SOLD
Asking $3800 $2000 plus USA shipping. Will only ship to USA
I will start with a caveat. I believe the person purchasing this preamplifier needs to have the ability and interest to SAFELY work within a tube audio product with 360vdc power as checking the output of the Superregs and power supplies is a likely need. I consider this preamplifier to be like a high performance car, in that familiarity and upkeep are a necessary part of ownership. This is not a typical plug and play audio component.
When last available the kit form of this preamp was well north of $10,000, and the factory built unit was $25,000.
Vacuum State RTP3D, which started life as a RTP3C kit I purchased from Allen back in the day. This is a differential line stage and MM/MC phono stage preamplifier. I later purchased the RTP3D update CD and buffer board information from VacuumState, built the choke loaded power supply in 2020, got it in a newer, less ratty chassis then the 3C power supply came in, and at the beginning of 2022 rebuilt the signal chassis with some silver wire, some copper wire, all new resistors, all new matched phono board components, SM2210, and a change of regulators for the -24 volt supplies to very quiet and very stable LDO regulators using the AMB.com boards. All new components except the film caps were put in the SuperReg boards also. I designed and installed a new signal chassis back plate with only rca (audio note silver plated) and XLR (neutrik) jacks. The unit has Elna source switches and DACT stepped mono attenuators.
The unit has seen little use since then as I got out of vinyl just after that. About 100 hours maximum.
Gain of the preamplifier section can be changed from about 40db to 0db by soldering in a couple resistors, and the gain of the phono sections can be changed in a similar fashion. Presently gain is set at 10dB for the line stage and 45 dB for the phono section.
Included tubes are eastern euro PCC88 tubes, the amp filament regulators are set to run at 300mA each for these series heaters. The filament regulators are set for 6922/ECC88/PCC88 type tubes, not 6DJ8 that have a different filament current need.
I just did some cursory testing of the unit again, and all is well. I was going to make new superreg boards, but never got around to it. The superregs run HOT, and I kept the shunt current to about 10mA to put less heat into the shunt components, and to my failing ears, sounds no different than the spec’d 15 mA shunt current.
The sale includes the pictured power supply and signal chassis, the original RTP3C, RTP3D, and buffer board information / pdfs on CDs, some extra silver wire if you wish to go that route, and I will send you some pdf links to updates on the RTP3D schematics that correct some inconsistencies in the VS documentation. I will include a printout of the Superreg documentation…it is marked up. I will NOT sell the build info from VaccumState separate from the preamp. It is their IP.
Weight of the signal chassis and power supply is over 40lbs combined.
USA shipping and sale only. I plan to package as carefully as possible with rigid foam around all sides of each component.
Shipping would be in a 20 x 20 x 12 box, about 50 pounds.
Contact me here if you have additional questions or want some more specific information.
I will start with a caveat. I believe the person purchasing this preamplifier needs to have the ability and interest to SAFELY work within a tube audio product with 360vdc power as checking the output of the Superregs and power supplies is a likely need. I consider this preamplifier to be like a high performance car, in that familiarity and upkeep are a necessary part of ownership. This is not a typical plug and play audio component.
When last available the kit form of this preamp was well north of $10,000, and the factory built unit was $25,000.
Vacuum State RTP3D, which started life as a RTP3C kit I purchased from Allen back in the day. This is a differential line stage and MM/MC phono stage preamplifier. I later purchased the RTP3D update CD and buffer board information from VacuumState, built the choke loaded power supply in 2020, got it in a newer, less ratty chassis then the 3C power supply came in, and at the beginning of 2022 rebuilt the signal chassis with some silver wire, some copper wire, all new resistors, all new matched phono board components, SM2210, and a change of regulators for the -24 volt supplies to very quiet and very stable LDO regulators using the AMB.com boards. All new components except the film caps were put in the SuperReg boards also. I designed and installed a new signal chassis back plate with only rca (audio note silver plated) and XLR (neutrik) jacks. The unit has Elna source switches and DACT stepped mono attenuators.
The unit has seen little use since then as I got out of vinyl just after that. About 100 hours maximum.
Gain of the preamplifier section can be changed from about 40db to 0db by soldering in a couple resistors, and the gain of the phono sections can be changed in a similar fashion. Presently gain is set at 10dB for the line stage and 45 dB for the phono section.
Included tubes are eastern euro PCC88 tubes, the amp filament regulators are set to run at 300mA each for these series heaters. The filament regulators are set for 6922/ECC88/PCC88 type tubes, not 6DJ8 that have a different filament current need.
I just did some cursory testing of the unit again, and all is well. I was going to make new superreg boards, but never got around to it. The superregs run HOT, and I kept the shunt current to about 10mA to put less heat into the shunt components, and to my failing ears, sounds no different than the spec’d 15 mA shunt current.
The sale includes the pictured power supply and signal chassis, the original RTP3C, RTP3D, and buffer board information / pdfs on CDs, some extra silver wire if you wish to go that route, and I will send you some pdf links to updates on the RTP3D schematics that correct some inconsistencies in the VS documentation. I will include a printout of the Superreg documentation…it is marked up. I will NOT sell the build info from VaccumState separate from the preamp. It is their IP.
Weight of the signal chassis and power supply is over 40lbs combined.
USA shipping and sale only. I plan to package as carefully as possible with rigid foam around all sides of each component.
Shipping would be in a 20 x 20 x 12 box, about 50 pounds.
Contact me here if you have additional questions or want some more specific information.
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Great preamp, and great price…
SB
SB
Incredible price, I built mine from scratch and it costed me way more, grab it when you can…
SB
SB
If someone there in the US does not snap that bargain up - I would be very surprised.
I’ll have to run by the planning committee but it should be fine. If someone doesn’t go for it by tomorrow I should be able to swing the purchase.