Audio Mirror Pre-amp

I am quite disappointed. The preamp arrived today, but after hooking it up it became apparent that the right channel was much lower then the left. I did all kinds of trouble shooting from switching cables to the amps, switching outputs, switching inputs, flipping the tubes, etc. The right channel is low and does not sound right. I have written Vlad. We will see what he wants to do. :(

Feature wise it gives me exactly what I need. size and looks are fine. even the volume knob that rotates with the remote is nice... but.... if there are issues..... :(
 
Randy

Is that a 6X4 or 6X5 rectifier and also did you take it out and re-seat it too? I am sure Vlad will take care of you. Not much he can do if the carrier "flat dropped" it and you wouldn't know from the box either. UPS knocked half the guts loose in a new tube preamp a couple of years ago and the box was flawless.
 
Hey Jack,

Thanks for the suggestions. I am not sure of the numbers on the rectifier tube. It is the one that Vlad sent... a Russian tube of some sort. I did try reseating all of the tubes, to no avail. Oh well... I am also confident that Vlad will take care of the unit. Just disappointing after waiting for over 3 weeks for it... Oh well. I know it is not an expensive unit, but I was still really looking forward to it :).
 
Randy.......Sorry to hear about the channel disparity problem on your new Audio Mirror preamplifier. It is always so damn anticlimactic when something you are excited about immediately lets you down, even when you know it can be fixed. Hope this get solved quickly.
 
Thank you sir. I am confident that it will. Just disappointed. I have no reason to think it won't be remedied in short order.
 
Hey Chris,

I do not have his phone number. He has always gotten back to me, but is not always the fastest to reply.

As an update... Vlad just sent me his phone number and I am going to call him after work today to discuss and hopefully figure out what is going on.
 
I had a nice discussion with Vlad. He seems like a good and honorable guy. He offered to refund, of course, but we agreed that he will send me a shipping label and give it top priority when it arrives . He wants to get it back to me as fast as he can. He assured me it is a fantastic sounding pre-amp. He said he would also throw an extra set of tubes in the box as his apology . Definitely seemed like a good guy.

I very much recommend his amazing SET amplifiers for anyone looking for something special... and alot of power for SET. The Absolute Sound agrees!
 
Hopefully, this has been remedied for you and you'll be ushering in the New Year with musical bliss. I met Vlad just this past week and had a very short listen to the SET amps. Good stuff, and tempting.
 
Unfortunately, not yet. It has not arrived back to Vlad yet. I shipped it out immediately but FedEx is taking its sweet time. I shipped it out on 12/19. I sat in a FedEx facility for 5 days before they finally started sending it on its way. It has finally made its way to Vlad's hometown. Now listed as sitting on the FedEx truck for delivery... on Monday....

Wow, FedEx sucks....

Certainly not Vlad's fault, but dam... it is going to take two weeks to send it half way across the country, and this is after they probably damaged it in the first place.

He has said it will get his top priority when he gets it. That is cool and much appreciated. But I certainly hope it does not take another two weeks to ship it back. I mean, it is going to take almost six weeks to get this inexpensive pre-amp working in my system. I am really looking forward to listening to it and Vlad has assured me it is a really good sounding pre-amp... just frustrated a bit... but still looking forward to getting this judging by how much I love the amplifiers.
 
Randy Myers said:
Unfortunately, not yet. It has not arrived back to Vlad yet. I shipped it out immediately but FedEx is taking its sweet time. I shipped it out on 12/19. I sat in a FedEx facility for 5 days before they finally started sending it on its way. It has finally made its way to Vlad's hometown. Now listed as sitting on the FedEx truck for delivery... on Monday....

Wow, FedEx sucks....

Certainly not Vlad's fault, but dam... it is going to take two weeks to send it half way across the country, and this is after they probably damaged it in the first place.

He has said it will get his top priority when he gets it. That is cool and much appreciated. But I certainly hope it does not take another two weeks to ship it back. I mean, it is going to take almost six weeks to get this inexpensive pre-amp working in my system. I am really looking forward to listening to it and Vlad has assured me it is a really good sounding pre-amp... just frustrated a bit... but still looking forward to getting this judging by how much I love the amplifiers.
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Its the holidays Randy, give them some time. Considering its been around 9 -17 degrees there and its still snowing. How about a Christmas card from Norfolk Va that took 7 days to get to my home in central Fla, we got it 2 days after Christmas.:reallymad: USPS. Nothing seems moves to fast during the holidays :), but when it gets there , from the way he has responded, you should get a nice working unit when its returned to you.
 
I understand Chris. Just blowing off some steam :)... It was just frustrating that it was just shelved at the second stop (in LA area so no weather affect) for 5 days before starting to travel to Minnesota...

I am also confident that Vladimir will make it right. He seems to be a good guy who cares about what he does. He also seems to, first and foremost, care about the performance of his gear which to me means everything :D....

Judging from the amplifiers I am sure the pre-amp will also be very special! Too bad he can't offer them as part of his normal product line at this time. It would be great to have them more readily available as the perfect match to his amazing amplifiers!
 
Randy Myers said:
I understand Chris. Just blowing off some steam :)... It was just frustrating that it was just shelved at the second stop (in LA area so no weather affect) for 5 days before starting to travel to Minnesota...

I am also confident that Vladimir will make it right. He seems to be a good guy who cares about what he does. He also seems to, first and foremost, care about the performance of his gear which to me means everything :D....

Judging from the amplifiers I am sure the pre-amp will also be very special! Too bad he can't offer then as part of his normal product line at this time. It would be great to have them more readily available as the perfect match to his amazing amplifiers!
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Randy did he ever say why he doesn't offer the pre-amp in his product line. The way I view this, it would offer some synergy to his amps

Found this info on your amps or close to them these are the 20's but gives you some idea of the inner workings,
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/AudioMirror.htm

Some comments on the T-61 way back in 2007
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/review-audio-mirror-t-61-tube-preamp
 
adamaley said:
I met Vlad just this past week and had a very short listen to the SET amps. Good stuff, and tempting.
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By the way, the amplifiers are amazing and highly recommended (by The Absolute Sound as well). They seem to get better and better to me. They also work well for doing a little tube rolling, especially with the driver tubes.

The Input tubes makes a very little difference. I rolled in some NOS Phillips to replace the original Russian tubes. A little improvement...

With the Driver tubes though... the original Russian tubes work well, but I have four other sets that I have rolled in... A later model Sylvania that came with the Dennis Had headphone amp... not my favorite, but maybe a slight improvement.... but the RCA VT231 Gray Glass, Sylvania 1950's vintage Chrome Dome or Bad Boys (I have seen them called both), and my favorite so far the 1956 CBS Brown Base 5692's...

Vladimir told me his favorite is the Shuguand Treasue CV181-Z tubes. I may have to treat myself to a pair at some point :)...
 
CPP said:
Randy did he ever say why he doesn't offer the pre-amp in his product line. The way I view this, it would offer some synergy to his amps

Found this info on your amps or close to them these are the 20's but gives you some idea of the inner workings,
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/AudioMirror.htm
Click to expand...

Vlad told me that since moving from Houston to Minnesota he has had a hard time getting the chassis:

"To answer your question. Since I move from Houston TX to Minnesota I am still looking for a place to manufacture the chassis and metal enclosures for the preamp. I still have some remaining parts for 2-3 units. That’s why I don’t advertise much about preamp. Once I have everything set up again - I will advertise. Yes indeed it is a very good match to the amps."
 
Randy Myers said:
Vlad told me that since moving from Houston to Minnesota he has had a hard time finding parts:
"To answer your question. Since I move from Houston TX to Minnesota I am still looking for a place to manufacture the chassis and metal enclosures for the preamp. I still have some remaining parts for 2-3 units. That’s why I don’t advertise much about preamp. Once I have everything set up again - I will advertise. Yes indeed it is a very good match to the amps."
Click to expand...

Thanks Randy, some nice reviews on the T-61 out there
 
I heard from Vlad today. He received the pre-amp and opened it up. He already found the issue and has fixed it. He is thinking that he may be able to ship it back out tomorrow! Fingers crossed!
 
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