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Pre-amp recommendations

SJS_Model7_line_1.jpg


SJS model 7. Built to order and your specification. Tell Simon what it is to drive and he will advise. Has built pre's to run active ATC's. Declaration of Interest. I have know Simon for over 35 years, use /have used lots of his kit but have nothing to do with his business.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3JCr4oSQ...N9Foia_QCK4BGAYYCw/s640/SJS_Model7_line_1.jpg
 
I should also recommend a Graaf 13.5 B11. Black fully balanced in and out and my mate used mine into his active ATC's and then wanted to buy it!
 
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With their build quality I cannot see why a valve specialist outfit should not be able to service them. Mainly discrete componentry well laid out and accessible.
 
I should also recommend a Graaf 13.5 B11. Black fully balanced in and out and my mate used mine into his active ATC's and then wanted to buy it!

I wouldn't recommend the 13.5.
Apart from being the UK service agent for Graaf, Unison Research, Monrio, Audio Analogue and Beard from 1994 - 2000, I also have a customer with one and he has had loads of issues with it. The design is floored and there are many design issues that were never fixed. Quite why you need 6 double triodes for a line-level preamp is beyond me! Unfortunately, Graaf was a brand where it was more important to get the looks and aesthetics (debatable I suppose) and marketing right first, and circuit design and reliability was somewhere down the list of other priorities...
 
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SJS_Model7_line_1.jpg


SJS model 7. Built to order and your specification. Tell Simon what it is to drive and he will advise. Has built pre's to run active ATC's. Declaration of Interest. I have know Simon for over 35 years, use /have used lots of his kit but have nothing to do with his business.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3JCr4oSQ...N9Foia_QCK4BGAYYCw/s640/SJS_Model7_line_1.jpg
wow , would love one of those . sjs amps are so highly regarded and thats another amp on my wish list !!!
 
i was at a valve repairer 2 years back and i am sure there was one there then , i do know folks who have had them repaired .

Not exactly a great advertisement for them then.
Shortly after the 13.5b MK 2 release I heard one with a pair of the GM20OTL power amps, sounded impressive.
 
Not exactly a great advertisement for them then.
Shortly after the 13.5b MK 2 release I heard one with a pair of the GM20OTL power amps, sounded impressive.

Impressive indeed, as the GM 20 had a habit of going up in a cloud of smoke. They were also very noisy even with feedback driving any speaker over 94dB efficiency.
 
The question that you could please help us all with is about serviceability. As you were the service agent for 6 years and additionally know all about valve amp designs, can they be serviced if they need it?
What % of ordinary box speakers in the market over the last 30 years are above 94dB? I suspect that their numbers have increased over the recent years during the valve resurgence.
I must have made poor choices of kit, based on listening rather than any understanding why they did what I liked at a price I could afford at the time, into 90dB and less speakers. Amps include various Audio Research, Conrad Johnson, Beard, SJS Electroacoustic, Audio Innovations, Graaf, Unison, Music Reference etc.
 
The question that you could please help us all with is about serviceability. As you were the service agent for 6 years and additionally know all about valve amp designs, can they be serviced if they need it?
What % of ordinary box speakers in the market over the last 30 years are above 94dB? I suspect that their numbers have increased over the recent years during the valve resurgence.
I must have made poor choices of kit, based on listening rather than any understanding why they did what I liked at a price I could afford at the time, into 90dB and less speakers. Amps include various Audio Research, Conrad Johnson, Beard, SJS Electroacoustic, Audio Innovations, Graaf, Unison, Music Reference etc.

It really depends on what is wrong with them. One of my clients waited nearly 2 years to get a replacement mains transformer made so he could get his Graaf running again. I have worked on and repaired pretty much every audio brand (valve and transistor) sold or imported into the UK, also some not officially imported here too over the last 40 years...
 


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