Archive: Craft C3 and C4

Listening to one of New Zealand's premier amplifiers

by Charles Thomson

January 2004

Craft C4 preamplifier $1775. Craft C3 power amplifier $1899. Combination $3550

This review appeared in the March 1987 print issue of AudioEnz, then called Zounds. It accompanies our interview with designer Gary Morrison, who subsequently joined forces with Peter Thomson of Plinius.

New Zealand manufacturers are producing amplification equipment to a very high standard, and Craft is no exception.

Upon opening the cartons in which they are packed, the immediate feeling is quality. There are three units in total, the power amplifier, the preamplifier and its power supply. All components are finished is silver/grey on the front panels and a darker grey on the tops and sides.

The power amplifier has only one control, that being the on/off switch. Appearance of this unit is very neat. Even the heat sinks are barely visable. The top covers the heat sink, with only a small series of holes indicating that there is heat generated inside which requires dissipating.

On the other hand the preamp is a more interesting device. Front panel treatment compliments that of the power amplifier except that it stands only 50mm high. Four rotary controls are provided - programme selector, tape source, balance and volume. Two LEDs, one orange, one green, indicate the operating status of the preamp.

Perhaps the most noticeable feature is the two rows of phono sockets which are mounted on the top surface at the rear. By positioning them in this manner they can be mounted directly onto the printed circuit board. These sockets provide inputs for phono, CD, two tape decks and tuner. There are two outputs - one is a standard buffered high gain output, while the other is entirely passive as it comes from the volume control wiper.

The third unit houses the preamp power transformer and channel pre-regulator circuitry. This is permanently wired to the preamplifier.

When reading the instructions which are provided (and this is essential before using the Craft) the first point to notice is that you are invited to delve into the inside of the preamplifier. This is in complete contrast to most manufacturers who issue dire warnings against such an action.

When the preamp's top panel is removed to things become immediately apparent - the cabinet is made of wood and the build quality is superb. Even non-technical people could not fail to be impressed with the way this unit is constructed.

Rather than provide separate moving magnet and moving coil input stages the C4 uses a single stage with adjustable gain, covering sensitivities from 2mv to 159 uv (moving coil). Two small blocks of switches allow one to alter pickup cartridge loading. The range concerned is 53 ohms to 47kohms, all being selectable while a record is playing.

Line level input sensitivity can also be adjusted in a similar manner to the phono input. I found this to be a useful feature for matching the volume of a CD player to that coming off the record.

After a lengthy preamble we now come to the interesting part - how does it sound? In a word, terrific. Speakers used were KEF 104.2, Magneplanar SMG, Quad ESL63 and Rogers LS3/5a. Front end units consisted of the Sony CDP-502ES CD player and an AR turntable using both the AR tonearm and a Rega RB300. Cartridges were Ortofon MC20 and MC20 Super.

The Craft handled all of these components extremely well. Some combinations were slightly preferable to others, but no doubt my listening room played a part in this.

The C4's MC stage is one of the quietest I have heard. Gain was more than sufficient and the sound so enjoyable that for the first time in several years many older LPs were given a play.

Those older LPs provide clarity and detail of instrument tone (timbre) that I had not experience before. Audiophile recordings on the other hand sounded nothing short of exceptional. Bass was tight and well controlled, midrange exceptionally detailed and the treble, oh so sweet.

For me the highlight of this listening experience was the voice. It didn't matter whether it was basso or soprano, pop or classical. Separation of instruments, imaging and depth of soundstage were all of a very high order.

Listening to CD was also an enjoyable experience. The Bosendorfer Imperial Grand Piano was portrayed with great accuracy and power as were recordings of huge pipe organs. At the other end of the scale solo guitar played by artistes such as Pepe Romero displayed a beautiful, delicate quality. Symphony orchestras posed no problems, all instruments were located where they should be and violins displayed no sign of harshness.

Was there anything I didn't like about the C3/C4 combination? Certainly nothing to do with sound quality. Therefore any comments are purely from a personal viewpoint.

During the past five years I have not been in anyone's home where components have been rack mounted. I wonder at the need for extended fascia panels and drilled holes in them for this purpose.

In describing the appearance of the preamp mention was made of connections being on top of the unit. While there are advantages in this practice (ie, phono sockets mounted directly on the printed circuit board and ease of making connections) it does not endear some members of the family to the overall appearance.

In the value of money stakes the Craft must come out as highly recommended. I have been able to compare it to numerous imported amplifiers, both solid state and valve, costing two to four times the asking price of the Craft. In most cases it loses out to none of them.

We are fortunate in New Zealand that we have manufacturers such as Craft, McLaren, Perreaux, Plinius and Mega. Dollar for dollar their equipment is impossible to beat.