Bespoke Audio TVC preamplifier, Steve's quickie review, post #35..

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Warren Jarrett, Oct 16, 2015.

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  1. Warren Jarrett

    Warren Jarrett Audio Note (UK) dealer in SoCal/LA-OC In Memoriam Thread Starter

    Location:
    Fullerton, CA
    Your ARC SP-6 is a wonderful preamp. I would say you are set for life with the true magic that it provides, particularly being well maintained.
     
    Warren Jarrett, Oct 28, 2015
    #26
  2. Warren Jarrett

    Warren Jarrett Audio Note (UK) dealer in SoCal/LA-OC In Memoriam Thread Starter

    Location:
    Fullerton, CA
    I am familiar with the Hagerman SUT. It's cabinet was a beautiful wooden creation, to match Hegerman's best ever tube phono stage.

    Someone please remind me the name of that phono stage.
     
    Warren Jarrett, Nov 1, 2015
    #27
  3. kfringe

    kfringe Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Oregon Coast
    That was the original Trumpet.
     
    kfringe, Nov 1, 2015
    #28
  4. Raylinds

    Raylinds Resident Lake Surfer

    Location:
    Candlewood Lake, CT
    Yes you don't see wood in the world of audio much anymore.

    [​IMG]
     
    Raylinds, Nov 2, 2015
    #29
  5. Warren Jarrett

    Warren Jarrett Audio Note (UK) dealer in SoCal/LA-OC In Memoriam Thread Starter

    Location:
    Fullerton, CA
    As good as the Hagerman, Bent, and Music First step-ups and passive preamps are, I believe the Bespoke to be the most precision made and pure sounding (neutral, with no addition or subtraction of sonic character) audio transformer product ever made. And, yes, I would like to sell one, so in the interest of full disclosure, this was my intent for starting this thread.
     
    Warren Jarrett, Nov 21, 2015
    #30
  6. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Location:
    California
    The Bespoke Audio Passive Preamplifier from England is in the house. Looking forward to trying it with my WAVAC EC-300B amp and Audio Note UK Ginrei 211 monoblocks. This thing is awesome looking and surprisingly heavy, pictures do not do it justice. I'll hook it up tomorrow and give you my first impressions..
     
    Steve Hoffman, Feb 1, 2016
    #31
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  7. Richard Austen

    Richard Austen Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hong Kong
    I don't read magazines - I read reviewers - every magazine hires as diverse a group as they can. That way they don't have to give negative reviews (but then everything is recommended) and they cover all the technological bases. I am not a fan of a lot of designs (most designs in fact) so I review what I like. Someone else on our staff reviews and recommends stuff that I wouldn't touch with a 50 foot pole. Stereophile and others do the same things.

    Whether you hold them in high esteem is up to you - at least John Atkinson has fired reviewers for being crooks - unlike another US print magazine.

    I am generally distrustful of a lot of reviewers in this business because I have some information on some of them that boggles the mind at what they do.

    The guys who gave class A to Theta Data Universal for example makes me wonder.

    You decide
    http://www.lampizator.eu/LAMPIZATOR/REFERENCES/THETA Universal/theta.html
     
    Richard Austen, Feb 1, 2016
    #32
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  8. Burt

    Burt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kirkwood, MO
    Although the surface finish is nicer, this type of construction was once de rigeur in telecom, avionics and test equipment. The height of this was in the old Tek tube scopes.

    I also have a Supreme signal generator from the late 30s that has an absolutely flawless mirror plated chassis to this day. It was chromed by the same company that did work for Duesenberg, I'm told.

    My only minor complaint is that all the wires are the same color, so that if any wire tracing is needed it's going to be less than fun. However, it's probable that it will never be needed, since it's a passive device handling no substantial voltage or currents. So I wouldn't throw it out of bed, so to speak. Probably works great and will for a number of decades.
     
    Burt, Feb 3, 2016
    #33
  9. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Location:
    California
    My thoughts on the BESPOKE AUDIO passive. It's big, heavy and beautiful. It has no sound whatsoever, it's accurate to the sound of the amplifier. If you love your amp, this is a good thing. If you want that little something extra, this is not a good thing. At $12,000.00 it is expensive for what it does.

    If one must have a passive, I think the British Music First Baby Reference passive is a better deal at much less money. I like it it for its strengths at its price. It does a few things that demonstrate an advantage to transformers rather than resistors for volume attenuation. By contrast, the Bespoke, IMO does not particularly make a case for any advantage of a TVC. It sounds very accurate, it is impressive in build quality, but the sound is not what I search for, particularly at its price. It can be described as neutral, and therefore an improvement from preamps that take away from a system's sound. But, other preamps I have heard can also be VERY close to neutral, while still either adding or preserving the audiophile nuances that are so important to us. lovers of fine sound

    Like the Audio Note UK equipment that I like so much, the MF Baby Reference helps to preserve (and maybe even emphasize) nuances, like liveliness and subtle detail. This is the "magic" that Warren and I talk about, even though it is subtle. The beautiful Bespoke sounds like it is probably more accurate, but it either has no magic of its own, or does not help the magic of the equipment it is associated with.

    Understand that for most people, the Bespoke with be the last pre they will need to buy. It does the job of raising and lowering the volume very well. It is also beautiful to look at, wonderfully well built and would be an asset to anyone who loves the sound of his amplification and desires nothing else in the system to change that. To this person, I say, go for it.

    More listening to the MF Baby Reference and the Audio Note active preamps will bring more understanding of wanting a preamp to be "neutral" but also wanting it to "make magic". Like Warren J. says, this seems to be a contradiction, which is why we continue to listen, evaluate, and think, while we enjoy the music.
     
    Steve Hoffman, Feb 5, 2016
    #34
    AudiophilePhil and jfeldt like this.
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