Colibri: Préamplificateur Universel pour disques

Colibri: An Universal Preamp for turntable - French version

Having a great record collection should represent to the audiophile the ultimate of refined luxury, the difficulty to obtain the ideal sound can however reveal many technical hurdles to overcome and hence significant financial investment. Colibri PA is conceived to the formentionned concerns.

Colibri PA is an upgraded package to previous versions, detailled below.

Colibri

Colibri PA characteristics take into account the remarks from previous versions (see at the bottom of this article). Conception using double layer PCB designed by audio and video specialist, allows to reach the audiophile features:

Its characteristics take into account the remarks below. The principal change comes from conception of a double layer PCB, designed in collaboration with audio and video specialists, to produce optimal results; several new features are also included:

• 12 selections of different egalisation curves,9 monophonic and 3 stereophonic,
• play discs in lateral cut or vertical cut, selectionable by a single button,
• the usage of high end devices (such as SoundPlus TM from Burr Brown) allows low noise and low distorsion data,
• one selection allows a flat response in stereo mode (corresponding to right and left sides of the groove),
• RCA inputs for magnetic cell, selectable internaly by jumper for Mobile Magnet (MC will follow as an option),
• 2 RCA outputs 1VCC adapted to AUX inputs of a standard amplifier or a PC sound card, XLR as an option,
• embedded microcontroller allows user friendly interface integrated ,
• Output levels ajustable - 2 bargraphs for left and right channels,
• enclosure ABS black 235*145*45 mm,
• DC input for an external 12V.

Planning:

• full production now, one month after reception of the order (1 month leadtime),
• commercial structure in place for sales,

Pricing (VAT not applicable, art. 293 B / CGI)

• unit price 600 € ex-works Clamart
• 690 € with XLR, ex-works Clamart

Testimonials

• M.P.C (mars 2011) : "Bien reçu l'appareil, branché sans aucun problème. Le résultat est parfait. // Pour les disques à saphir, l'inverseur est d'une commodité exemplaire et j'ai pu ainsi pour la première fois écouter de nombreux disques que je ne pouvais lire".

• M. F.S (mars 2011): "Dès mon retour chez moi j'ai mis en service votre préamplificateur "Colibri" (sans aucune difficulté) et procédé à quelques écoutes. Les disques 78Tm'ont permis d'utiliser les différentes courbes d'égalisation disponibles. Je viens également d'écouter plusieurs 33T. Les résultats sont excellents et le Colibri s'adapte sans aucun problème . Tout à fait ce que j'espérais".

• M. N.C (mars 2011): "Très franchement, c'est fantastique ! J'en suis vraiment très content : le passage d'une courbe à l'autre ne produit aucun "pop", ce qui est une preuve de la haute qualité du préampli. En outre les courbes me semblent bien définies, et le son est très profond et agréable, sans trop accentuer les graves ni les aigus. Pour l'instant, je ne l'ai testé qu'avec 78 tours et disques Pathé à saphir, je le testerai ce week-end sur quelques vinyles. En somme, c'est tout à fait génial (je m'attendais de toute façon à de très bons résultats, et je ne suis pas déçu). Tu n'imagines pas comme c'est agréable de pouvoir enfin lire mes disques à saphir correctement, en mono et en réponse verticale ! Bravo pour ce beau Colibri qui selon moi est une pleine réussite et devrait faire un tabac parmi les spécialistes du 78 tours"

Version 2011.

Histoty of Colibri

• L'origine de Colibri
  When I decides to digitise the Pathé Saphir collection in 2003, I was obliged to design my own preamp for my personal usage. My goal was to use a sandard turntable and to experiment different solution to get the best from thes discs. My turntable was equiped with a stereo magnetic cartridge, as most of them are, but all the amplifier that had a phono input were cabled in RIAA, and even if the RIAA is good for vinyles, it is not suitable for 78 RPM...On top of that, read a saphir disc need to reject the noise introduced in the perpendicular direction of the disc cut (lateral or vertical) better than what we can obtain by recabling the cartridge only. . (see the article on this subject here).
  As an electronic engineer, I did it by myself:
  - the 1st preamp was able to read saphirs or lateral cuts, but was not able to offer any egalisations for 78RPM which needed a post egalisation. The noise level was alos perfectible.
  - The second one built in 2005 had several egalisation curves. An electronic rejection of the perpendicular noise was implemented thanks to relays and gave good results. It was a 'home made prototype only, built as a prototype. Several features were still missing:

  • the preamp was not reproductible, it was a demo only for my personal usage,
  • it was uneasy to get good performances w/o a clean multilayer PCB,
  • Egalisations curves were limited to 6,
  • monophonic only,
  • it has been upgraded by additional small wired boards for some experiments,