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Coffman Labs G1 - Sounds Like a Winner


Hello,

I was wondering if anyone has had the opportunity to hear the new Coffman Labs G1 preamp? I picked up the first blip on Tone Publication's new issue, so I called Echo Audio in Portland right away. It's listed as a do-everything, old school, tube preamp that has a killer built in headphone amp and best of all a fantastic phono section. Tone was pretty tight lipped (No.46 page 129) but the person I talked to at Echo said it's going to be demoed at the grand opening of the new store next Wednesday. Kurt was unavailable. I was really hoping to get my hands on it for a demo. It's price is slightly out of my comfort zone ($5K) but if I can get down to one box that does three functions - it's actually not bad. I am most interested in the phono stage. Tone stated, Coffman Labs is only building 500 units. Must have moon rocks in it. Next to the moon rocks is a pair of 12AX7's and a pair of 12AU7's for the phono stage and 5687's for the output. Works for me, I have a pretty good stash for the Modwright. There is supposed to be a review posted shortly but I can’t take anyone’s word for it at that price; I need to hear it and I need to hear it on my system. The more input the better however.

Enter the Agon forum.

I have always received good info from you guys, so I thought I would throw it out there and see who has an opinion. I am really interested in the phono stage mated with the pre. I am still running my trusty Modwright SWL 9.0 SE which I will keep forever, but I am not opposed to retiring it to the man cave. This thing just looks cool to me ... man, the last time I got this excited I ended up with the Modwright and ate top romen for three months. I might not be seeing micro brews or meat for a year.

But then again, Kurt has never steered me wrong.
128x128horseface

Showing 3 responses by horseface

horseface's avatar
horseface OP
222 posts
 

Did a bit of looking around and Googled the web site last night. It's actually the Coffman Labs G1-A. Sounds like its hand built with military grade parts - designed to last decades. It's debut we be at Echo next Wednesday. I'm not sure I will make it down - mid week is tough for me to break away. I'm hoping someone out there will get a listen.
horseface's avatar
horseface OP
222 posts
 

Finally made it in to Echo Audio on a relatively quiet afternoon for a listen. He was pushing a giant set of Duntechs with a pair of BAT VK-60's in mono via the Coffman G1-A. All I can vouch for is the preamp section as he didn’t have a turntable setup but man it was what I was hoping for. Dead quiet, built like 50's vintage piece and it sounded fantastic top to bottom. It wasn’t the best setup, as I couldn’t get far enough back for my liking; never the less I was impressed. It's a lot more attractive than what I had seen in the photos. I thought it was a bit strange looking at first but with the power supply unit sitting next to it – it’s a really attractive piece. The detail in the chassis can’t really be seen in a photo. The switches and volume pot are clearly way overbuilt and seem to be of the highest quality. The preamp has the ability to shut off both the input and output sections independently which seems cool to me, as I would like to switch stuff around without having to power down the tubes. I didn’t try out the headphone amp, which is something I am interested in as well.
Kurt told me the full review from Tone was coming out soon and after that, I would be able to take the demo unit home for a while. That will be the key – can it perform on my more modest system? Is it worth the cost of an upgrade and how will it perform next to my Modwright SWL 9.0? I will write up a full review if anyone is interested.
horseface's avatar
horseface OP
222 posts
 

Made it to Echo last night and I was impressed. We arrived late and it was quite cramped. Lots of Echo Audio fans showed up, so there was no room for critical listening. The Coffman was a sight to behold; it's got a very distinctive look, not quite like any other piece I saw in the room. I didn’t really get to flip switches and turn knobs as Jeff Dorgay from Tone was playing DJ on the system. It worked out great and I really enjoyed the song selection but I would have liked to get 10 minutes alone with the G1-A. The Coffman power supply is a separate unit connected with an extremely beefy umbilical. I slid a finger under it and checked the heft of the unit while the door prizes were being drawn. Its heavy … everything looks overbuilt as the Coffman website leads me to believe. It looks “old school” but at the same time very classy. The outboard power unit is a mini version of the main chassis and looks like it can be placed right next to the main chassis on a top shelf. The unit is tall and the tubes shoot right out of the top so rack placement is either going to be on a minimum 16” high rack shelf or on top. I would have to do some major rearranging to get it to fit but it’s probably time. Dan Wright from Modwright was there and they had his new integrated amp under the Coffman … it looks very attractive as well but they didn’t have it setup… I might have to give that a listen as well. I would have liked to see his KWA-150 SE powering the system.

Did anyone out there by chance show up last night early? I would love to hear your thoughts. The system that was setup was a behemoth, so it’s probably not indicative of what I can expect. Never the less, it would be nice to get some feedback while I plot my next trip into the store.
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