ModWright Instruments: SWL 9.0 Linestage Release Notes!

modwright · « **on:** 18 Aug 2004, 05:46 pm »

Okay guys, the SWL 9.0 linestage is about to depart from Beta status and into production, this October! In other words, just around the corner.

First of all, I want to thank the Beta customers, and especially those that have waited for the upgrades and revisions during the Beta process and who have given me much needed feedback. Those who have heard the recent Beta units can attest to the fact that it has come a LONG WAY. The first Beta's were good, the recent units are GREAT in my opinion.

Details of Production Units:

1) Single Box design - 17"W chassis. (Internal PS).
2) Silver face - powder-coat finish of enclosure.
3) Tubes NOT exposed.
4) 5687 Tube and variants (2 tubes total).
5) Choke current-regulated supply with discrete FET voltage regulation.
6) Six inputs, two sets of outputs, HT bypass.
7) Controls: Volume, Select, Mute, HT B/P switch.
8 ) R/C Volume in SE version.
9) Cardas RCA's, FRED/HEXFRED/SCHOTTKY rectification, 1% metal film resistors and top quality poly and film/foil caps throughout.
10) Noble/Alps volume pots.

Measured Performand!!!

Frequency Response: 17Hz - 200Khz (+/-1dB)
Noise Floor: -122dB

(I will attach *.pdf files of Audio Precision measurements if someone will tell me how to attach them

)

SWL 9.0:
Manual Volume control.
High-Quality Copper Signal wire.

Price: $1399 + shipping (Introductory Price)

SWL 9.0SE:
Remote Volume Control.
Silver signal wire.
Upgrade B+ rectifiers to HEXFREDs.
Upgrade key resistors to Caddocks.
Increased/improved power supply filtering.
Highest Quality output coupling cap upgrade.

Price: $1899 + shipping (Introductory Price)

Beta customers upgrading to Production units will be given preference in ordering and will receive 100% trade credit toward purchase of Production units. Earliest Beta customers were also guaranteed additional incentives.

I have consciously not said much about this design, as I have been working hard to perfect it, but I am satisfied now with the sound. We will be debuting the unit in October at the Rocky Mountain Audio Festival and units WILL be available there for sale at 'Show Pricing'. I may even do a few 'Special' units up for the show, with custom finish, etc.

Again, thank you to all Beta customers who have stuck with us and have helped us to perfect the design. Your loyalty will be repaid and you will be VERY pleased with the end result.

Thanks and take care,

Dan W.

zybar · « **Reply #1 on:** 18 Aug 2004, 05:50 pm »

Congrats Dan!

If only you made a balanced version...

George

modwright · « **Reply #2 on:** 18 Aug 2004, 11:53 pm »

In due time, I will release a balanced version. It will be more expensive, truly dual diffferntial and will be a more sophisticated design.

I also have plans for a phono stage and a DAC...

Thanks,

Dan

zybar · « **Reply #3 on:** 18 Aug 2004, 11:55 pm »

Great news!

Let me know when you start to beta test as I would be very interested.

I would be comapring it to my Bent NOH passive preamp.

George

Rocket · « **Reply #4 on:** 19 Aug 2004, 02:11 am »

Hi Dan,

Do you have any photos of the chassis? I will be sending mine back with my niece who lives in new york and she will post to you (saves some $$on shipping).

Not sure if i will go with the stock or se version at this stage. As usual it will be subject to how much money i have.

best wishes

rocket

modwright · « **Reply #5 on:** 19 Aug 2004, 05:34 am »

Well, since I am still finallizing the chassis with the fabricator, no, I don't have any pc's yet

.

The dimensions are going to be 17"Wx4"Hx12" (maybe 14")D. The face is silver with silver knobs and blue LEDs. The Logo will be cobalt blue with silver leaf over. The main chassis will be powder coat finsihed, probably black or very dark Gray. I am also toying with offering custom colors.

I hope this helps

.

Thanks,

Dan

Levi · « **Reply #6 on:** 19 Aug 2004, 01:23 pm »

That is great news! Congratulations Dan

maxwalrath · « **Reply #7 on:** 19 Aug 2004, 02:09 pm »

I was an early beta unit customer...before all the revisions it was an amazing unit! Congrats Dan, I'm sure people will be very suprised at how great these preamps sound.

modwright · « **Reply #8 on:** 19 Aug 2004, 03:07 pm »

Thanks Max and Levi, I appreciate that. I have been working on this for some time and look forward to its release. I appreciate your support.

Dan

alotaklipsch · « **Reply #9 on:** 21 Aug 2004, 03:57 pm »

Quote from: modwright

Thanks Max and Levi, I appreciate that. I have been working on this for some time and look forward to its release. I appreciate your support.

Dan

Dan, when is my Beta/remote for my lazy A$$ gonna be ready, huh?

heh heh heh

can't wait, need it yesterday, isn't patience GREAT.

modwright · « **Reply #10 on:** 22 Aug 2004, 12:53 am »

Patience man!

. I have A HUGE workload right now and yours will be the first Beta to have R/C volume control. I am scrambling to get the final production chassis ready!?!

Thanks for your patience,

Dan

vrs · « **Reply #11 on:** 22 Aug 2004, 01:16 am »

It will be a nice coparison with AVA T7 pre amp. in SL chasis. Probably AVA T7 costs little less in SL chasis, but with with few more features.Consumers will win finally

modwright · « **Reply #12 on:** 22 Aug 2004, 08:08 pm »

I would be interested in more details about the AVA unit. I do respect Van Alstine's work.

Thanks,

Dan

alotaklipsch · « **Reply #13 on:** 23 Aug 2004, 08:19 pm »

Quote from: modwright

Patience man! . I have A HUGE workload right now and yours will be the first Beta to have R/C volume control. I am scrambling to get the final production chassis ready!?!

Thanks for your patience,

Dan

Patience used to be a virtue, but

more....hey, ship it today so your workload is less

call me when you have a minute, so we cqan discuss the mods on a 5900 one last time

alotaklipsch · « **Reply #14 on:** 17 Sep 2004, 06:11 am »

Dan, I am still waiting, and your email has cause me great concern, please make thing right.

modwright · « **Reply #15 on:** 17 Sep 2004, 03:11 pm »

I will call to discuss this personally. I realize that it is takign a while, but you need to realize that we are completely slammed and building the Betas only delays production of the finished products. Yours is the last Beta that wer are building and it is nearly done.

I have an item to discuss with you RE the returned amps.

Thanks,

Dan

Rocket · « **Reply #16 on:** 18 Sep 2004, 01:45 am »

Hi,

As a happy customer of Dan's i would think that it is better to deal with him direct than to make a post like this.

If he can't build the preamp Fast enough for you why not consider a product from another manufacturer?

Btw dan do you have any photographs of the production preamp? I'm not rushing but if you did have some it would be interesting to look at the finished product.

best wishes

rocket

modwright · « **Reply #17 on:** 18 Sep 2004, 06:00 pm »

First of all, I want to apologize for all that have been delayed in getting their modified gear or new products from us lately. As many of you know, it can take longer than anticipated at busy times. These same customers will also attribute to the fact, however, that it was worth the wait

. It is never my intention to put anyone off, but I will NOT ship a product unti I am satisfied with it.

RE pictures of the new preamp, I don't have any yet as I am actually still waiting for the first article from the machine shop. I expect to have it next week, prior to anodizing and powder coat - for final approval. I should then have a working prototype in the final chassis, the week after. I will take pix of it as soon as I have it done.

The circuit design has been evolving over the past year, during the Beta process and a couple of months ago, I settled on a final design. The finished chassis design however, has taken some time, and the logistics of getting everything mfd. takes longer than you might think

.

Aesthetically, the unit will be 17"W x 12"D x 4"H with tubes inside (not exposed). The chassis is WELL VENTILATED as a result. The power supply is also built in, with great attention being made to shielding and interior partitioning of the chassis to eliminate any EMI or RFI issues.
The faceplate is 3/8" thick Al with no visible screws, for a clean look. The ModWright logo, name and model number are hard-engraved in the metal, with the remainder of the text silkscreened. There will be two knobs - volume and select, and three switches - power, mute and HT/BP. The knobs are 1.25" round and extend 3/4" beyond the metal face. Blue LEDs will indicate function status. The intent for the look is clean, elegant and simple with a semi-modern aesthetic. I want our gear to have a classic and timeless look - not flashy but representing high-quality and a perceived price-point way beyond actual price

.

The SE version will utilize VERY high-quality silver wire for signal pathand for the shielded power main that connects the power supply to the audio board. The SE version will also use VERY high quality film bypasses in key locations, as well as other parts upgrade. Remote control volume will also be included in the SE version. Don't expect a flashy remote handheld unit to start with. We may ship the first units with universal remotes, until we get our own units made. We will of course trade the universal units for our own units when complete. This part of the design fell behind the curve, but I don't want it to delay shipping dates. To clarify, the R/C signal components are not changing, but the handheld remote WILL. This model will only offer R/C volume control, not input select or mute.

The Standard version will be built to the same level of quality (parts, etc.) as the Beta units. The SE version will simply include the parts and upgrades that we couldn't afford to do at the target $1400 Retail price.

BTW, the pricing structure:

SWL 9.0 = $1400 + shipping.
SWL 9.0SE = $1900 + shipping.

These will be INTRODUCTORY prices and will increase in early '05. Of course, all Beta customers will recieve full trade credit and preferrential pricing.

Thanks, I am excited about this release and it is REALLY keeping me busy. We ARE still able to keep up with our other modifications, thanks to my skilled technicians.

Take care and stay tuned,

Dan W.

modwright · « **Reply #18 on:** 26 Sep 2004, 05:55 pm »

ModWright will be debuting our SWL 9.0 linestage preamp at the Rocky Mountain Audio show and will be shipping the first units upon our return to work. The first to ship will be to Beta customers looking to upgrade.

Beta Customer Upgrade Process:

Beta customers wishing to upgrade to Production status will need to return their Beta units to ModWright in order to receive 100% trade credit. Preference will be given to Beta customers first, in terms of the first units to ship.

New Customers:

We will be accpeting pre-orders at the Rocky Mountain Audio Festival and all those who pre-order AT THE SHOW ONLY, will receive 10% off the retail price and free shipping. Pre-payment at the show will be required.

All those interested in getting production units right away, please let me know. The first run of units will likely go fast and units will be shipped on a first-come basis.

Introductory pricing for the SWL 9.0 will be as follows:

SWL 9.0 = $1399.

SWL 9.0SE = $1899.

Pricing will increase March 30, 2005. Final pricing TBD.

Thanks,

Dan W.

alotaklipsch · « **Reply #19 on:** 26 Sep 2004, 06:37 pm »

Dan, buddy, you have my order for the SE, AND my money.