Предусилители — JAVA Hi-Fi DOUBLE SHOT LDR

The Double Shot is the fully balanced LDR preamplifier of JAVA Hi-Fi, a New Zealand maker run by Martin Bell. JAVA's first product was a passive preamplifier whose light dependent resistor circuit came from Chris Daly, creator of the Stereo Coffee LDR control board that also inspired the coffee names, and its original case was drawn by Bell together with Shane Inder, head of industrial design at AUT University. The current Double Shot became available in March 2023 alongside the Single Shot versions at GBP 5,890 in the UK. It was later listed from USD 5,995 and now starts at USD 6,495, with the final figure set by the chosen finish.

Key specs that matter

Every connection is XLR. The rear panel carries seven pairs of balanced line inputs and three pairs of balanced outputs, two variable and one fixed, and there are no RCA sockets at all. A headphone output is built in, and a remote control changes volume and source. The case measures 44 x 41.5 x 13 cm and the unit weighs 12.5 kg. Real wood veneers in walnut or ebony come in satin or high gloss, white satin and black high gloss are also listed, and the 8 mm anodised aluminium fascia comes in a choice of three colours - black, silver and copper.

Engineering and use context

Level is set with light instead of a wiper on a resistive track. The front knob changes the brightness of an LED that shines on a light dependent resistor, and the resistance of that part falls as more light reaches it. The control side stays isolated from the audio signal, and a microcontroller is used only for volume and input switching, so no mechanical contact sits in the signal path to wear or add noise over time. The rest of the audio path is all-discrete. The circuit board is fitted inverted inside a CNC-machined case to limit vibration, each unit comes with 75 hours of burn-in, and the power draw is very low. The two variable outputs can feed a stereo power amplifier and a powered subwoofer at the same time, while the fixed output suits a recorder or an external headphone amplifier.

Pairing

It needs balanced sources and a power amplifier with XLR inputs. Both JAVA GaN FET stereo power amplifiers have one XLR input pair and an identical footprint for stacking. Sources with only RCA outputs would need adapters or a different preamplifier.

Alternatives

The JAVA Carbon Double Shot LDR Pre-Amplifier moves the same design into 9 mm carbon fibre casework on IsoAcoustics Gaia IV feet and costs USD 9,995.