Art Audio Conductor Line Level Preamp

The Conductor preamp is a hefty device with a chromed front plate and five  knobs on the front panel.   The first one powers it on, the second raises the gain -- handy when listening to headphones -- the third manages the volume (this and mute are available from a remote), the fourth selects inputs and the fifth assigns the source for the tape outputs. There is an outstanding, built in headphone amp.

On the back we see a row of inputs and outputs; to the far left is a pair labeled phono.  The Conductor does not have an internal phono stage. The phono input is a simple line level but aligns to “Phono” on the front panel.  There are 5 line inputs plus two tape loops and two variable preamp out making it easy to attach a subwoofer. There also is a heat sink - all voltages are stabilized.

Inside we see several specialized PCBs. Three larger ones are horizontally mounted, with the amplifying circuitry on them, a big one for the power supply and a smaller one for the motor-driven pot. A vertically mounted input selector PCB sits near the front panel and two others near the back, one for the control logic, the other with the relays. The circuit is based on two tubes per channel, 6922 EH Electro-Harmonix on the input and 12BH7 Yugoslavian EI output buffers. The coupling capacitors are Wima polypropylenes. The potentiometer is a blue Alps connected to the circuit with unshielded cables. There are lots of cables inside for audio signals and grounds running from each PCB to a central point to create a star ground. The power supply uses a medium size transformer and plenty of Vishay/BC capacitors.

This product was well reviewed here:

http://6moons.com/audioreviews/artaudio9/artaudio.html

This product is made to order in the UK.  Delivery typically takes 4-6 Weeks.