Pip Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Item: Vacuum Tube Reference preamp with MC/MM phonoLocation: Western Sydney (lower Blue Mountains)Price: $250 firm.Item Condition: Fair. The volume pot is sometimes noisy when changing volume. Reason for selling: Moving house, so selling off hifi gear I no longer use.Payment Method: Pickup - Cash, COD OnlyExtra Info: This is a valve preamp from 1988 designed and made in Australia by Chris Power. It uses 5 ECC88 valves, including 2 that are dedicated to the phono input, switchable between moving coil or moving magnet. It has a separate power supply box, connected by a an umbilical cord. To quote from the manual: "The VTE-RP utilises the best available components for superior sonic performance, including German Resista resistors, WIMA polypropylene capacitors with polystyrene bypasses, Jean Renaud gold plated switches, and ALPS potentiometers. Internal wiring is plated, high purity single strand copper….regulated filament voltages provide stable operation….separate fully regulated high voltage supplies are used for each channel." I bought this preamp from Audio Investments in St Ives in 1988 as an ex-demo for $750 (normal price $1350), and in audition it sounded better to my ears than Allan Wright's FVP - if that means anything to you! It served me well for many years, but has been stored away for the last 10 years or so. It works well enough as it is, but would reward a bit of love and attention. It has 5 Golden Dragon E88CC-01 valves installed, which should have plenty of life left in them, plus 9 other spares (pictured), all used to some extent. Would suit someone looking to get into the world of valve amplification without breaking the bank. Also if you want to experiment with vinyl.Pictures: Apologies for the strange orientation of the photos. Can you tell I am not Gen X/Y? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Rab of Everest Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Good stuff. I used to own a different Chris Power valve preamp and also a nice solid state power amp that drive my Maggie's very well. As it happens, Chris recently moved back to Australia and he came over to hear my Acoustats. Lovely guy - and very knowledgeable! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian McP Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Small world! I still have mine, in fact I used to etch the pcb's for Chris and was with him on our recent visit to rab's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian McP Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Noisy volume pot? No problem, give it a squirt of CRC contact cleaner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pip Posted January 8, 2014 Author Share Posted January 8, 2014 Great tip Ian, thank you. I'll make sure the new owner is aware of this when I pass the preamp on to him tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjc Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 So this has been sold then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter_F Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 PM sent wanting to buy if seller will ship. Cheers Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Marc Posted January 9, 2014 Administrator Share Posted January 9, 2014 Congratulations on the sale of your item. If you feel you have benefited from using this system for the sale of an item through our classifieds system then please consider making a donation. Donation Payment Options You can make a donation via Paypal (using Credit Card or Paypal Balance), or Direct Deposit. Click below to make a donation: Thank you, your support is appreciated and every dollar makes a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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