The Dynaco Tube Audio Forum

Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.
The Dynaco Tube Audio Forum

Dedicated to the restoration and preservation of all original Dynaco tube audio equipment - Customer support for Tubes4hifi VTA tube amp and preamp kits and all Dynakitparts.com products


+2
Roy Mottram
deepee99
6 posters

    Troybilt Roybilt

    deepee99
    deepee99


    Posts : 2244
    Join date : 2012-05-23
    Location : Wallace, Idaho

    Troybilt Roybilt Empty Troybilt Roybilt

    Post by deepee99 Wed Oct 03, 2012 7:59 pm

    If you are enjoying a VTA tube amp and are feeding it with "da best" solid state preamp, you are missing half the party. By all means, if you can steal a few bux out of the lunch jar, you are in for a huge and very pleasant surprise lashing a Mottram pre-amp into the mix. Roy Mottram designs the finest line and phono pre-amps on the planet. His kits are over my head; he gives you a box of parts and a schematic and expects not to be talking to an idiot on the other end. I was intrigued. After a little haggling and beggaring over the summer months I now posses Roy's superlative SP-13 line pre-amp and PH-15 phono preamp. They were supposed to come in just one box, but Roy was not happy with the results he was getting on his test bench, so he proposed an alternative (which actually SAVED me money; a separate PH-15 box).
    After spending a part of this summer building the M-125 monoblocks and realizing the limits of my eyesight and skills, I was in no mood to tackle another kit, and I needed the reloading bench back for hunting season.. .
    Enter Troy Madden, recommended by Roy and by Bob Latino. Troy could teach McIntosh a few things about elegant wiring.But electric aesthetics don't carry the day: Sound does. The SP-13 has the feel (without the blue lights) of a Mac C-28, except for that warm tube thing . . . and the recovery of heretofore unheard nuances from some of my 40-year-old vinyl through the PH-15 has blown me away. Troy built both my preamps and his work is nonpariel, and is reasonable. He built the SP-13 for $300 and upgraded some components. By all mwans, if you're daunted by a building a kit to perfect specs, he's your guy.
    No, this is not a paid endorsement. It is a thank-you to Roy and to Troy (and Bob, who started this all) for turning my living room into a concert hall.
    As Roy emailed me today: "it's real, tubes sound better than whatever you had before !!" And I had some of John Bedeini's very finest.
    Can'tgo wrong with these guys, and thank-you to all.
    Cheerio
    The silver guy,
    David


    Roy Mottram
    Roy Mottram
    Admin


    Posts : 1840
    Join date : 2008-11-30

    Troybilt Roybilt Empty Re: Troybilt Roybilt

    Post by Roy Mottram Wed Oct 03, 2012 10:30 pm

    yeah, that does sound like a paid advertisement! Dave's original email to me was totally unsolicited . . .
    so hey everyone, this is what Dave's original email to me said when he had his first listen to the preamp . . . .

    >> . . . arrived today. AWESOME!!! gentlemen. Troy, that is a grand bit of wiring.
    >> Roy, the sound from the CD player and my precambrian B&O turntable is breathtaking.
    >> No issues whatsoever; well, there was a hum problem until I remembered to connect the turntable ground.
    >> I cannot believe the absolute absence of noise and hiss and garbage and other crap I had become used to
    >> over these many years, and this was with some pretty high-quality solid-state stuff.
    >> There just ain't no comparison.
    deepee99
    deepee99


    Posts : 2244
    Join date : 2012-05-23
    Location : Wallace, Idaho

    Troybilt Roybilt Empty Re: Troybilt Roybilt

    Post by deepee99 Wed Oct 03, 2012 10:44 pm

    What, you guys aren't gonna pay me? I'm going back to transistors, cross-over notch distoration, great specs, crappy sound. Shame! Shame!
    Roy Mottram
    Roy Mottram
    Admin


    Posts : 1840
    Join date : 2008-11-30

    Troybilt Roybilt Empty Re: Troybilt Roybilt

    Post by Roy Mottram Wed Oct 03, 2012 10:47 pm

    yeah, isn't it amazing how bad 0.001% THD and 95db SNR sound, compared to tubes
    I think we can claim 0.5% THD and 85db SNR, but I don't have the gear to measure it - why should I care, my ears tell me the truth!
    Danner
    Danner


    Posts : 16
    Join date : 2012-09-27

    Troybilt Roybilt Empty Re: Troybilt Roybilt

    Post by Danner Thu Oct 04, 2012 8:23 am

    Do you have a link to the Mottram preamps? They sound interesting.
    Bob Latino
    Bob Latino
    Admin


    Posts : 3259
    Join date : 2008-11-26
    Location : Massachusetts

    Troybilt Roybilt Empty Re: Troybilt Roybilt

    Post by Bob Latino Thu Oct 04, 2012 8:51 am

    Hi,

    You can check out Roy's preamps at the link below ..

    VTA preamp kits

    Bob
    Danner
    Danner


    Posts : 16
    Join date : 2012-09-27

    Troybilt Roybilt Empty Re: Troybilt Roybilt

    Post by Danner Fri Oct 05, 2012 10:37 am

    Thank you. Those look like clean designs.
    deepee99
    deepee99


    Posts : 2244
    Join date : 2012-05-23
    Location : Wallace, Idaho

    Troybilt Roybilt Empty Re: Troybilt Roybilt

    Post by deepee99 Mon Oct 29, 2012 10:05 am

    Danner wrote:Thank you. Those look like clean designs.

    If you think the looks are clean, wait till you hear the absolute absence of noise in Roy Mottram's designs. I thought I weould have gotten used to them by now; I've had the phono and line-level preamps for over a month now and don't think I will ever get used to the clarity and imaging they provide. Again, I laud Troy Madden's craftsmanship in his builds as well. My inputs are a precambrian B&O turntable, Polk satellite radio (which has the Burr/Brown D/A converters) and an Ah Tjoeb CD player. This all runs through Bob Latino's M-125s to a pair of ancient Heils. Every day I light this up is a new discovery of my music collection.
    TMadden
    TMadden


    Posts : 99
    Join date : 2011-12-22

    Troybilt Roybilt Empty Re: Troybilt Roybilt

    Post by TMadden Tue Oct 30, 2012 1:27 am

    Thanks for your kind words David. It's very gratifying to hear that you are enjoying your SP13 and PH15. I have built nearly all of Roy's preamps and phono pre's now, and in every case found it to be quite staightforward to attain a noise free result. Recently I acquired a freshly NIST calibrated Keithley 2015 THD DMM, and measured the THD of a SP14 at .04%, it's no wonder the SP12, 13 and 14 sound so transparent! The PH15 sounds just luscious and musical, every time I hear one I'm entranced. Good stuff indeed!
    Tube Nube
    Tube Nube


    Posts : 707
    Join date : 2008-12-06
    Age : 60
    Location : Calgary, AB

    Troybilt Roybilt Empty Re: Troybilt Roybilt

    Post by Tube Nube Sat Nov 03, 2012 10:13 pm

    Another satisfied convert to Clan Motram Latino.

    Of course, I'm not at all surprised at how surprised you are. The sound is exquisite.

    Sponsored content


    Troybilt Roybilt Empty Re: Troybilt Roybilt

    Post by Sponsored content


      Current date/time is Thu Mar 28, 2024 5:30 am