Dean,
I've used the Django on both my Druids and Definitions system and settled on it with the Definitions. I may get another one for the Druids system but not sure yet.
The Druids system is powered by Audion Black Shadow amps with have sufficient gain and input sensitivity that they could be driven directly by a line-level source, like a disc player, but I want switching & volume control. When I had the Django in that system, the unity gain setting was fine for driving the amps, and I could use a phono preamp with it. I use, variously, an Audion Premier 0.5 tube phono preamp with a Blackhead II transformer fed by a Denon DL103D cartridge, or a Bel Canto solid state Phono-1 set for MC input without a transformer. Occasionally I found on a low-level LP I preferred switching in the Django's +6db gain option.
I opted to put the Django TVC on my Definitions system where remote control is a convenience but not necessary. Also, the increased resolution of the Definitions over the Druids gave me further appreciation for the stunning transparency, ultra-resolution and fine dynamics of the S&B transformers in the Django. I've owned Audio Research, New York Audio Labs, Futterman, Meridian, vintage Marantz, NEW, McIntosh, Counterpoint and Audion preamps -- and heard nearly everything else considered good in high-end circles -- and have to say that the Django is a revelation. While mine is the Stevens & Billington version, I have heard that the cheaper amorphous transformer version is excellent too, and preferred by some. I may buy one just to find out.
The Definitions system, as you know, is powered by Audiopax 88s. I had to innovate to use the Django in this system. The Audiopax has only two tubes in the gain path and total gain is only 18db. Very low compared to most power amps in which you'd expect 26 -32 db gain. The Django is usable there in the +6db gain position but just barely. Audiopax doesn't give a spec for input sensitivity on the Audiopax but I estimate they need something like 2.5v in to be driven to full power. DVD movie soundtracks are mastered to a lower audio level than Redbook CD standard so I found that I could not get full dynamics from movies on that system, but CDs worked fine at nearly WOT (wide-open thottle). So I had John at Bent Audio package another pair of S&B transformers in his MC transformer cylinders for fixed 6db gain and put those in between the Django output and the Audiopax inputs. Now that gives me a total of 12 db of passive gain for any source before the signal hits the amp and everything is fine. With the 82K input impedence of the Audiopax amps, the load values work and I don't have any frequency anomalies introduced by the extra transformers.
The Audion tube preamp is a line-stage and simple circuit that sounds unintrusive, superbly musical, fluid and intimate, while having the drive to really rock, too. And it has remote switching and volume. Their equipment really should sell in much higher volumes if more people heard it. But as good as it is along with some other tube units I've auditioned in my systems, it still has a tell-tale "powered gain" signature, which you don't notice until you've heard something that doesn't have it. The Django introduces none of the goofy problems associated with passive volume controls -- an audiophile tangent I never really understood as a seduction. The TVC is clean, fast, and revealing. Very alive and natural. I prefer it to any preamp I've owned or heard, with the possible exception of the Nagra PL-L and PL-P. That the Django is so inexpensive is a poke in the eye to the high-end establishment. Audio Zone and S&B themselves have more expensive units with glitzier cosmetics. The Django is a simple oblong box with a silver grain painted cover and thick black-anodized aluminum faceplate with 2 matte aluminum knobs.
Django has excellent switchgear and connectors, and can be ordered with silver wire. I'll tell you one thing it is -- it's a true entry into high-end sound nearly anyone interested in this hobby can afford. After hearing the Almarro A205 amp last week at the Zu demo in L.A., I imagine a Django + Almarro gain chain. If you bought the amorphous transformer version of the Django assembled, that would be $1690 for the pair at list price. Add a pair of Zu Tones for $1795 and any decent disc player at $500 or less and you'd have a killer, compact, trouble-free, ~107db dynamic range true high-end $4000 system.
How well the Django works with a phono stage depends upon the input sensitivity of your power amp and the gain available from your phono stage. With the Black Shadow amps, my Bel Canto with 60db total gain, or the Audion + Blackhead with 68db total gain are fine. The Trichord Research Dino phono preamp gives you up to 74 db of selectable gain, so you can find good phono stages to close any gain gap that Django exposes in a system using LPs.
Just as Zu speakers for their lack of fatigue characteristics can make you dissatisfied with other speakers you once enjoyed, the Django has the same effect. I was skeptical but very much struck by the effect. Also, the S&B transformers, being magnetic, definitely exhibit serious improvement during break-in. When you first use one, you can hear it improve by the hour and that continues through perhaps 50 or 60 hours of use and then the rate of improvement tapers. But some people that have had Djangos longer than me claim the break-in continues for months. Devotees say you don't want to give up broken in Django or trade someone for a new one.
The Django has a 23-position stepped switch with -52db attenuation from the 20 taps on the S&B xformers. Steps vary from 2db to 6db. On the face of it, I thought I'd find that a little coarse and preferred the idea of 32 or more increments. But it hasn't been a problem for me -- my listening moves the volume control in a narrow arc. It certainly is much better than the 12-step attenuators on the 47 Labs GainCard. Sound is effortless, extended in both directions, neutral and musical. The Django is outstanding at passing through the emotion in a performance and imaging is convincing, fully dimensioned.
A few companies are promising remote control versions of the S&B TVC. One already exists and it lists for something like $9000 while having the same heart as the Django. So convenience will cost in these units. If you don't mind getting out of your chair and 4 inputs is enough, then the Django (and for more money the Audio Zone Pre) is probably the single greatest sonic bargain in all of hifi today -- at least in systems where amplifier input impedence high enough to work with it. You would be expecially impressed by the improvement a Django makes to low-volume listening.
Phil
