The Joke 1,7W integrated amplifier

After some weeks of hauling, me and my pals Lo and Francesco, finally were able to transform Luca Chiomenti’s superb “Scherzo” PCL 82-based 1,7W integrated amp into a world-class El Cheapo sonic masterpiece. The throwing away of the ugly walnut case and encasing of the amp into a bespoke 20 mm piano black more elegant chassis, adding new, better internal wire layout and… ta, taaaa… using the mighty Alps RK-50 top of the line potentiometer, well…
… the moth became a butterfly, the duckling a swan, a seed a flower… with Cabasse Dinghy 221 the inter-notes silence is incredible, like the detailing… with Thomas Mayer’s Tango EQ-600/WE 437A LCR phono stage, I heard – with small scale recording – a seldom experienced load of micro details and overall beauty.

Here shown the four sections RK50 in-hand, for size comparison:

The mighty RK-50
With the old trusty Studer A730 and its TDA1541 “double crown” the sound is – like Vinnie Gallo once wrote “the best radio I ever heard”.
1,7W are a very low wattage… BUT 1,700 milliwatts are more appropriate to describe the feeling I have when listening to “Scherzo” amp…
… now, after getting the Alps RK-50 pot, the butterly… aehm, the amp… is now – respectfully and thanking Luca Chiomenti’s skill as a first class designer –  now named “The Joke”.
Great music today, folks…
Thanking Lo, Franz and Kazumasa Oguri-san.
Stefano Bertoncello