A little help identifying please

[Jasonb]

Hi all, apologies if this is a dumb question.
I found this Bottlehead preamp for sale near me, it is misidentified as PT-1 because the power transformer has that part number. I scoured the Bottlehead site but I can’t find this one. What am I looking at here? Possible value?
Thanks !

 

[Paul Joppa]

That's Seduction, a phono preamp. It was introduced in 2002, and upgraded in 2003 with the PT-1 and the C4S - the narrow PC board. The signal-carrying caps appear to have been upgraded by the builder.

It was discontinued in 2007, around the time Eros was introduced, but resurrected  in 2014 under the name Reduction, revised as version 1.1 in 2020, and discontinued it 2023.

 

[Jasonb]

Fantastic, thank you! Any idea on value? And is it something worth pursuing or discontinued for good reason…

 

[Paul Joppa]

It was my second design for Bottlehead, so of course I think it was great  :^)

I'm still proud of the design, but it was the wrong product at the wrong time and never really caught on. It's not a collectable.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Possible value?

If it didn't have those toggle switches installed, probably $350-400.  If you are able to get a straight answer on why they are there, then maybe not too much less than that.  If you can't get an answer regarding the switches, then maybe more like $200.

 

[Jasonb]

Thank you very much, gentleman. Much appreciated. It is a pretty little thing. I’ll see what’s going on with the toggle switches.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Looking more closely, this is no longer an RIAA preamp, so definitely keep that in mind when purchasing.

 

[Jasonb]

Thanks, Paul, I guess I’ll pass then. Who knows what all has been done to this one

 

[thefreight]

Hi all,

I believe I just purchased this exact item….

I was searching for the “PT 1” and came up empty….  I took a chance on it. 

I just came across this forum…. 

I’m obviously pretty nervous after reading the comments….

Not “RIAA anymore” definitely worries me….  I bought it with the intent of using it as a phono pre amp…

Im a newbie with tube pre’s , sorry if my comments/concerns are redundant

 

[Paul Birkeland]

What did the seller say it was?

 

[Doc B]

Hmm. I'm going to guess that is it a Seduction that was built as a tape head preamp. It looks rather similar to the prototype I built over 20 years ago when I first started to dabble with tape playback electronics. There was a link to an article about the project for many years but it has been lost with time. Perhaps the Wayback might find it.

At any rate, unless you already understand the differences between RIAA and NAB/IEC equalization filters you are not going to find it worth your time to learn enough to modify it for phono use. Better to sell it to someone looking for a tape head preamp and find a Reduction or better yet an Eros, which we currently manufacture.