RockRolley Posted September 10, 2024 Posted September 10, 2024 I've been a Radford (and Woodside) collector for most of my hifi journey and am excited to have finally found a Radford Woodside SC26 preamp. I have a pair of Radford Revival MA50 mono blocks and also Radford Woodside WS2 CDP and a Radford Woodside DVAC-18, which are all era-appropriate for the SC26. From the original generation, I have the STA15 (with matching SC22P preamp) and STA25 power amps and also Radford Studio Monitor 4 way transmission line speakers, predecessor to the IMF TLS80's. Anyway, these are all other stories. I have always had an eye out for a Radford Woodside SC26 preamp which I hope is a great match for the mono blocks (apparently it is according to this Stereophile review https://www.stereophile.com/tubepreamps/295wood/index.html ). I have the STA25 in my main system, paired with IMF RSPM MK4 speakers, and I do hope it will ultimately find a home in the main system. On that point, I've found that the STA25 can translate preamps of all different eras beautifully, so I think it will be great with the SC26. The SC26 is somewhere between the UK and here now, and these pics are taken by the seller. I'll give more detail when it arrives. In the meantime I'll need to sell some gear to pay for the preamp. I'd be interested to hear any comments or experiences from anyone who has heard one of these (or indeed good preamp matches with the Radford power amps). 6 1
RockRolley Posted October 17, 2024 Author Posted October 17, 2024 A brief update. The preamp arrived, unfortunately with some problems. There was distortion in the phono stage and some other less significant noise issues. I've had a trusted tech do some work on it and I believe he had success. Thankfully the seller stuck to his word and refunded the cost of the work. I should have the preamp in my system in the coming days. When I did have it prior to sending it off to the workshop, noise issues notwithstanding, I was very impressed with dynamics and soundstage, but I will have to listen again as I can't recall all of the sound signatures. Stay tuned.
Recommended Posts