*SOLD*
The Dude as been a central part of my system for almost three years. It started what has turned out to be a long evolution in thoroughly upgrading my system from solid mid-fi to true high end sound. It established a baseline for me in terms of what truly high end sound is, and has been the heart and soul of my system for the past years. It's known as a value leader in the $5-7K price range. I have compared it directly to Bent AVC, Tortuga-based passive, Dodd pre/buffer on battery supply, and Ed Schilling's The Truth LDR/buffer. Some of these might have edged it out a tad in detail, but never even close in realism department.
But I've upgraded to a Lampizator Big 7 DAC, and there's some kind of an impedance mismatch going on between these units, and as good as the Dude is as a preamp, the Big 7 has an unparalleled DAC magic going on and I have to let the Dude go at this point. There isn't room for both in my life, unfortunately, even though I've considered keeping it for a second system - but geez that would be total overkill for TV watching duties! I'll be going with the integrated tube pre in my Line Magnetic 518 for now, and exploring the Big 7's integrated volume control solution over time. I really wish the impedance mis-match wasn't there, but it appears the Big 7's unique output tube design has created a bit of a rare situation here.
The Dude is a 6sn7 based preamp. Has a massive power supply section larger than any amp I've ever owned. This one also includes single volume control knob and remote control volume control. The remote control system is outsourced from John Chapman - it's a completely independent motor structure tied to a high quality stepped attenuator, powered by its own power supply and completely electrically independent from the rest of the preamp. It's about as purist as you can get in terms of adding remote control functionality. Built like a complete tank - 80 pounds, 8.5" tall, 20" square. It won't fit in all racks, so carefully evaluate that aspect.
This unit was built in 2011, and has had the Duelund signal capacitors installed. I never heard it without them, but am told it's a big upgrade.
Four inputs, two outputs. All single-ended RCA.
Asking $SOLD plus shipping - less than half what it costs for a new one... It will ship in the original plywood crate - pretty much bomb proof, but around 100 pounds for the full package. It's just under the weight limit for Fedex and UPS, so doesn't need freight shipping though. I'd estimate $150 shipping for most places in the US, but can get quotes.
I'm also including some extra 6sn7 tubes with it - some National Unions I've used for a couple years, some CBS/Hytron, some KenRad, and a set of vintage 1950's Russian Foton 6sn7 equivalents that are still NIB. I will also ship some extra rectifier tubes. Probably at least $500 in tubes being included here. The Dude is designed to run 24/7 and never be turned off, and it runs the tubes extremely lightly. A set of 6sn7's should last 10 years or more, according to the manufacturer. Even if he's off a bit, it's built for very long tube life for sure.
Any questions, please ask!
