Hi. After reading all of the great Budgie reviews for years, I decided earlier this year to buy one and hear for myself. The suspense was killing me.It really is a whole lot of sound for the money but I've decided to stick with my Eastern Electric MiniMax, and since I already have a couple of back-up phono stages there's no reason to keep the Budgie just because it's cool as hell. This is in excellent condition, both functionally and cosmetically. It comes with the original Electro Harmonix tubes as supplied by designer Shannon Parks and a spare pair of Philips JAN military-grade 6922 tubes with extremely low hours, as in maybe 20. A pair of these normally sell for at least $50. I rolled several different tubes through the Budgie, including vintage Amperex, but was most happy with the supplied EH and the Philips. Price is $425, which seems to be the going rate without any extras. If you don't want the extras, then the price drops to $395. This sale, at the asking price, includes the Budgie, power supply, instructions, spare tubes and a pair of StraightWire Concerto interconnects, another budget favorite from back in the day. Shipping will be actual cost, using original box plus an extra outer box, and I pack very carefully. Here are the details and specifications for the curious: - Single-ended, Class A, all-vacuum-tube audio path
- Passive RIAA equalization with hand-matched components
- Uses external 6DJ8/6922 tubes for ease of tube rolling
- 38 dB gain suitable for MM carts
- Exacta™ monotonic loading system allows 16 different loading choices
- Quiet DC filaments
- Muting circuit at start up to eliminate pops and thermal noise
- Powered with an external 12V mini-desktop supply
- Made in the USA Specifications - Tubes: Two matched 6922 Electro-Harmonix tubes (included)
- Gain: 38dB (suitable for carts with at least 5mV output)
- Input Impedance: 47K, adjustable
- Output Impedance: 6K ohm
- RIAA Accuracy: +/-0.5dB from 20Hz to 20kHz
- Distortion: less than 0.1% at 1kHz with 30mVrms input
- SNR: typically 78dBA with 5mV input
- Overload: Minimum headroom of 200mVrms at 1kHz
- Power: 7W
- Input Voltage: 100 to 240VAC 50/60Hz external 12VDC supply
- Weight: 20 oz (570g)
- Size: 7” x 5” x 4.5” (180 x 130 x 115 mm)
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