Why did/does the Campion/Alabaster come without remote ?

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Alco

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 9
Hello Haider,

I bought a Sonneteer Campion, about 10 months ago, and I love the sound of it.
(also the sober, timeless looks, finish and buildquality are quite exceptional in its price range)

The Campion is driving a pair of Penaudio Rebel 3's and it's a match made in heaven.  :D

The only thing I sometimes miss is a remote, only to adjust the volume.

I wonder why did Sonneteer choose to offer the Campion (and Alabaster) without remote ?
Are there perhaps any sonic benefits in its manual design ?

kind regards,
Alco
« Last Edit: 21 Mar 2014, 12:36 pm by Alco »

haiderSonneteer

  • Industry Participant
  • Posts: 191
  • Managing Director and Founder at Sonneteer
    • Sonneteer, made in Britain since 1994
Re: Why did/does the Campion/Alabaster come without remote ?
« Reply #1 on: 21 Mar 2014, 02:08 pm »
Hello Alco,

We also responded your private email. Thanks you for your question.

The Campion and Alabaster were originally designed as plain and simple amplifiers with just a volume potentiometer as  pre-amp. We then added a higher level input stage for people with 1V line level sources like tape machines and some phono stages.

We did try to add a motorised volume control but it sounded awful. The only way was to have another power supply. This would however change the design considerably and take away a lot of the quality the amplifier has.

Our decision was to leave it alone and design something else. The Orton, though based on having two Campions driving a channel each it was also a ground up design with motorised volume included and hence remote control.

After thoughts can sometimes be detrimental unfortunately. This doesnt mean it is impossible, it would just be quite a lot to get it right. By then we will have designed something completely new. Which is more fun. ;-)

I hope this helps.

Haider
sonneteer.co.uk

Alco

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 9
Re: Why did/does the Campion/Alabaster come without remote ?
« Reply #2 on: 21 Mar 2014, 04:32 pm »
Hello Haider,

Thanks a lot, for your clear and helpful explanation. :)
I understand now.

regards,
Alco