Major milestone met with office Vintage system...

[Vintage Pete]

Originally Posted by JJinID

This has been a very fun thread to read - congratulations Pete!

Thanks Jeff!!

Pete

[piolaxo]

Pete, you did it! I remember reading your other threads about getting the enourmous
SA-2 amplifier and that this DL-2 preamp is even bigger. Lo and behold there you
have it, completing the final piece of the puzzle. What a piece! After you build the new
walnut rack it is going to look superb. And I'm sure the synergy between the three
components, preamp, EQ and amp, will be fantastic.

One question though. With all those slider resistors, didn't you find them noisy?
You can always clean them, but sometimes they are beyond repair.

Anyway, big congrats for that find. I'm sure you were sweaty when the final seconds
were going down during the auction...

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by piolaxo

I'm sure you were sweaty when the final seconds
were going down during the auction...

Sal.......It was almost midnight when my phone rang. It was Pete. He said something "serious" had come up. He emailed me the link to the Crown DL2 that had just been listed on eBay and asked what I thought. We looked over all the photos, talked about the price, and before Pete hung up he had already hit the Buy It Now button. That's how it happened. That Crown DL2 preamp wasn't up on eBay for more than 20 minutes before Pete owned it.

[piolaxo]

Oh good that there was the "But It Now" option. When it's not available, it's the
dreadful 7 days or so to wait until the end of the auction. So no sweats then, ha.
The previous owner couldn't have found a better buyer.

I can't wait for more serious listening sessions once Pete gets all installed.

Fantastic story.

[Vintage Pete]

Originally Posted by piolaxo

Pete, you did it! I remember reading your other threads about getting the enourmous
SA-2 amplifier and that this DL-2 preamp is even bigger. Lo and behold there you
have it, completing the final piece of the puzzle. What a piece! After you build the new
walnut rack it is going to look superb. And I'm sure the synergy between the three
components, preamp, EQ and amp, will be fantastic.

One question though. With all those slider resistors, didn't you find them noisy?
You can always clean them, but sometimes they are beyond repair.

Anyway, big congrats for that find. I'm sure you were sweaty when the final seconds
were going down during the auction...

Originally Posted by jdandy

Sal.......It was almost midnight when my phone rang. It was Pete. He said something "serious" had come up. He emailed me the link to the Crown DL2 that had just been listed on eBay and asked what I thought. We looked over all the photos, talked about the price, and before Pete hung up he had already hit the Buy It Now button. That's how it happened. That Crown DL2 preamp wasn't up on eBay for more than 20 minutes before Pete owned it.

Sal...thanks! That's how it happened alright....there was no agonizing wait for auction close on this one, though there were those achingly tense last seconds at auction end with the amp and equalizer, which were listed by the same seller in separate auctions by that closed one night apart.

I don't know what type of variable resistors these are that Crown has utilized in the equalizer and Preamp, but they are unique and unlike any others I have seen or owned. They are nicely detented, and I've had no need to use any cleaner at all in them as they are completely silent. The highest quality components have been used in the Distinction series units. There was a tiny bit of noise in the low filter and high filter pushbuttons (that have selectable operating frequencies via rotary switches on the front panel) and I have already popped the hood and treated these with De-oxit. The rear panel RCA jacks were oxidized on the outside and I had to work on these a bit to clean them up. The 1/4" output jacks on the rear panel were giving me a bit of noise trouble at first too, but a wooded cotton swab stick soaked with De-oxit cured this.

The more I listen to this preamplifier, the more I love it. It's a superb example of just how good solid state electronics that are truly done right can sound. Utterly smooth and warm, detailed, and lifelike. It has that last little edge of "rightness" that we crave. It's difficult to explain it but serious audiophiles know what this is. It's all there. And not to even mention its appearance, which has a "cool" factor that is off the charts IMO. There is much to learn about its functionalities, and I'm still learning. I too look forward to completing the new rack and setting this all up in its final arrangement.


I find it very difficult to turn this system off and go to bed at night....


Pete