The product looked very tasty indeed. Alas, being attached to a KickStarter crowd funding campaign meant that the dastardly rule of our Germanic boss meant we couldn't announce it on our news page. Designer Martin Bell responded from Auckland/New Zealand. "Thanks for your note. Great to hear from you. I'm a long-time admirer of 6moons and your writing. I completely understand your editorial policy around coverage of putative Kickstarter campaigns. It has the potential to be a Pandora's box best left unopened." Exactly.


"In regards to your question about channel matching and achieving a linear response across the audio band, there's no doubt that accurate channel matching has long been a bugbear of LDR-based designs. Our Java approach differs to other LDR-based designs currently available, such as those from Tortuga and Lightspeed. To start with, we use high-quality NSL32SR3 from Advanced Photonix/Canada. Extensive testing and trial and error have shown these to be the best-quality LDR available for audio applications. Their electrical characteristics and reliability are very consistent compared to alternatives. The Java circuit then uses current trimming to further balance each channel, resulting in outstanding channel matching of typically <1% variation.


"This 'current trimming' implementation is unique to our design. The anode and cathode of the LED of the LDR is employed in a closed high-impedance circuit separate from earth. By comparison, most other LDR products have a resistor and capacitor in parallel to earth, resulting in those components always competing with each other. Another approach is that employed by Tortuga Audio who use sampling to adjust L/R channel balance on the fly. It's a valid but quite complex approach. By comparison, the Java's all-analog closed circuit approach is inherently simpler. A nervous time awaits to see whether we hit our NZ$40'000 (US$27'000) funding goal!" The reader familiar with hifi abbreviations has already made the connection. LDR means light-dependent resistor which means volume control. That means preamp, likely passive given the named competitors. Just so. Available in three flavours, our Kiwi Java comes with 3:1 RCA i/o; or with 5:2 RCA i/o + ¼" headfi socket; and finally, with 3:1 RCA i/o + 2:1 XLR i/o + ¼". In true barista fashion, those variants go by single, double and triple shot. The two hi-caffeine units add remote control whilst the single is the no-frills sort to save coin on creature conveniences. But the option menu doesn't stop there. The high-gloss acrylic front can be black, red or white. A limited edition of 10 even goes with solid copper, engraved and numbered for proper collector's status. Finally the horizontally stacked Birch ply chassis is available au nature under high gloss; or in a waxed dark stain to suggest Walnut. In all cases the logo is a copper inlay along the top's front edge. As I said, very tasty indeed.


The only confusion might arise from the company byline less wire, more gain. As a pure passive, gain really doesn't factor. "Our byline is an attempted audio-geek play on words. As you're no doubt aware, many years ago Peter J Walker of Quad fame was quoted as saying that the perfect preamplifier would be "a straight wire with gain". Because the Java uses LDR technology, it does away with much of the wire and complicated circuitry found in a conventional preamp. However, as you rightly point out, as a passive device, it offers no gain in the conventional sense. Rather, the Java achieves a quantum leap forward in sound quality. Hence less wire, more gain..."