That’s the best part about him, it doesn’t matter what your level of knowledge is, it’s enjoyable for everyone!

Me neither but I think he knows something about electronics and optimism.

Same!

all the world loves a smiling face. i need to put this knowledge to use in my own life

😂😅😂😅😅

True, absolute quality!

hopefully there aren't many chinese insulted now ;)

"Chi-Fi" has come a long way! They make some excellent products now that as you can see are not cheap either!

They always will be a lot more pissed of by cheer number of people

Soo much effort, sooo much complexity, such an overkill for what basically is a 4-way switch with a potentiometer, albeit audiophile and with balanced I/Os, extreme filtering, magnetic shielding and all... Now, I wish they'd have gone the last few steps to perfection, like constructing the backplate to go in without bending and stressing the PCB, having transformers made properly with a healthy amount of reserve (say, leave a margin for like 260V mains, heck, why not even make it 300?) It's not like price is of any concern. I remember seeing some old broadcasting or recording studio equipment which is sometimes built like a tank. Not with tons of capacitors, but it can handle abuse and will work overhead and underwater 😁

That’s what I thought!

He's NOT God, you know! 🤣

I second that

@@marcse7en Didn’t say he was did I !

@@metalman4141 Well, my comment got a like, and yours hasn't, thus far!

beautifully

flutybully@@HansDelbruck53

@@HansDelbruck53 He might have been talking about a colourful wasp.

It's a pre-amp.

@@E-raticWarrior yes sweetie, it is

In Spain IS most normal more of 240Vac...

And all those relaytercoclickers.

@@jerryspann8713 Absolutely

Yes, I thought the same. But it makes a show piece for your audiophile friends!

Probably 99% of these products would fail in a proper blind A/B test. And their owners as well :)

well, you might be surprised at what is possible. high resolution audio devices change the way you listen

Except it seems not to handle UK mains voltage very well!

Yes. Triangles are amazing, aren't they?!

Yes, I have sit in 3 feet chair, real hifi!

Yeah Audiophiles already know that.🙄

I run a Furman power conditioner in front of my valve amps. Before anybody beats me up for being an audio snob, these are guitar amps. UK mains supply voltage and permitted tolerances are 230 volts -6%, +10%

@@macstar8317 Audiofool lol! Aint THAT the truth!

lol!

I think the correct spelling is Audiophool. 😃

More parts is more chances for failure. I get the approach of paralleling caps for lower output impedance of the PSU but I really fail to see how a *preamp* can really benefit from that. The preamp is not delivering any appreciable current so the approach is less than useless., it will only result in worse reliability and more expensive repairs. So basically standard practice for this corner of the audio market lol.

@@jaymz168 Totally bonkers design

It does reduce supply impedance, but also reduces ripple far more effectively than using a couple of massive capacitors. The lower impedance is actually important lowering harmonic noise on the regulators. Granted, it is a bit showy and grabs attention in marketing material, but it is good engineering theory!

@@peterlarkin762 Not necessary. Good amp designs have massive PSRR. This is really bad engineering practice and a perfect example of audio phoolery. It's a waste of resources and about as useful as homeopathy. The resulting products are for people with weak egos who think that massive alumin(i)um cases and a collection of caps and relays would impress someone. I worked for a similar company for much too long and I quit because it's just stupid and also a waste of engineering. We have real issues to solve.

once you’ve experienced a stepped attenuator, you won’t go back

Especially the volume relays (no messy pots, ow no!) and the custom chip or was it an FPGA.

You get what you pay for. No audiophool should expect to get good sound quality for the silly 2 grand. This thing’s connectors aren’t even lubed with snake oil!

I agree. In fact, I find there is something quite distasteful about this level of misguided over engineering for little or no benefit. The gratuitous use of materials....and after all that, did they really just drop a switcher in the bottom? I have to admit though, the volume control is kinda slick and silly at the same time. Hope those relays have gold contacts...

@@gadgetwob The switcher will be for the display, and control chip, etc. The other supply is for the audio stages. It's not necessarily over-engineering - the performance of analogue preamps very sensitive to the quality of the power supply.

surprised they even use smps !

@@tenmillionvolts Yeah tenmega, I wonder if the double layer anti-interference sheets were required just to keep out the interference from that SMPS? It really is a stupid unit! It would be more useful modified into a power supply! I don't know if Mark even showed us the 'audio preamp' part of this white elephant? And what about the bs useless digital display? They would been better off installing signal bargraph meters there instead! Good on Mark for fixing it, & he should have charged the idiot owner $1000 for the repair for the insult! The owner would have been rich & dumb enough to pay without question.

@@nevillegoddard4966 SMPSs or DC/DC converters aren't necessarily noisy. I've seen them being used in extremely sensitive measuring equipment, stuff that would put most "high end" audio to absolute shame when it comes to noise or interference.

@@Lenny-kt2th In principle OF COURSE they are noisy! It's just how well you can shield them, to keep all that noise contained. They generate high voltage, high frequency AC = high interference! Don't you get that? Then in the pursuit of keeping the noise in, the risk of overheating has to be considered. 3 acres of capacitors, & an SMPS the size of 2 matchboxes it must have been designed by an obsessive sociopath. The whole concept of this piece of crap is stupid. 4,350 electrolytic capacitors for filtering, then they put in an SMPS? Fucking idiocy!

​@Lenny-kt2th True that. But i am hard pressed to understand why a designer would choose to take both approaches simultaneously!

it would be a b%tch to have to find a bad capacitor in this arrangement.

@@tjtreinen7381 Or replace all capacitors due to their age 😂

Nothing wrong with screwing until tomorrow.

@@HansDelbruck53 Haha screwing like there is no tomorrow.

Also, that attenuator design is just atrocious. If they were so worried about distortion and stuff, they should not have put EMF-generating components anywhere near the signal path.

Why have they used a hundred capacitors, is it to reduce the height?

​@@ncooper8438might be to reduce the atrocious ESR to acceptable levels.

I noticed that too. A bit worrying. Moisture ?

and Mark didn't do anything with them! Ususally he would create new ones from titanium on his lathe and anodize them with gold ;)

@@tommeier2299

@@tommeier2299 hahaha!

A nice piece of (bad) engineering, indeed...

Might LOOK beautiful, but something that regularly fails catastrophically & expensively with a slight mains overvoltage, is a disgrace to the world of electronic engineering.

Hi Richclips, I've been in the industry for over 40 years and have run the service departments of a fancy London retailer or two for many years - I agree with you 100%. Not only that, but there may well be some disadvantage having a volume control spread all over the circuit board. I immediately raised an eyebrow. I certainly admire the engineering, but wonder how much depth they went into with the design elements. (I guess they would tell me I'm an idiot and that they covered every conceivable nook and cranny). Anyhow the more stuff there is often poses some real complex problems and many are simply not considered or addressed. As you say the signal path integrity must be maintained as audio design philosophy No.1! Minimum active component counts always seems to get good results. One and a half triodes per channel is plenty😸. Simplicity is king, up to a point. Some things deserve a little complexity thrown at it over and above the most basic arrangements as this often pays dividends in certain areas. Here they certainly went to town on the power supply, and that can generally thought of as a good thing, as of course, that is what we are modulating with our 'simple short signal path'. 😸 PS.Oop's I just noticed you are an engineer (with a workshop etc), so, sorry I may have been responding with a patronising tone. I am now going to check and see if you have a KZfaq channel.

PS. Some great hi-fi keeps it (relatively) simple regarding signal path AND is 'over engineered' (in both meanings of the term, complexity and bulk!) The Audio Research amps spring to mind. The SP8 being one of the very finest preamps, I loved it. Edit: The complexity is associated with maintaining optimum performance from the active elements without interfering in the signal path.

All those caps scared me. Out of all the audio/video equipment I repair, the most common failure are capacitors.

Used toroidal transformers rated at 230v, my 35 year old Welsh made amp has 240v toroidal thats run at 253 to 257v for years.

The Voltage harmonisation was nothing more than a bureaucratic exercise - nothing physically changed with the grid in the UK, meaning our voltage is usually between 240/250v and very rarely goes below 240v. If the equipment isn't built specifically for the higher voltage or (as was more common years ago) a switch fitted to select the appropriate voltage ( 220-230/240-250) it will cause all types of issues such as burning out transformers.

@@chrisd6719the vast majority of consumers just assume the 220/240v or they don't even care as long as the appliance works...my mains supply is probably lower than average at a constant 242v...every time i check it's 242 and quite stable...some areas get voltage spikes...mains doesn't come with a warning "can be over 250volts a/c!" most appliances can take it...Vacuum cleaners..freezers..washing machines..hair crimping tongs..blow dryers..heaters..even most TV's and set top boxes..delicate super HiFi Amps not so much..i've only ever owned cheap budget LoFi...

@@chrisd6719 +1 i get 245v from my sockets

@@chrisd6719 "if the equipment isn't built specifically for the higher voltage" this is the part that is confusing me. Why would an amp sold in the UK either a) if built pre-harmonisation not meet the UK voltage range, or b) if built post-harmonisation not meet the full extent of the range and only be comfortable in the lower half of it? I wonder if it's an European product that they just wired a British plug on and didn't think anything of it... But given that it seems to be very high quality construction otherwise, I'm amazed they would have this oversight...

Cum on feel the noize ! 😄

They likely realised it was going to be bad PR if a primary blew with such over-enginnering, it's clearly the QC that's lacking not the UK power. A case of reputation management for the manufacturer.

Yep. Alvin is a star. Lot of Sinophobes in the comments who still associate China with poor quality. In fact you are much more likely to get ripped off by European hifi brands, most of whom manufacture in China anyway. My Terminator Plus, Aries G2 and Kinki amp are remarkable pieces of engineering.