I was the UK importer for Gold Note for many years until 2017.
I have some interesting deals from my stock and a couple of one-off items – please see my USED HI-FI/EX-DEM listings.
GOLD NOTE, rebranded from Goldenote (originally Bluenote) are an Italian company who make everything in-house from turntables, tonearms, cartridges, CD players through to loudspeakers. The best of ‘lifestyle’ in terms of style but with sonics and musicality of the highest order.
They produce beautifully crafted arms from aircraft-grade aluminium and titanium. The top tubes are machined in varying thickness of titanium to cut down resonances. They make gimbal bearing designs of up to 12 inches in length. (There were some great Unipivot arms – now discontinued.) Their turntables use AC 24 pole motors for better dynamics than DC motors and combine acrylic plinths with brass spacers and counterweights. The bearing design comprised a PTFE slug (the slipperiest substance known to man) in a brass sleeve which gives a highly detailed but natural sound owing to there being no metal to metal contact. Their cartridge range is smooth and detailed and starts with entry-level Moving Magnets followed by High-Output Moving-Coils and Moving Coils of the highest order.
The Micro-Line comprised the compact CD-7, DAC-7, HP-7 headphone amp and pre-amp, AP-7 integrated amp, M-7 mono amp, PH-7 phono pre-amp, and PSU-7 external power supply. All in compact sized casework 200mm L x 80mm H x 260mm D.
They voice their digital products by comparing them to similarly priced turntables in their range resulting in an excellent tonality. Consequently products like the Bluenote Stibbert valve CD player was considered amongst the world’s best by Harry Pearson of Stereophile.
An excellent amplifier range, the top models such as the Demidoff were 60% handmade employing inductive power supplies, tastefully backlit VU meters and remote-controls.
Finally, their speakers respect the tradition of pre 90’s Spendor, Rogers and Harbeth with thin-wall construction – actually of varying thickness – making them transmit sound like a musical instrument. Some have screw -mounted back panels to decouple vibrations in the time-honoured fashion which made for such musical engagement all but lost in most modern MDF designs by designers who think over-focused detail is everything even if it means losing the natural reverb and decay of a note.
This company deserves far greater recognition. They produce attractive modern designs which simultaneously respect the greatness of past classics; they are forward-thinking artisans!
THE CROFT ETHOS IS TO OFFER HIGH PERFORMANCE AUDIO AT SENSIBLE PRICES.
** Sadly, Glenn Croft has passed away so there will be no more new builds of his wonderful amplifiers. Instead, if you have any modifications or upgrades needed for your existing Croft gear I can help. I always strive to find the best value audio and I use Croft amplifiers as references. Please keep an eye on this site where I will be keeping you updated with existing and new developments to ensure you always get a musically satisfying solution.**
I believe Croft Amplifiers to be the most underrated, best value for money amplification on the audio market. Glenn Croft has over 40 years of experience refining truly innovative valve circuits at very reasonable cost. They are hand-built and meticulously point-to-point wired in the UK.
Great tone and dimensionality that works brilliantly with vinyl and transforms digital.
In brief, the range consists of PRE-AMPS and POWER AMPS:
The Croft 25 pre-amps – All valve designs which come in linestage or phono versions.
If you don’t play vinyl, a linestage version is all you need.
There are 3 main versions.
1) 25 linestage £550, 25 with phono £770.
2) 25R – regulated power supply giving more grip and control – £1000 for linestage version and £1400 with phono.
3) 25RS top of the range 2-box pre-amp – power supply regulated and upgraded transformers in separate box – £2000 for linestage version and £2800 with phono.
They can all be ordered with 2 mono volume controls or 1 stereo.
I can fit REMOTE CONTROL to all versions.
The power amps are hybrid designs with valve input stage and mosfet output stage. The advantage of this is that you don’t need to change expensive output valves which can get consumed in a year or so of hard use with an all valve power amp. Also, mosfet bass tends to be tighter than amps with output valves yet without the exaggerated bass tightness of many transistor amps.
1) Series 7 45w £770
2) Series 7R – again, regulation gives more grip and control – £1400
3) Series 7R mono-blocks – more separation and bigger soundstage. £2800.
Further clarification about the difference between the Croft 7 and 7R Power amplifiers:
The 7 produces 45W into 8 ohms, 50W into 4 ohms and 50W into 2 ohms. It is stable into any load – even the 7 amplifier is tested by Glenn into ‘triple’ stacked Quad 57s which drop to 0.5 ohms at high frequencies.
The regulation in the 7R is for the driver stage – it does have better output mosfets and a bigger transformer so produces 55W into 8 ohms, 75W into 4 ohms and 90W into 2 ohms.
… and moving on (I hope the above helps – please contact me if you need even further clarification about these excellent amplifiers).
NATURAL IN TONE AND BODY – I have owned Croft equipment since my teens when I purchased a Micro to use as a pre-amp into the original Nad 3020. (For more on this see the ‘About Me’ section.) I admire the fact that the tonality of all his products is extremely natural while rhythm and timing are spot on. Over the years I kept coming back to this range having compared many competitors’ products and found them lacking. Glenn’s genius lies in his ability to simplify a circuit to the point where transparency comes to the fore. Workmanship is superb.
There are three pre-amplifiers in the current range plus the Linestage versions of each model. (The Basic has been discontinued.) Standalone Phono stages are also available. Zero gain versions can be ordered at no extra cost for those with very powerful power amps or power amps with a particularly low input impedance or very sensitive speakers e.g. horns.
1) The Croft Micro 25
2) The Micro 25 R
3) The 2 box 25RS.
They all have separate volume controls for left and right channels and a mute switch. The ‘R’ stands for Regulation and gives more grip across the whole frequency spectrum; bass is more controlled and cymbals more focused. ‘R’ versions also have a more refined sound because phono sockets are higher quality and resistors in signal paths and key capacitors are upgraded. The R versions also have an extra transformer for the regulation circuit.
ALL MODELS CAN BE ORDERED WITH SINGLE STEREO POT AT NO EXTRA COST.
I OFFER A REMOTE-CONTROL OPTION.
Cosmetically the various models use similar casework. Croft do not believe in fancy extrusions which waste world resources and make Hi-Fi akin to jewellery. These are not the old Micro circuits in a new case; they are quicker on their feet and more focussed.
The 25 pre-amps employ a type of hybrid design with an SSD doing the job of the usual cathode follower valve. Glenn says that “hybrid” is not really a correct description as the Mosfet is not directly in the signal path.
Prices range from £550 to £2800.
Croft pre-amp with matching power ampCroft Valve pre 25 power 7 amplifier – rear
The hybrid power amps from the Twinstar to the present Series 7 range are designed similarly to his classic output transformerless valve circuits with one leg of the mosfet going directly to the speaker terminal. No biasing is needed.
Better tone and naturalness than a typical 2A3 or 6550 valve amp using current production output valves IMO. The Series 7 range are hybrid in design using improved circuitry over the previous Croft Polestar/Twinstar range of amplifiers. The 45w Series 7 sounds significantly more powerful than the 100w Primare A30 and 50w Rega Brio R in my experience.
The different models are cosmetically identical, but with different configurations under the lids – twice the work and components from e.g. 7 to 7R, twice again from 7R to 7R monos. Prices range from £770 for the Series 7 to £2800 for the 7R mono-blocks. The power amps comprise:
1) The Croft Series 7
2) The Series 7R
3) The 7 mono-blocks
4) The 7R mono-blocks. (Again ‘R’ means regulated.)
These are designed to work with the Micro 25 pre-amps and complement each other perfectly. Both pre and powers are phase-inverting.
Phono Stages
1) The Croft Acoustics RIAA phono stage The RIAA phono stage is MM uses 2 valves. Price: £500.
2) The RIAA R with regulated power supply and non-inductive resistors in key signal positions. Extra transformer. 3 valves. Price: £1000.
3) The 2 box RIAA RS with really beefy outboard power supply, further regulation and higher component quality. Price: £2000.
Croft Integrated versions.
The Integrateds have a passive linestage as there is no room for an active buffer stage valve as in the 25 pre-amps. (N.B. Some sellers websites claim the Integrated is a Series 7 and 25 in one box…)
1) The Integrated Line
2) The Integrated Phono
3) The Integrated R which is line only has no space for a phono stage.
Croft Integrated Valve amplifier with optional single potCroft Integrated rear
Probably the best value for money valve amplification on the audio market. Nearly 40 years of experience hand-building point-to-point wired products. Croft aim for sonic neutrality which through the medium of valves imparts depth, dimensionality and a superb tone. The phono stages are simply brilliant and with Croft amplification digital comes to life. Made in the UK with a 2 year warranty.
It features solid core silver conductors and the special Gold Note geometry.
A sealed Elastollan® air tube filled with a special mineral oil working as a dielectric enables an almost perfect impedance throughout the whole length of the cable while damping the electrical energy of the conductor.
Silver in oil-damped tubing.
The detail of silver without the sheen.
A really excellent cable – not really known in the UK
Fantastic-sounding balanced DAC / streamer, built on a Linux platform with silver pcbs.
Plays memory sticks directly with an unsurpassed sound quality. Also excellent as a DAC hooked up to appropriate modern day streamers such as AURALiC, Bluesound or even a classic Squeezebox Touch.
2 x 6922 valve output stage.
Output board upgraded with Clarity Cap output capacitors and non-inductive resistors.
This is a digital product that I can listen to for long periods without fatigue or boredom. The only other digital product that did this for me were purposefully smoothing over the rough edges and sweetening the tonal balance. Blacknote isn’t artificially smoothing or sweetening with the DSS: they have come up with a better way of reassembling the zeroes and ones back into an organic whole.
Beautiful 211 integrated 18w/ch minimum.
Pre-owned in solid American walnut
3 inputs.
Transformers below deck.
7kg output transformers.
DC heaters on driver stage.
Choke regulated.
Cryo valves.
Massive power supply 2kV oil capacitor. Takes on £20K 211 amps with ease.
45 kg – over-specced components run cooler and quieter than competitors.
They were built by Massimo Piantini of Max Research in a collaboration with Yamamura Be using Japanese paper, the proprietary secret black cone-doping compound and slow bake process.
As a complete Hi-fi novice I can thoroughly recommend Audioflair and in particular Adrian Parsons.
I usually buy my Hi-Fi equipment second hand buy on this occasion, after much research, I decided to buy a Croft Micro Basic pre-amp and came across Audioflair’s website after Googling for Croft pre-amps so I decided to e-mail them, as you do, on New Years Eve!
Anyway I received a prompt reply from Adrian that day who answered my initial query within a few hours and continued to answer my e-mail questions regarding my set-up and the amp all throughout the day with professionalism and politeness despite the fact that I was only going to spending £400! Never once, during our e-mail exchange, did Adrian ever treat as anything other than a customer and offered excellent advice regarding the pre-amp’s phono board and my Denon DL-110 cartridge which is a high output moving coil cart.
He assured me that the cartridge would be fine with the Croft, which it is, and he made the entire buying process simplicity itself.
Anyone buying ‘blind’ so to speak will agree that it is important to have complete confidence in the product that you are buying and also in the person who you are buying something from and in this respect I can’t recommend Adrian enough.
The amp arrived promptly from the manufacturer (as advised by Adrian) and was very well packaged and protected.
Adrian continued to communicate with me even after delivery and helped with some technical questions I had when I was setting the amp.
I am happy to recommend both Audioflair and indeed Croft for the excellent service and helpful friendly service.
Occupation: Owner at Gearbox Records and Private Equity investor in Music Rights.
I discovered Audioflair by recommendation, which I find to be the best way, in general, to find quality. Several years ago I was in the market for a system upgrade, but was finding it difficult to discern the truth in the complex hi-end, largely cottage industry hi-fi world.
Those who pay the most in marketing invariably become most well known, but are not necessarily the best. That is not to say that the big names are absent when getting advice from Audioflair..it is more that a reasonable and balanced view is given, not clouded by perception and expectation, but judged solely on whether it sounds good. I have bought most of my components through Audioflair, because after weighing up the pros and cons of all the competition in each of the relevant price points, I seem to come back to Adrian at Audioflair’s consistent philosophy of natural, uncoloured sound using the best choice of tools to deliver it. He gave proper insight into the wonders of serious valves, horns and well made solid state, and the art of matching them well within budget….all good. Oh, and he is an engineer and inventor too, so things can be upgraded on site! Highly recommended.
As a somewhat disillusioned Hi-Fi enthusiast, after years of spending money on “5 star equipment” which didn`t perform up to scratch , discovering Audioflair has been a godsend to me, and, I`m sure, also to any other “lost souls” out there trying to get good, honest advice. Your help over the past few years on a variety of Hi-Fi equipment has been invaluable, and my system is now far closer to that which I always desired to own.
The valve upgrade on my Croft pre amp was magic, and at a very fair price (Audiofair price?– Ok maybe not). It made a major improvement in performance, the first of many to follow. Speakers, power amp, cables, all have been spot on, The opportunity to try things out, at home, on ones own system, is an obvious benificial, personal touch, not always available, or welcomed, by larger companies. So, thanks, and keep on doing what you do.
As an acoustic musician and occasional sound engineer, I have spent much of my working life listening closely to musical instruments. Adrian has given me the advice I needed to get a truly amazing life-like sound from my home-system. If I’d followed his advice from the beginning I’m sure I would have saved myself several thousand pounds and a lot of frustration. Adrian is a diamond geezer who understands real hi-fi and believes passionately
I am a musician and am very particular about the quality of music I listen to. Adrian at Audioflair has guided me through a number of products to help get to the level that I am happy with in terms of quality of sound and musicality. He has many years of experience and will be happy to discuss your requirements and tailor the product. He will also give you time to consider your options and make your choice! I highly recommend him.
I have a Hi Fi system, which had been unused for around 3 years. I did not want to spend my budget on Tottenham Court Road! and was not too knowledgeable on stereo equipment, so needed advice.
I had the system serviced and with a limited budget of £150, Adrian invested in fantastic, hand made speakers for me. These alone stood alongside many worth 2k, the sound is first class and the speakers look individual, which is what I really wanted.
The service was personal, honest and non marketed, I would absolutely recommend Audio flair and use them in the future.
