Audible Illusions Modulus M3B MC with John Curl Gold Phono Boards Factory Refurbished with 1 Year Warranty

Just received a Factory refurbished Modulus M3B MC with John Curl Gold Moving Coil phono boards in mint condition with 1 Year factory warranty. Still in its original box opened it to take the pictures the open top picture is from Audible Illusions factory image. These are rare to come by in this condition. Price is $ 2895.00 plus shipping and paypal fees. All shipping thru Fedex with Insurance and tracking #. Request an invoice before paying. Thanks for looking, have a great day.
Serial # M3290101 

The Modulus M3B adds a host of features and performance enhancements over its predecessor, the M3A.
 

·        Relay Switching – signal does not pass through switches resulting in better clarity and definition.

·        Upgraded inter-stage coupling capacitors - All capacitors in the signal path are film and foil or Teflon for better resolution and lower noise.

·        Larger power transformer for the inboard power supply results in improved performance in all areas.

·        Cleaner, more direct signal path results in greater clarity, lower noise and improved resolution.

·        New audio taper on attenuators for more precise matching with a broader range of components.

·        User adjustable gain settings

The Modulus M3B is a deceptively simple design, employing a single gain stage, class A triode circuit utilizing no cathode followers or buffers to degrade the sound. It is a basic design concept that has remained a focus of the Modulus circuit topology since its inception and is one of the reasons for the sparkling sonic clarity and resolution.

Inside you'll find a host of superb parts and pieces, along with excellent quality workmanship and great attention to detail. The list of parts includes: Teflon solder mask, OFC circuit board traces, custom film capacitors and custom stepped attenuators using high quality metal film resistors.

What is it that makes the Modulus M3B such a standout? I'd have to say it is a balance of strengths with few, very few, weaknesses. A strong suit has always been the soundstage, and the M3B competes with most any preamp (almost regardless of price) in this area. It develops an absolutely holographic panorama, that is truly a delight to experience.

In sum, it is difficult to fault the Modulus 3B on any count. Look for yourself, but I doubt you'll find a preamp with this level of performance, build-quality and reliability at anywhere near the price. The MM phono input will accept any cartridge with 1mV of output, or greater. For those using low output moving coil cartridges, optional Gold Phono Boards are available for increased gain. Designed by the legendary John Curl, the ultra-quiet pre-preamp boards give the M3B the ability to handle even very low output MC cartridges with low noise and superb fidelity.

CUSTOMER COMMENTS:
 

"I have a Modulus 3A with Gold phono board. The gold phono board is all fet designed by John Curl and is very similar to the sound of the Vendetta phono preamp. The Gold phono board adds about 20db of gain to the signal, then it passes through the M3B tube phono preamp. I use it with a ZU/Denon DL103. The sound is to die for. I also have a Modulus 3B in my main system and the sound of the 3B is light years ahead of the 3A. It is much quieter, has greater bandwidth and the sound is much more relaxed and analog sounding. I am using a Dynavector 20xl low output mc cartridge on this preamp with a Denon AU320 step up transformer. I must say that the gold phono board on my Modulus3A sounds better than using the Denon SUT. The tube phono preamp on both units are very satisfactory. Both phono preamps are very quiet using the Ultra low noise 6h23neb tubes from Audible Illusions. I have to put the preamp volume 3/4 of the way up before I hear even the slightest amount of hiss with my 89db efficient speakers. The L3 is just the line portion of the M3B preamp, it only uses 2 tubes instead of 4. Everything else is the same. If you do not have a turntable, get the L3 instead." - Stereo5, AG Member

GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS:

·        Overall Gain: 58dB at 1kHz

·        Tube Compliment: 4-6922 or 6H23EB twin-triodes, graded & matched

·        Weight: 20.5 lbs, 24 lbs (shipping weight)

·        Dimensions: 19″W x 3.5″H standard rack

·        Chassis is 17″W x 11″D x 3″H

·        Power Supply, 6″W x 10″D x 5″H

·        Muting:45 second warm-up and automatic brown-out protection

·        Power Requirements: 115-125VAC, 60Hz

·        45 watt maximum. 6 foot IEC Line Cord, supplied

·        Optional 100, 220, 230, 240 50-60Hz transformers.

  PHONO SECTION:

·        Gain: 28dB at 1kHz

·        Frequency Response: +/- .25dB of RIAA from 20hz to 20kHz

·        Signal Phase: Non-Inverting

·        Signal to Noise: 74dB below a 5mV input wideband

·        Distortion: Less than .015% at 20 kHz

·        Input Impedance: 47 kOhms

·        Phono Overload: 1.2v rms at 1 kHz (100k load)

·        750mv rms at 1 kHz (IHF load)

HIGH LEVEL SECTION:

·        Gain: 30dB, Tape & S/S Processor 0dB

·        Frequency Response: Within +/-1 dB

·        2Hz to 100kHz measured w 1-1 probe

·        (50 kOhms, 100pf load)

·        Signal to Noise: 90dB below 1.5V rms output wideband

·        Input Impedance: 50kOhm – all

·        Output Impedance: Main-1.2 kOhms, Tape-150 Ohms

·        Distortion: .10% at 1.5V rms, 20-50 kHz, into 50kOhm load. Less than .12% THD at 1v out into IHF load

·        Signal Phase: Main Outputs – Inverting

·        Tape Outputs – Non-Inverting

·        Maximum Input: 9v rms.

 Control Functions: Dual-Mono Left & Right Stepped Attenuator Volume Controls, Subsonic Filter, Tape-Source, Stereo-Mono, Muting, On-Off. 

Input Selection: CD, DVD, Phono, Tuner, Video, Auxiliary, Tape

Output Selection: Main (2) Tape
Optional: Internal, gold-plated L&R channel circuit boards for low-output M/C cartridges.
Circuit Design is Dual-Mono, Class A, Single-Ended Triode, Open Loop.

External Power Supply, housing three separate supplies, prevents unwanted AC induced distortions.
Main Chassis has five separate, fully-regulated FET power supplies in addition to separate filament supplies.

Audio Circuit has No Cathode Followers or Buffers.
Standby Soft-Start Circuit prolongs tube life and circuit components.
Automatic-Timed Muting.
Control Knobs have Low-Light Back-lit Illumination.
Separate Volume Controls are Precision Stepped Attenuators.
Proprietary gold-plated RCA Jacks with Teflon Insulators.
All circuit boards are Hand-Soldered with silver-bearing solder.
All Polypropylene, Teflon, and Polystyrene capacitors are Proprietary Designs.
Completely handcrafted in USA.