Nice gear. The integrateds are affordable but the preamps are way out of my price range. I was able to get a demo CJ ET3 SE from my local dealer for 3K. I wonder if they are going to develop a more affordable preamp and amp line in the future. They could name it the Edgar Allen Poe line.
We actually do have a new preamplifier called the Cirrus. It is a two-chassis, anodized machined aluminum chassis product that features the same preamplifier layout that exists in all of our other preamps. The main difference though is it has a much smaller footprint, is solid state regulated and tube rectified rather than being fully tube controlled in the power supply like our other more expensive products (see the 6X4 in the window in the separate power supply chassis) and is fully enclosed.
Since it is much smaller and simpler in chassis and circuit design, we can sell it at a much lower price... for now.
It sells for an introductory price of $3,995.00 and like all of our products has a limited lifetime warranty. Since our product lineup is so deep (we have 22 different products) it is difficult to get everything out there in a timely fashion. The Cirrus Linestage Preamplifier is only a few months old, and will soon have a partner, the Stratus, which will be a matching phono stage and share the same windowed chassis and use the same power supply.
These two products came out of the Goldfinch Tabletop Audio System lineup, which is a completely new and radical small-footprint line of matching products for small rooms, apartments, metro-centric addresses which can be ultra high priced and of a low square footage. Hence the 8"x 12" footprint. You can stack them, line them up on a shelf, make two short stacks, or whatever you need to do.
The best thing is you can virtually take them with you to the lake house, houseboat, or RV and have a high end vacuum tube system wherever you go. Perfect for the office too!
We realize that we need to provide more affordable products, but being manufactured 100% in Texas, USA it has been a rather daunting task. This is why the Avian series was born. All of those products are incredibly low priced versus their cost to make. But hopefully we are here to stay and we still have that fighting domestic entrepreneurial spirit.
Should you wish to try the Cirrus out just let me know. I will gladly ship one to you to try out. I think you will find it to be a very good preamplifier... and kind of a bad-ass all around like ravens are... LOL
There will also eventually be an Avian Series preamplifier, but not for at least a year. The chassis construction is the key for saving money. Folded 14 ga. automotive grade painted steel is always cheaper to build than CMC anodized aluminum chassis. And the Elite series premamps are all hand wired point to point, and have very thick machined aluminum chassis and rare NOS tubes throughout.
Once upon a time we just for grins contacted a few Chinese chassis builders to compare pricing. They can build them turn-key for about what it costs us to paint and print them here.... so the decision to keep everything domestic is quite a difficult one for us from a business standpoint. As a matter of fact, it is actually an extremely poor decision - "from a business stance".
With that in mind, staying patriotic and providing a few Texas, USA jobs is actually a terrible choice financially, but to me its highly important... right!
Right? Well, maybe not. But to me personally, I think it is.
Thanks Everyone,
Dave
