For Sale retro-thermionic Icon Pre Amplifier

Further Information

Excellent sounding Vacuum Tube Amplifier.

It takes 2 x 6SN7 Tubes and it has upgraded Shuguang CV181Z Tubes with Mundorf Silver Oil Caps with all point to point soldering.

During my possession, I have made several upgrade/changes as listed below;

+ Upgraded Power Supply: Original cheapo PowerTech power adapter was getting hot and produce mechanical hum slightly so upgraded to Linear Power Supply with Power Switch on the front and IEC connector at the back so can have any power cables can be used. It runs cool without any hum whatsoever and more convenient to power the unit on and off using the front toggle switch instead of toggle switch at the back of main unit.

+ Better Power Connectors and Cables: The original power connector cables were 6.3mm microphone connectors hard wired and it was replaced with proper 2 pin male/female connectors with locking mechanism so easier to detach but rock solid once connected and screwed.

+ Proper Input Selection Knob: Original input selection was done by 3 toggle switches at the front, A/B, B/C, C/D. It was a bit quirky so replaced them with a proper input rotary switch with solid aluminium premium knob made in Italy to select A, B, C inputs. 

+ Mute Switch : It has now a mute toggle switch so no need to memorise which step out of 24 volume attenuation and put the volume back up if you need to mute.

+ Output A/B Switch: It has now a OutPut A/B toggle switch so you can connect one pair to power amp and the other pair to Headphone amp if you like or another pair of power amp so you can toggle between two amps. 

Alternatively, you can just rewire both outputs so output A to amp and another output B to a pair of subwoofers. 

Very versatile options there.

All the connection were indicated on last two photos for reference.

Thoroughly enjoyed this unit but I am now heading to all-in-one unit so no need separate preamp.

I personally think that this would be excellent choice to pair with Class D power amp that sounds a bit thin or dry and this preamp will add missing sweetness and warmth that Class D amp often lacks.

These  are extracts from  the advertisement placed by the original owner.

Region: Australia

Location: NSW

First Name: Mike

Posted July 25, 2022 (edited)

AUD $850

Item Condition: Excellent 

Shipping Options: Shipping is included in price. 

Suburb or Town: Wollongong 

State: NSW 

Payment Method: Cash, PayPal (F&F or Buyer covers fees), EFT 

Reason for selling: NLR 

Fabulous 6SN7 pre-amp and separate power supply that was purchased from Mark (@mwhouston) in June 2021. You can read more about it here: https://retro-thermionic.blogspot.com/2019/03/icon-cv-181-z-preamp.html - I paid $1070 for this without tubes. Since owning it I returned it to Mark who upgraded it with Mundrof Silver Oil Capacitors that I supplied (RRP $180) - which took the sound quality up another level again.  

I have been using this with a pair of Shugang CV-181Z and it punches WAY above its price point. Compared to my Manley 300B pre-amp (around $12,000 RRP last time i checked) the icon holds up very well - the Manley has a slightly larger soundstage and slightly better separation but considering the size, cost and number of tubes Mark's work speaks for itself.