Good afternoon everyone,
I've tried for the past several hours to re-write a lengthy piece of what's been happening with me for the past year. Each time I re-wrote what I wanted to say and tried to attache photos of my system, there was a long wait and everything vanished. Yes, the entire post was gone. So, now, let me just say that I've got my new tube tape head pre amp. Actually, as much as I wanted the Tube Repro, I could not afford it. So, I asked my engineer/tech Mr. Benny Amina if he could build such a pre amp. He said he could given time since he not only repairs high end audio for those in the Atlanta, Georgia area, but he and his staff builds and sells speaker systems, amplifiers and preamps they sell on their website. Initially, Mr. Amina said he could build my pre amp for about $1600 dollars. I gave him the Ok but knew it would be 6 months to one year before he would have it ready, what with all of the testing required. Long story short, Mr. Amina finally called me and said he had completed the pre amp and it would cost me $1195.00. I was so overjoyed I had to sit down. Grinning for ear to ear I arranged to pick up the HD4 tube tape head preamp plus my Tascam 42B tape deck which I left with him to make sure everything worked. By the way, I had to contact Mr. John French (JFR Magnetics) for advice on a playback head. This very nice man recommended the pro Nortronics Laminated (400mHy) playback head. He also said he would have to build a shoe so that the Nortronics would fit my Tascam. The price for all of his hard work was very reasonable. I was more than pleased.
The sound of the combination HD4 tube preamp and the Nortronics head is fantastic. I wanted a preamp that may not approach the sound of the awesome Tube Repro, King Cello or the DeHavilland pre amps, but would give me and others maximum pleasure non-the-less. As a retiree living on a fixed income I was looking to purchase a tube head preamp I could afford and really did not want to spend more than $1500 dollars maximum. There is more to this story but I don't want to do a lot of writing and it all vanishes. I think it might have been due to not knowing how to properly attach my audio system photos. Someone will have to help me with that since I am not all that computer literate. At any rate during 2 listening sessions with friends, we were all pleased with what we heard. My tech, Mr. Benny Amina of Atlanta, Georgia can be found in the "Service Resource" session here. I will post photos when I am sure how to do it properly. Thanks so much guys for all your guidance and support. The photo of my pre amp file is too large and won't post. Please PM me and I will email photo to you.
Here is the link to photos of my music system speakers, tape deck and new Amina HD4 Tube Tape Head Preamp>>>>>>>
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/e89sy7as4gb82lt/J8Q4GfekBM
