvements in relation to monies spent.
Upgrading second hand upper level amplifiers may well be your best route to attaining an example of one of the really high end performers.
*I would advise you to be careful to verify the history of any items you buy. There is a large quantity of EA stock stolen by Amar Biswas (my words not Glenn's) which is out there, all of which are subject to legal dispute.
Other than this I can highly recommend the upcoming £1500 power amp when it becomes available. The metalwork should be ready in a couple of weeks with Glenn intending to commence production in October.
best regards, Matt.
I would have thought it obvious that dual-mono is an elegant way to compensate for the way valves can age differently on each channel over time, or room furnishings can differ around each speaker, or some recordings aren`t as centred as we might wish or our hearing itself may differ in each ear- without resorting to the extra circuitry of a balance pot...
mega lord
Centre tapped
It is certainly a solution worth investigating IMO.
When i converted 2 stereo amps to mono the increase in channel seperation especially, was very impressive. This principal could be benneficial in the pre also i would have thought (i have basic electronics and bodging knowledge).
The balancing now available could also prove useful.
This is on my list of modifications to do (not Croft amps by the way). The only way to find out is to try!
stu
When i converted 2 stereo amps to mono the increase in channel seperation especially, was very impressive. This principal could be benneficial in the pre also i would have thought (i have basic electronics and bodging knowledge).
The balancing now available could also prove useful.
This is on my list of modifications to do (not Croft amps by the way). The only way to find out is to try!
stu
per flemming
Registered User
Highest respect for Croft amplifiers, but a one man Co. with this manufacturing horizon makes many potential buyers go else where...
No employees ?
Could we risk an issue like the Royd..sudden retirement ?
Ah I don't know... I've owned the Twinstar 3, Vitale SC and VC power amp.
As an owner the dual volume was annoying particuraly as I like to hear the singer dead centre and I was having to get up a lot to get it perfect.
There's too much hype about competing with 3 to 4 times price here. I hear this all the time with hifi. The Twinstar I ran for a couple of years did not sound as good as my Audions and Audio Research power amps. You need to audition amps.
Sorry, but so far I'm not that much of a fan. Happy to hear more kit but not sure I'll be buying any in a hurry.
As an owner the dual volume was annoying particuraly as I like to hear the singer dead centre and I was having to get up a lot to get it perfect.
There's too much hype about competing with 3 to 4 times price here. I hear this all the time with hifi. The Twinstar I ran for a couple of years did not sound as good as my Audions and Audio Research power amps. You need to audition amps.
Sorry, but so far I'm not that much of a fan. Happy to hear more kit but not sure I'll be buying any in a hurry.
I find the Audion amps are romantic in the mids and unfocussed in the bass.
Maybe you have a dry-sounding source or speakers? To my ears the AR gear seems to neatly sidestep the tone of valves and the incision of transistor- not clever. No, the Twinstar range do it for me by being both involving yet neutral.
It`s very easy to put a stereo pot in place of dual mono pots if it is such a big deal. I have seen Croft pres with 2x blue Alps stereo pots used as monos which would simply require moving three wires across from one pot to the other.
Biggus-Dickkus
pfm Member
Nothing is guaranteed in life, least of all the Hi-Fi market, however it is a little more stable than the Banking industry at present.
I would have said a one man company is going to be better placed than one with a number of employees - at least in this current climate. Don't knock them they may be the only ones left to further our little hobby.
Biggus-Dickkus
pfm Member
Does any one know anyone who actually uses a balance control?
Biggus-Dickkus
pfm Member
Most Croft Pre's used to use 1Meg ohm pots - you try getting Alps Blues in this value.
I came across several with replacement pots fitted by amateurs. Many used a different value like 250K, but this lower value has a huge effect on the RIAA stage, so is definitely not recommended. Certainly in Croft's earlier designs you have to keep with the 1Meg pots.
Rule of thumb: Check what was fitted from new and stick with that value.
Nothing is guaranteed in life, least of all the Hi-Fi market, however it is a little more stable than the Banking industry at present.
I would have said a one man company is going to be better placed than one with a number of employees - at least in this current climate. Don't knock them they may be the only ones left to further our little hobby.
Well said Biggus. The one mand band operations seem to weather the storm better than the larger companies in my experience. I've been selling Croft for nearly thirty years now and he's going strong whereas there are hundreds of much larger companies which have disappeared during this time. Also, Glenn's products use good quality components but nothing custom made, so they can always be repaired by a competent engineer.
Coda II
getting there slowly
As of yesterday evening I have a new Micro25 on trial at home. Not had time for much of a listen yet and haven't tried the phono stage, but first impressions are very encouraging.
What usually happens when I swap in a new box is that I'm sitting there thinking 'ah yes, bit more of this, bit less of that, this sounds nicer, oh but it's not doing that' etc.
The Croft seems to defy that approach, it has it's own way about it which is doing a good job of making me forget components and just listen to it. I have a suspicion, and obviously I'll have to check this thoroughly, but my suspicion is that it's actually playing music.
What usually happens when I swap in a new box is that I'm sitting there thinking 'ah yes, bit more of this, bit less of that, this sounds nicer, oh but it's not doing that' etc.
The Croft seems to defy that approach, it has it's own way about it which is doing a good job of making me forget components and just listen to it. I have a suspicion, and obviously I'll have to check this thoroughly, but my suspicion is that it's actually playing music.
I have a mix of speakers, source is neutral. AR gear needs KT88's e.g. Svetlana Winged C to go back to the valve type sound not the KT90's that are were stock in mine. They are very much solid state sounding at the bottom frequency, frankly for me with my main system running 20hz capable speakers that is very important, I need bass control.
Audion are wooly in the bass out of the box, I fully agree, nearly got rid of them! However the culprit is the Edicron input valve which muddies up the mix and loosens the bass. I found serious improvements with 1950's Mullard. Also changed the other input valve which improved things further. Get that right and they're wonderful amps.
I found the Twinstar flat and uninvolving, image size wasn't particularly good either.
Audion are wooly in the bass out of the box, I fully agree, nearly got rid of them! However the culprit is the Edicron input valve which muddies up the mix and loosens the bass. I found serious improvements with 1950's Mullard. Also changed the other input valve which improved things further. Get that right and they're wonderful amps.
I found the Twinstar flat and uninvolving, image size wasn't particularly good either.
were did you arrange your demo.
I am toying with getting a pre to go with my puresound 2a3 amp, and am interested in this.
Phil
Take a look at www.croftacoustics.co.uk for a dealer list.