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Yellowstone Preamplifier
$35,000.00
In the process of developing the Yosemite preamplifier, further experiments were done in several areas to see just how far the new platform could be stretched. Eventually it became clear that what had been created was not simply a set of premium options but a truly separate product with a somewhat different cost and use case. Enter the Yellowstone.
While the Yosemite is the consummate purist’s choice, the Yellowstone verges on the excessive. New in-house power transformers were designed from the ground up, using Tectronix Analog Oscilloscope transformers as a model. Tectronix Analog Scopes are among the most highly executed pieces of audio equipment ever made, and their transformers contribute in large part to their special characteristics. These transformers are legendary amongst true tube aficionados for several reasons, namely that they function as built-in regulators, removing DC, maintaining very low voltage variability and achieving extremely quiet noise figures. We have additionally made them 400% overspecified for the application and added double internal shielding to them.
Far from satisfied with this change, we also added chokes to both power supplies, more than tripling the weight of the unit, and even further reducing noisefloor. We have also opted to use very expensive Jupiter Condenser copper and beeswax capacitors throughout the entire unit. The results are a vanishingly quiet line and phonostage. Fitting for such changes, every Yellowstone also ships with a selection of premium NOS tubes.
From a function standpoint, while the Yellowstone’s basic platform is retained, several key changes were made. First, the inclusion of swappable MC step transformers - these are custom made for ampsandsound and offer several choices of impedance and core material. True vinyl lovers will have essentially totally freedom to fine tune the MC input to their exact needs and desires.
A remote control was also added for those customers who desire greater convenience, and great pains were taken to select a high quality microprocessor relay latch of sufficient fidelity and quality as to match the Yellowstone. This necessitated the addition of another power supply to the preamp, so the microprocessor runs on its own separate power supply, totally isolated and separate from the audio signal path.
Whereas the Yosemite is a product that could conceivably have been built in eighty years ago, the Yellowstone allows for certain modern DNA in function, and will appeal to those who possess systems of greater complexity. Yellowstone is also intended as a permanent installation in the systems of those who need the absolute last word in detail and fidelity, with even deeper bass, and even more exquisite tonal and textural refinement.