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AMBROSIA 2000 -“ THE STORY
30 YEARS AGO, IN 1975, OUR DESIGNER JAMES BONGIORNO, UNLEASHED
ONTO THE WORLD, THE THAEDRA, FROM GREAT AMERICAN SOUND. AS
OF THEN AND EVEN NOW STILL, THIS WORLD CLASS PREAMP HAS BEEN
REVERED FOR ITS PERFORMANCE. THERE HAS BEEN NOTHING SINCE,
TUBE OR TRANSISTOR, TO EQUAL THE MAJESTY OF THAT PREAMP.
AND EVEN THOUGH MANY THOUSANDS OF THEM WERE PRODUCED, YOU
RARELY SEE THEM MADE AVAILABLE IN THE USED MARKET. INDEED,
THOSE WHO DID PART WITH THEM ARE CRYING SONGS OF REGRET
SINCE NOTHING HAS EQUALLED THE THAEDRA. AS OF THAT TIME, THE
THAEDRA WAS THE MOST COMPLICATED AND SOPHISTICATED PREAMP
THAT THE WORLD HAD EVER SEEN. IT HAD VIRTUALLY EVERY POSSIBLE
FEATURE THAT ANY AUDIOPHILE COULD WANT.
WHAT TO DO FOR AN ENCORE??????
TODAY, AN AUDIO CONTROL UNIT MUST BE REMOTE CONTROLLED. THIS
IS ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY. HOWEVER, AS MOST PEOPLE KNOW,
MOST REMOTE CONTROL CONCEPTS INVOLVE A GAZILLION BUTTONS,
ETC., WHICH ARE A ROYAL PAIN. WE ENDEAVORED TO MAKE A UNIT
THAT WAS SO SIMPLE THAT A CHILD COULD OPERATE IT (ALTHOUGH
WE DO NOT RECOMMEND THAT CHILDREN RUN YOUR AUDIO SYSTEM).
THE AMBROSIA IS COMPLETELY MENU DRIVEN AND THE REMOTE
IS A CARBON COPY OF THE FRONT PANEL OF THE UNIT. THIS WAY,
THERE CAN BE ABSOLUTELY NO CONFUSION IN ITS OPERATION OR
FUNCTIONALITY. YOU MIGHT SAY THAT THE AMBROSIA IS COMPLETELY
PROGRAMMABLE. IN ADDITION, SAVE FOR THE MAIN (HEAVY DUTY
SEALED, 8 AMPERE) OUTPUT RELAYS, THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY NO
MECHANICAL PARTS WHATSOEVER. EVERYTHING IS CONTROLLED
ELECTRONICALLY. HOWEVER , EVEN THOUGH THE AMBROSIA IS FULLY
DIGITALLY CONTROLLED, THERE ARE NO DIGITAL CIRCUITS OR DIGITAL
PROCESSING IN THE SIGNAL PATH. THE SIGNAL PATH IS STILL ALL 100%
ANALOG. ALL FUNCTIONS ARE CONTROLLED BY A SET OF 11 VERY EXOTIC
ANALOG SWITCHES THAT ARE DIGITALLY CONTROLLED. IN ADDITION,
THE VOLUME CONTROL IS ALSO MADE UP OF ANALOG SWITCHES WHICH
ARE DIGITALLY CONTROLLED. THE FUNCTIONAL OPERATIONAL STATE
IS DISPLAYED ON A READOUT ON THE FRONT PANEL. ALL FUNCTIONS
ARE ACCESSED VIA FIVE TACT SWITCHES IN CONJUNCTION WITH A
TRUE OPTICAL SHAFT ENCODER (THE ENCODER ON THE REMOTE IS A
MECHANICAL UNIT IN ORDER TO SAVE BATTERY POWER). FINALLY,
THERE ARE A PAIR OF POWERED HEADPHONE JACKS ON THE FRONT
PANEL WHICH CAN PUT OUT HUNDREDS OF MILLIWATTS INTO EVEN THE
LOWEST IMPEDANCE HEADPHONES.
2 15
MC Noise Spectrum 2 Line Amp THDN 2V Out 2
MC RIAA Error 2 MC RIAA Error 3
MM RIAA Error 2 MM THDN 2V Out 2
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Line Amp Response 2
14 3
THE FEATURES OF THE AMBROSIA ARE AS FOLLOWS.
11. ULTRA LOW EMISSION POWER TRANSFORMER MOUNTED IN
ITS OWN CAN. IT HAS FOUR SECONDARY SETS OF WINDINGS
WHICH ARE USED TO POWER EACH SECTION OF THE CIRCUITS
TOTALLY INDEPENDENTLY WHICH ABSOLUTELY ELIMINATES A
POSSIBILTY OF GROUND LOOPS OR POWER SUPPLY NOISE.
12. IN ADDITION THERE ARE 15 INDEPENDENT POWER SUPPLY
REGULATORS FOR ABSOLUTE IMMUNITY.
13. AS IN THE ORIGINAL THAEDRA THERE ARE COMPLETELY SEPARATE
CIRCUITS FOR BOTH THE MOVING COIL AND THE MOVING
MAGNET CARTRIDGE SOURCES, BOTH OF THEM RIAA EQUALIZED.
14. IN ADDITION, EACH CIRCUIT, THAT IS BOTH MC AND MM, HAS
ITS OWN SET OF DIRECT OUTPUTS WHICH BYPASSES ALL OF THE
INTERNAL SWITCHING.
15. IN ADDITION, EACH CIRCUIT HAS ITS OWN SWITCHABLE
AND DEDICATED LOW CUT (APPROXIMATELY 20HZ) FILTER
WHICH IS A QUASI 4 TH ORDER PHASE EQUALIZED NETWORK.
16. THERE ARE SEVEN (7) SETS OF INPUTS (PLUS TWO SETS OF TAPE
INPUTS AND OUTPUTS) TWO OF WHICH SHARE THE SAME INPUT
JACK I.E. AN XLR COMBO JACK FOR BALANCED WITH A PAIR OF
GOLD PLATED PHONE TO PHONO PLUGS FOR AN ADDITIONAL
UNBALANCED INPUT. (SUPPLIED)
17. THERE ARE A PAIR OF HEADPHONE JACKS ON THE FRONT PANEL
WHICH ARE POWERED BY A VERY UNIQUE BALANCED POWER
BUFFER IDLING AT 4.5 WATTS PER CHANNEL.
18. THE LINE AMPLIFIER IS FULLY BALANCED WITH AN EXTREMELY EXOTIC
CIRCUIT THAT HAS ESSENTIALLY ZERO DISTORTION. AS A MATTER
OF FACT, ALL OF THE DISTORTION PRODUCTS IN THE AMBROSIA
FROM THE HIGH LEVEL INPUTS ONWARD COME SPECIFICALLY AND
ONLY FROM THE PASSIVE SWITCHES AND VOLUME CONTROL. THESE
DISTORTION PRODUCTS ARE OF THE PASSIVE VARIETY WHICH
ARE VIRTUALLY INAUDIBLE AS COMPARED TO THE MORE NORMAL
DYNAMIC DISTORTIONS THAT ARE CREATED BY THE CIRCUITS.
19. THE LINE AMPLIFIER ALSO HAS COMPLETE TONE CONTROLS,
BASS AND TREBLE (WITH FOUR SELECTABLE INFLECTION POINTS
FOR EACH) THAT VIRTUALLY NO HIGH END PREAMP HAS TODAY.
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FLAT ROOM .
10. THE ENTIRE PREAMP METAL PACKAGE (WITH THE EXCEPTION
OF THE FRONT PANEL) IS MADE OF 14 Ga. STEEL AND THE UNIT
WEIGHS IN AT A HEFTY 50 LBS. ALL METAL SURFACES INCLUDING
THE FRONT PANEL ARE POWDER COATED.
11. THE DISPLAY READOUT HAS LARGE NUMERALS WHICH CAN BE
READ EASILY FROM ACROSS THE ROOM.
12. THE REMOTE CONTROL IS MADE OUT OF A SOLID MILLED OUT PIECE OF
ALUMINUM (NOT A CHEAP PIECE OF PLASTIC).
JB_Quasi_2nd_Order_Low_Cut_MM,_MC 20Hz May 25, 2006 12:02:00
Traces: io3,
AC Analysis
Frequency (Hz)
1 10 100
Magnitude
100µ
1m
10m
100m
1
10
MM-MC LO FILTER
MM-Noise Spectrum 2 MC RIAA 2
Tone Controls 2
