Good to hear that - I like his ultra-short signal path, all-hardwire construction style.
eg. the legendary Croft Micro preamp is still available I see....



(UKP 550 - 1000 depending on version.)

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

Thanks Deano,

Always nice to be reminded of how completely out of touch I am !

Thanks for the link too.

you sure he's still in business ?

website is from 2009 and last updated 2015.

Yeah absolutely agree, the micro pre amp is truly remarkable many friends in the uk have them and will never sell, apparently the TRON electronics phonostage is built in conjunction with them also which again is phenomenal

Manager & Product specialist at Rapallo AV & HI-FI

I happen to be familiar with the Tron Comet phono preamp - an older model now, Graham Tricker is the designer, I believe.

Construction is precise, lab/instrument style, with PCBs.

It's nice.

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

Feb 28, 2017 14:22:36 GMT 12 michaelw said:

you sure he's still in business ?

website is from 2009 and last updated 2015.

Yep a friend recently had a micro pre made, not 100 percent sure if its through the site but croft are still making pre amps, as with most elderly designers lol their capacity to upgrade websites or renew images is not that um common

And as the old saying goes “if it aint broke dont fix”

But worth sending an email also i will confirm with my bud to ask more details

It would be good to know

Manager & Product specialist at Rapallo AV & HI-FI

I'm almost 100% sure Glenn's still in business, he stopped making amps for some time after an ill fated partnership with a distributor but started up again on his own probably around 2006/7.

I met Glenn on a couple of occasions, The first time was after I had sent one of his original Micro pre's off to him to have some upgrade work done, he carried it out then got in touch with me to say he would be passing by an that he could drop it off ! He turned up at my house, had a few cups of tea, we talked about cricket ( he has an almost pathological love of the Yorkshire County cricket team ) set the amp up then went on his way. He's an absolute gentleman and has probably forgot more about valve amp building than most people know.

I've taken some internal pictures of the amps for those of you that like that sort of thing and will post them up shortly.

Thats awesome i too have heard he is a genuinely fantastic guy, looking forward to seeing your pics, thanks for the info

Manager & Product specialist at Rapallo AV & HI-FI

Here you go then. First up is the Micro 25 pre







And the Series 7 power



Both amps use ECC 83's but can also use 82's or 81's. I've currently got Telefunkens in the Pre and a 5751 in the power, it's a nice mix.

And how do you find the sound

Manager & Product specialist at Rapallo AV & HI-FI

Mar 1, 2017 19:30:49 GMT 12 reducedtolerance said:

Do I spot diode biasing?
Some prefer this, as gets rid of an evil (cathode bypass) electrolytic cap

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

The best way I could describe it deano is non fatiguing. I'm using Harbeth P3ESR's with it so it's a system that's good with vocals and acoustic instruments, electronic music sounds excellent as well. Switching out the stock tubes to the Telefunkens was an improvement.

Owen, I wish I could talk technical with you but I've no idea about electronics other than turning things on. If I knew more I feel it would take away the magic of it all

Hi reducedtolerance - I think it just tells us that the designer is not sitting still, trying new ideas - I believe that this may be a Mk3 or 4 version of the Micro?
Cheers.

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

Bought from Glenn in 2012 Owen, not sure if there's been any revisions since.

Feb 8, 2017 20:26:23 GMT 12 Owen Y said:

The other thing to note about that LM2101a is that it looks (to me) like it's based on the Western Electric 91-A theatre amp circuit - legendary for being good sounding.

This amp was interesting because:
- features a 310A pentode (shock,horror) driving a 300B SE triode.
- often built with only 2 stages (ie great transparency)
- very sensitive (the LM adds a 12AX7 input stage in front for even more gain).

I built this cct once (OMG in 2003) & indeed, it is lively, clear & musical - better, dare I say, than the more fashionable all-triode SE amps. There's a synergy between the pentode & the triode. My fav 300B/2A3 SE amp design.

A pic of my rough old breadboard version:



(You can see the red EF37A pentodes I used, cool top cap connected tubes like the WE310As on the LM.)

@owen Y

Do you have a schematic of the  2A3 version by chance?

@owen Y

Actually, maybe I should try 300B instead of 2A3.

There are a few schematics on-line but low quality images

Mar 4, 2017 11:56:42 GMT 12 Gryffles said:

Do you have a schematic of the  2A3 version by chance?

Gryffles - the 2A3 version I built is here on this page, 2nd schematic down - 2-stage SET amp

The 300B is similar, I will dig that out, 8wpc instead of 2.5-3wpc - depends on your spkrs (remind me?).

Have you tried 300B SET before?

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@ Owen Y

Thanks for that I'll have a good look at the 2A3 version.

I have Electro Voice Sentry V, 96dB sensitive, but seem to work well enough with 4w from my SET 2A3 amp. Will have the Lampizator Endorphin once built which should provide a bit more sensitivity at approx 98dB

Have only tried 300B with inappropriate speakers, 91dB, and didn't care for it much but the extra power would still be nice with some music I listen to. Other wise there is always the PP 2A3 circuit you use.

I really like the 2A3 SET sound but it has it's limitations with some music I listen to ie heavy rock and metal. Becomes confused and the sound just collapses.

Actually, the 300B amp I listened to was the AN Kit 1 that you built!

Yes 300B gives you more versatility - unless you go 2A3PP (as I did).

Are you planning to buy, build a kit or build from scratch?

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I'd like to build from scratch but would need a well documented circuit with info available. It'll be a challenge for me as I've never built from scratch before or a kit for that matter.

Spent a fair bit of time upgrading gear that I have and a bit of time reading.

Was thinking about using the SE transformers from my 2A3 amp to save $$ but don't think thats a great idea as it's my only amp.

OK this sounds like a new thread, in DIY 😉

A kit is usually the best starter option, as all the parts are there, but poss more costly.
Maybe start a DIY thread & take a look at the kit options avail nowadays.

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