Tortuga Audio began work on LDR (light dependent resistor) based volume control in 2009 and went commercial with its first LDR based preamplifier in 2012. Over the past decade we’ve evolved our core preamp controller/attenuator design through four iterations. We are now developing our fifth iteration which we refer to the V4. Prior iterations included…
Article discusses Rev B update to the original power board on the Rev A V3 Max power board with a more robust and efficient design. Same update incorporated into the smaller V3 Mini electronic stepped attenuators going forward.
What if, after 180+ years of mechanical pots and stepped attenuators, there was another way to approach high performance audio volume control?
(Update 9.15.20) Following a year and a half of development, we are pleased to announce the release of our new ePot.V3 Mini and Max electronic stepped attenuators & preamp controllers. Although long in coming, the ePot.V3 products are the best sounding electronic stepped attenuators and preamp controllers we’ve designed to date. We are really excited…
An overview of traditional mechanical stepped attenuation and how the ePot.V3 provides a newer and better electronic version of stepped volume control.
The LDR300x.V3 preamp (passive & active versions) replaces our long running LDR3.V25 Passive Preamp and reintroduces an updated version of our short-lived LDR300.V25 Buffered Preamp that was discontinued in early 2019.
Tortuga Audio had a great time and a fantastic sounding room at the inaugural Florida Audio Expo in Tampa, Florida in February 2019. Here are some comments and pictures from that show. The show went off without a hitch, was well attended and the organizers can be quite proud of all the hard work that…
Update: 3.27.2020 – This article has been amended to reflect the name ePot.V3 superseding the earlier name of LDR.V1 A High Performance Stepped Attenuator Tortuga Audio is developing the ePot.V3 as a direct successor model to the LDR.V25 Preamp Controller that includes a version (the ePot.V3 “Mini”) that is intended as a drop-in replacement for…
Tortuga Audio plans to release its new LDR300.V25 Buffered Preamp on August 28. The LDR300 is a remote controlled, singled-ended, active preamplifier that combines Tortuga Audio’s popular LDR (photoresistor) attenuation technology together with a powerful JFET output buffer to deliver robust sonics that will satisfy the most discerning audio enthusiast.
In this article we take a closer look at what’s going on behind the active vs passive preamp debate and hopefully develop a better understanding so we can all make wiser choices.
In May 2018 we released a newer and better display for our line of LDR preamps. Driven by our latest V25 Preamp Controller, the new graphic OLED display (Organic Light Emitting Diode) provides an intuitive and easy to use control interface that replaces our earlier dual 2-digit 7-segment displays.
Designed around the excellent current production 6H30 tube, we’ve concluded that the TPB.V1 Tube Buffer is also compatible with the entire family of 9-pin 6DJ8 / ECC88 / 6922 / 7308 tubes which opens up a big wide world of tube rolling possibilities. And while the 6H30 is a great sounding tube for the Tortuga…
Active DSP Crossovers Are The Future! Nearly all speakers require crossovers. Historically crossovers have been passive. From the lowliest 2-way budget box to those 10 foot tall high-end monster cabinets you see in shows and magazines that cost as much as an average house – passive crossovers. Despite the ubiquitous nature of passive crossovers, active…
Update: April 9, 2017 – The new V25 LDR Preamp Controller board has been released to manufacture and we expect to begin shipping units later this month. The design of the V25 evolved rapidly to overtake our plans for a subsequent V3 thus making the V25 the new V3. Confused? Read on!
Update – March 1, 2017 – The TPB.V1 Hybrid Tube Preamp Buffer has been released. A review of the TPB.V1 can be found here.
This article discusses elements of digital audio including a detailed description of my current digital audio 2 channel stereo system illustrating how anyone can assemble a high performance affordable digital audio system.
Effective May 14, 2016 we are releasing version 2.2 of our firmware including changes in how the Apple Remote is used to control Tortuga Audio preamps. All new preamps will ship with the 2.2 firmware. Owners of existing V2 series preamps including the LDRx and LDRxB can upgrade to the 2.2 firmware if they wish.
Boathull Speakers We recently contracted with a customer to build a set of small bookshelf boathull speakers utilizing a unique type of nonlinear wood construction that results in not only an acoustically superior enclosure but also a very aesthetically pleasing design. As you can see from the pictures above and below, the results are quite…
Bob’s Beach House On an coastal barrier island near where I live there’s a narrow winding side road off the single main road that leads to an even narrower long twisty driveway surrounded by a riot of subtropical flora at the end of which sits a nondescript single story white house on a top of…
LDR3.V2 Passive Preamp Awarded Tortuga Audio is pleased to announce that its LDR3.V2 Passive Preamp has made the list of The Absolute Sound’s Editors’ Choice Awards for 2016. Details regarding the Editors’ Choice Awards will be made available in the March issue of The Absolute Sound which is scheduled to be mailed out on January…
First Newsletter of 2016 I started writing this newsletter during the last week of the year while in Colorado with family over the Christmas break where it was cold. Wearing long pants, socks, and a sweater. And rarely more than 10 feet away from a red hot space heater staring me in the face. I normally…
The original title to this article was going to be “The balanced audio “pin 1 problem” visits Tortuga Audio and how we hummed along with it – and then stopped.” Too much? I thought so too. There’s a particular recurring problem in audio design that’s such a perennial PITA that it even has its own…
Although we never set out to deliberately cause confusion we have nonetheless succeeded. What confusion you ask? The confusion that arises when prospective customers diligently comb through our website trying to understand the differences between two of our LDR preamps; the LDRx ($1795) and the LDR3.V2 ($1195). The essential confusion can be summed up…
1 – Better Conductor of Music Preamps are, first and foremost, devices for controlling volume. 99%+ of all preamps do this by throttling the audio signal through some type of mechanical device made with resistive materials. Devices like a potentiometer (worst) or stepped attenuator (better). The unfortunate reality is the materials in these devices, together…
(Updated: June 2017) Build your own audiophile DIY passive preamp using our complete kits or just a few key components and your own custom enclosure.
While chatting recently with a customer (which I love doing BTW) he mentioned that he would be attending Axpona in Chicago and asked if Tortuga Audio would also be at the show. I told him that, unfortunately, circumstances prevented Tortuga Audio from being at Axpona this year. He suggested that in that case he might…
The Perfect Preamplifier – No Preamp At All If you read enough articles on high performance audio you eventually encounter the definition of a perfect preamp: no preamp at all. Just a short wire between the source and the amplifier. Purity of audio signal unsullied by intervening gear. The problem with no preamp (or a…
What Is Volume Control? Whether you own $10k+ of high end gear or a humble $200 receiver from Best Buy, chances are about 100% that every note of recorded music played through your system is funneled through a volume control device (a.k.a. an attenuator) before it reaches your ears. In the analog signal world volume…
Single Input Balanced Passive Preamp March 15, 2015 – Tortuga Audio is pleased to release the LDR1B.V2 Balanced Passive Preamp. The LDR1B.V2 is the latest model in our LDR (light dependent resistor) based passive preamp product line and is our second model offering attenuation for balanced audio. Unlike its more expensive big brother, the LDRxB, the LDR1B.V2…
Adjustable Impedance March 1, 2015 – Tortuga Audio has released a major firmware update that adds adjustable impedance it its LDR Passive Preamp product line. Adjustable impedance allows the user to change the input impedance of their LDR passive preamp. This firmware update also includes an upgraded auto-calibration algorithm resulting in improved sound stage and…
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