[tortugaranger]

Hi All,

Since we're about a week away now from releasing our latest preamp, the LDR300x.V3, it's time to organize a tour.  I've been at this now for 10+ years and to my ears the LDR300x.V3 is THE best sounding preamp we've ever made. And at the same time the best preamp for the money since we've also been able to squeeze some of the cost out of our earlier designs without sacrificing sonics.

The LDR300x tour unit will be an active version with a low gain op amp input stage (voltage amplifier) and a JFET buffer output stage (current amplifier). However, by popping the top shell off the enclosure (removing 4 socket head screws), you'll be able to move 2 jumpers turning it into a passive preamp that bypasses the active stage. I encourage you to try this and get your impressions.

But wait there's more!! The ePot.V3 Max board inside the LDR300x has a plug-in attenuation module. We currently make an LDR version and also a discrete thin film resistor version of this module. I will include both module types with the tour unit and you can try both attenuation module types and let everyone know your impressions.

In summary, participating in this tour will let you compare a single preamp in both active and passive mode with both an LDR attenuator and a discrete resistor (logarithmic ladder) attenuator. Cool beans!

Tour Rules:

1) 10 people plus 2 standby in case someone drops out
2) You get the unit for 1 week MAX!!! You receive it on a Monday, you ship it out no later than the following Monday. So if you're not ready to actually listen to it because you have too much  else going on please be honest about that and take a pass rather than sit on the unit for several weeks. Yes, that has happened in the past.
3) You MUST insure the shipment with tracking info when you send it onwards to the next person.
4) By participating you agree to post your impressions in this thread. Nobody expects you to be a clever pro wordsmith. In your own authentic words is good enough.
5) Once the tour list is full up I'll ask all participants to provide their full name, phone, email, and home address which I'll keep private except that I'll send the contact info of the next person to the current person so they can ship it forward when the time comes. 

If you're interested please respond to this thread or PM me.

Product page: https://tortugaaudio.com/products/passive-preamps/ldr300x-v3-preamp/

The link below is to the product thread on AudioCircle by way of reference. But please use this current tour thread for all questions and comments specific to this tour.

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=168215.0

Cheers,
Morten 

[tortugaranger]

Tour List Update

1) glynnw
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
Eight)
9)
10)

standby
1)
2)

[GentleBender]

I’d love to have a listen. I’m in the 34470 zip code.

[tortugaranger]

Tour List Update

1) glynnw
2) GentleBender
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
Eight)
9)
10)

standby
1)
2)

[Delta77]

Tour List Update

1) glynnw
2) GentleBender
3) Delta77
4)
5)
6)
7)
Eight)
9)
10)

standby
1)
2)

[tortugaranger]

Tour List Update

And then there were 4!

1) glynnw
2) GentleBender
3) Delta77
4) JTF
5)
6)
7)
Eight)
9)
10)

standby
1)
2)

[mresseguie]

Morten,

My zip is 97330. I'd like to participate in this tour.

Michael

[Delta77]

Oh, was I supposed to send my zip..
Here you go I hope I'm still 3-4th on the list..

BURT...

[tortugaranger]

Oh, was I supposed to send my zip..
Here you go I hope I'm still 3-4th on the list..

BURT...

I forgot to mention this in the "Tour Rules" but what I'll do is sort the addresses before we kick off and arrange the tour sequence to minimize the shipping distances/cost between each tour member. This means the sequence of this list below will likely get rearranged.

1) glynnw
2) GentleBender
3) Delta77
4) JTF
5) mresseguie
6)
7)
Eight)
9)
10)

standby
1)
2)

[MttBsh]

Please sign me up for the tour, would love to hear the new pre

[MttBsh]

Sorry, forgot to mention my zip is 98136

[krustykat]

please sign me up too!   Zip:27539

[tortugaranger]

And...we've got 7

1) glynnw
2) GentleBender
3) Delta77
4) JTF
5) mresseguie
6) MttBsh
7) krustykat
Eight)
9)
10)

standby
1)
2)

[richidoo]

please sign me up too!   Zip:27539

Hey that's my zip too! 

[tortugaranger]

And...we've got 8 plus room for a couple of standbys.

1) glynnw
2) GentleBender
3) Delta77
4) JTF
5) mresseguie
6) MttBsh
7) krustykat
Eight) Emiel
9)
10)

standby
1)
2)

[sruffle]

I would be interested in participating.  My zip is 07043.

[tortugaranger]

A quick update on the LDR300x and the tour. On Friday the power supply in our large format CNC machine developed a problem which stopped us from making the very last part needed for the LDR300x builds. We subsequently moved our CNC unit from an uncooled space 5 miles across town to our main shop which is cooled where we can repair it in relative comfort. We are in South Florida and it's 90-95 F here every blessed day June through October. Got the move done over the Labor Day weekend. With some luck we'll have it up and working again later this week and break loose the tour unit.

1) glynnw
2) GentleBender
3) Delta77
4) JTF
5) mresseguie
6) MttBsh
7) krustykat
Eight) Emiel
9) sruffle
10)

standby
1)
2)

[tortugaranger]

Ok. We are finally rolling new 300x.V3 units through production and expect to break one loose for the tour and ship it out early next week to the first participant.

What I need from each of you is to PM or email me (morten@tortugaaudio.comi) the following info:

Your Full Name
Address
Phone #
Email address

I will not share any of that info publicly. I will however PM or email you the contact info of the next person on the tour so you can ship the unit forward.

Cheers,
Morten

[tortugaranger]

This past week flew by us and while we were busy as can be we did not get our tour unit out the door as planned. As with any new release there are the inevitable last minute issues that need tending and kinks that need ironing out. Tending and ironing chew up a lot of time but after 4-5 weeks with our new ePot.V3 series boards and products things are already smoothing out nicely. Expect to see an update on the tour very soon along with a notice that the unit has been shipped off to the first participant.

Regarding the tour unit itself, it will be nominally configured as an active preamp including the VCAP CuTf (copper teflon) output coupling cap upgrade. However, you'll be able to evaluate it both as an passive and as an active preamp. To switch between passive/active modes you'll need to remove the 2 topmost socket head screws on both the front and rear panels. This will free up the top half of the split case enclosure. Once you have the top off, there are two jumpers located in the right rear corner on the input/output interface board. The jumpers slip on to 2 of 3 pins. In one position "P" you get passive, in the other position "A" you get active. In the passive position the active gain/buffer board is simply bypassed entirely.

I would ask that each participant put the unit back into its default active mode before shipping it on to the next person. You can operate the unit with its top off so you can switch back and forth between passive/active if you wish. Make sure you power it down OR turn off your amp before switching modes.

Talk soon,
Morten

[tortugaranger]

Another week flew by as we made numerous updates to the firmware. That work is done now so the tour unit goes out this week...finally.

1) glynnw
2) GentleBender
3) UNCOLA
4) MttBsh
5) krustykat
6) Emiel
7) sruffle
8') Delta77
9)
10)

standby
1)
2)