Back in the 1980s, the ideal audio component was considered to be equivalent to a “straight wire with gain.” At Silbatone, we know this is not enough. In the case of our L-101 Line amplifier, comparing it with a direct connection from a digital source shows that it is the direct connection that is missing something crucial to musical understanding and appreciation that our preamplifier provides. Our goal is to produce preamplifiers that make musical experience better in every way—both more vivid and more realistic, making an important contribution to listening pleasure rather than adding noise and electronic colorations to the signal as so many current designs.
The L-101 is a marvel in circuit simplicity. Asilver wire input transformer allows for balanced or unbalanced inputs. A 64 step relay-switched silver wire nickel core autoformer provides adjustable gain trim to establish proper system sensitivity. A Western Electric 262B small signal triode is the primary active device in the signal path, configured in a novel “zero volt in, zero volt out” structure which is directly coupled, requiring no signal capacitors at input or output. The 262B is directly coupled to a buffer using select 8416 triodes driving silver wire output transformers, providing balanced and unbalanced connections. Bandwidth is 10hz-200khz with a remarkable musical presentation.
The L-101 power supply is double-regulated, with a remarkably low noise floor and featuring an extremely fast buffer optimized for audio performance sidestepping the sonic footprint that lesser regulator designs impose on musical sound. Noiseless, smooth, and natural music is our goal and sophisticated power supply approaches are essential resources for getting there.
As dedicated preamplifier specialists, Silbatone has been leading the way in low level amplification for some years but we feel that a new level of performance has been discovered with our L-101 Line Preamplifier. Those seeking the best possible line amplification need look no further!
