JamA Posted February 10 Posted February 10 So... I've taken a gamble and would be grateful for your collective wisdom. Having read so many gushing comments about how incredibly "musical" (yes, I know...whatever that means!), Croft Acoustics products sound and what a "high end bargain" they are, and learned that Glenn Croft passed away recently , meaning that his amps are no longer made, an internet search revealed that very few worldwide are available on the second hand market. (Well actually none when I first searched, the ads were old or the amplifier in question had already been sold.) I then found one in Germany, but couldn't register on the website to buy it because I'm outside the EU. (A British guy living in Britain can't buy a British amp...thanks Brexit! The gift that keeps on giving...) A couple of days later after hours searching on various websites each day, I found a "mint condition" Croft Micro 25 pre-amp and Series 7 power amp combo on eBay, and pressed the button. Around £1,400 (2,800 Aus $) including shipping. For those of you not familiar with Croft Acoustics, this is a valve/tube pre-amp and the power amp uses a valve/tube for the input and Mosfets for the output. Output is 50W at 4 ohms ("but sounds more powerful"). I have read that my new KEF R3 Metas (87dB sensitivity/4 ohms) are power hungry and thrive on power, I'm really enjoying their sound at the moment through my Arcam acting as a pre-amp and Audiolab power 8300XP (230W at 4ohms) which I have temporarily "borrowed" from my other room. However in this room I would like to listen at mostly medium volume only (neighbour!) and I envisage vocal/jazz/acoustic/classical music emanating from this system. The other room (soundproofed with floorstanders) can be the rock-out room. So...is the Croft purchase going to be a dream come true, a complete disaster connected to the KEFs, or somewhere in between? If it's somewhere in between I do have a spare pair of bookshelf speakers (old Monitor Audio BX2, nice but not in the same league as the KEFs) which are 8 ohms and 90dB which might improve things but then I won't be using my KEFs, which I do like...a lot. Any thoughts much appreciated. Thanks, James 1
JamA Posted February 10 Author Posted February 10 ...and if it doesn't work out then what should I get instead, for a detailed soundstage with a touch of warmth in a 4 x 5 metre room? Am aware of and would consider (but haven't heard): Atoll IN200/300 Willsenton R8 Schiit Ragnarok 2 Musical Fidelity M6si/M5si Hypex/Purifi amps? Nord, Apollon etc. Exposure 2510/3510 Exposure 21 pre/18 super mono Emerald Physics (hybrid) 600.2SE Lavardin ISX Advance Paris A10/A12 Sugden... amazing or too warm/soft/sludgy? Probably too expensive for me anyway. Please don't advise modern NAD amps...
dgolh Posted March 8 Posted March 8 Hi, writing from the other side of (what's its name now since last January ?) the channel. I had been the happy owner of 2 Croft Acoustics sets a decade ago. After a few years of "big systems", Pass Labs, Pmc and so on, I decided to make my way back to simplicity and much more humble sets. At the moment, I was spending much of my Hifi fora time on Art of Sound forum but find my units in Germany as well. First set was a full "R" with "R" preamp and "R" mono blocks. I really enjoyed it with Harbeth (C7 ans SHL5+) then with Devore. High energy in spite of a tiny 65W. Boxes without any bling and the idiosyncratic double pot for volume. I then decided to go for a "RS" preamplifier, las it was noisy because of a noisy transformer. This drove me crazy, and I finally sold everything and gave a try to a 300B and higher sensitivity speakers. You should enjoy your Crofts, providing the use of medium or good sensitivity speakers (WLM, Heco, some Tannoys come to my mind but there are so many of them). Glenn passed away a few years ago like Tim or so many of hifi pioneers, he was a nice guy to deal with and could even modify his amps up to bespoke versions (higher gain for example). If you are in "liquorice records", his phono preamps were also highly praised. Hope it helps in spite of my flimsy English (no Google translation at all, directly from my brain to the keyboard). 2
Ooogh Posted March 8 Posted March 8 Hi James, I can’t directly comment on the suitability of the power amp for your speakers but the little Micro 25 preamp is an absolute beauty at it’s price point and I used it in front of quite a few power amps with great success. Simple and effective with great tube rolling possibilities with it’s trio of 12AX7 valves. In regards to the Series 7 driving an 87 dB 4 ohm speaker the ans
Ooogh Posted March 8 Posted March 8 Just now, Ooogh said: Hi James, I can’t directly comment on the suitability of the power amp for your speakers but the little Micro 25 preamp is an absolute beauty at it’s price point and I used it in front of quite a few power amps with great success. Simple and effective with great tube rolling possibilities with it’s trio of 12AX7 valves. In regards to the Series 7 driving an 87 dB 4 ohm speaker the answer is maybe….. I don’t think there is a 4 ohm tap on the power amp so it may be designed primarily for an 8 or 6 ohm load and therefore struggle a bit. Then again it might just sing. Unfortunately these answers are rarely answered to you hook ‘em up and find out. If you are a gambling man you could always try and then sell on the power amp if it lacks the grunt required. If so few are on the market it may prove easy, then again Croft products always were a niche market. Good luck! Sorry the first post went through before I finished it, hence the extended version!
wen Posted March 8 Posted March 8 @JamA,despite liking your speakers a lot, if the Croft is "the" amp, reach out to other croft owners and find out what speakers others are using, spending money on ,amp, or speakers, either way its change. Will a new amp match well just because it has power, your ears will tell you, good luck.
gemini07 Posted March 8 Posted March 8 (edited) On 11/02/2025 at 6:24 AM, JamA said: ...and if it doesn't work out then what should I get instead, for a detailed soundstage with a touch of warmth in a 4 x 5 metre room? Am aware of and would consider (but haven't heard): Atoll IN200/300 Willsenton R8 Schiit Ragnarok 2 Musical Fidelity M6si/M5si Hypex/Purifi amps? Nord, Apollon etc. Exposure 2510/3510 Exposure 21 pre/18 super mono Emerald Physics (hybrid) 600.2SE Lavardin ISX Advance Paris A10/A12 Sugden... amazing or too warm/soft/sludgy? Probably too expensive for me anyway. Please don't advise modern NAD amps... Listen to a Sugden A21 SE pure 30W integrated - you will want to save up your pennies. Just amazing - not too warm, crystal clear, dynamic, organic and fantastic soundstage. Edited March 8 by gemini07 1
JamA Posted March 11 Author Posted March 11 On 08/03/2025 at 10:22 AM, Ooogh said: Hi James, I can’t directly comment on the suitability of the power amp for your speakers but the little Micro 25 preamp is an absolute beauty at it’s price point and I used it in front of quite a few power amps with great success. Simple and effective with great tube rolling possibilities with it’s trio of 12AX7 valves. In regards to the Series 7 driving an 87 dB 4 ohm speaker the ans On 08/03/2025 at 10:00 AM, dgolh said: Hi, writing from the other side of (what's its name now since last January ?) the channel. I had been the happy owner of 2 Croft Acoustics sets a decade ago. After a few years of "big systems", Pass Labs, Pmc and so on, I decided to make my way back to simplicity and much more humble sets. At the moment, I was spending much of my Hifi fora time on Art of Sound forum but find my units in Germany as well. First set was a full "R" with "R" preamp and "R" mono blocks. I really enjoyed it with Harbeth (C7 ans SHL5+) then with Devore. High energy in spite of a tiny 65W. Boxes without any bling and the idiosyncratic double pot for volume. I then decided to go for a "RS" preamplifier, las it was noisy because of a noisy transformer. This drove me crazy, and I finally sold everything and gave a try to a 300B and higher sensitivity speakers. You should enjoy your Crofts, providing the use of medium or good sensitivity speakers (WLM, Heco, some Tannoys come to my mind but there are so many of them). Glenn passed away a few years ago like Tim or so many of hifi pioneers, he was a nice guy to deal with and could even modify his amps up to bespoke versions (higher gain for example). If you are in "liquorice records", his phono preamps were also highly praised. Hope it helps in spite of my flimsy English (no Google translation at all, directly from my brain to the keyboard). On 08/03/2025 at 10:44 AM, wen said: @JamA,despite liking your speakers a lot, if the Croft is "the" amp, reach out to other croft owners and find out what speakers others are using, spending money on ,amp, or speakers, either way its change. Will a new amp match well just because it has power, your ears will tell you, good luck. On 08/03/2025 at 11:23 AM, gemini07 said: Listen to a Sugden A21 SE pure 30W integrated - you will want to save up your pennies. Just amazing - not too warm, crystal clear, dynamic, organic and fantastic soundstage. Hi guys, Thank you for your thoughts and sharing your experience. Luckily the Crofts work fine with the KEFs and sound gorgeous! I'm now being tempted by a Sugden A21SE Signature for the other room My local hi-fi shop is able to get a pair of Magnepan LRS+, but that may be too ambitious match-wise for these amps... 1
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