Hmmm, I'm sure I read somewhere that moving away from the 12AX7 in the phono might affect the output negatively - I might be totally off course on this one though.
The current output from my Croft combo is right for me, including the way that the gradation of the volume control. And that’s with just under 90W/channel from my upgraded Series 7 power amp. This is probably because my Russell K Red 150 speakers only have 87 dB sensitivity, and therefore need a bit of oomph to drive them.
By the way, I ought to point out that my Micro 25 has a single motorised volume control and separate balance control that were put in place along with a mono switch in place of the mute switch by Deco Audio prior to initial purchase. Mute is now a function on the remote control that Deco also supplied.
Enjoying the Crofts everyday. Damn. Might go for the RCA tube to have a bit more volume control, very curious about the Genelax Gold Lions as well. Something for the summer. At the moment i'm working from home everyday and i don't want to waste my stylus, playing records while sitting in another room. Anybody has a bluetooth receiver on their Crofts? My budget is around 100 euro's.
I have a Raspberry Pi - HifiBerry - plugged into mine. I'm running Roon for my digital stuff, but you can do something similar with BT or Airplay
My Croft has been out of the rotation for a few weeks. I just put it back in and am once again amazed at the performance of this little gem. Get one before Glenn retires!
Emailed Glenn couple of weeks ago about a potential update. He mentioned going from a RIAA to a RIAA R would be the smartest first move. So might go for that this summer. Can't imagine it can get even better.
So, it took a little time but a 25R with phono is on it's way to mine. I have also changed the LP12 out for an Acoustic Solid Wood TT and my Audio Physic Spark speakers for Frugelhorn XLs. This has to end at some point - doesn't it?!
I'll get a pic up in a mo - I use a Hana SL at the moment. Speaker position #1. Speaker position #2. You may think this is a compromised position but it sounds perfect - soundstage is really defined with the extra width.
There is a bit of a story with that one. It was modified and sounded great, with a Morch UP4 unipivot tonearm, Tangerine Audio Plateau Sub-chassis etc. but when I tried to sell it, it appeared that it might have been too far removed from the purist approach. I stripped it, sold the arm and subchassis and fitted a Linn subchassis and Rega arm. I'm hoping it will sell as a package now it is closer to the Linn ethos.
The Frugelhorns are actually eggshell so have a very slight off-white/pinky hue - it has passed the wife test.
quick question from a fellow croft owner (phono integrated, non-regulated). I bought the unit in 2019/2020 and only used it with a tt so far (tube phone stage). I am thinking about adding a dac - do the line ins also run through the tube stage? I think my dealer said no, just want to make sure. In any case - how is the base sound of these line ins? any dac / croft integrated combo you'd recommend?
The Croft Integrated is effectively a Micro 25 and Series 7 in a single casing. Line inputs go into the all-tube preamp stage. I feed an Audio Note DAC 0.1x into my Micro 25, and I love what I hear.
