Simple designs have other benefits.  Since there are fewer components, we have been able to select the very best available, many of which have not been Previously used outside military and aerospace applications.  Top quality components not only sound better but since they are manufactured to a higher standard, offer far better long term stability and reliability.  In many instances the components are manufactured for Matisse exclusively to our specification.

If you would like to find out more about the Matisse design, read the Technical Discussion. But what really counts is how it sounds - and for that, all you need to do is connect it to your system!

It would seem that the simpler the circuit, the more we were able to hear improvements arising from build quality.  We therefore decided to adopt the simplest circuit which met our technical aims, and to concentrate our research effort on component quality and combination.  Instead of technical innovation for its own sake we have adopted well-proven "building blocks", some of which are over 20 years old!

This same philosophy has inspired the Fantasy Line Stage.
 

With correct voltage management, the operating life of the tubes can be very long, depending of course on the quality of the tubes.  In military equipment tubes may last as long as 20 years, though we suggest more frequent replacement for audio use!

Substituting different brands of tubes will significantly affect the sound of the Line Stage.
 

Our custom board comprises a ground plane, which helps to minimize radio frequency interference (RFI) and also minimizes stray capacitance effects. 
Cadmium loaded solder is used throughout (This is more conductive than silver solder) (CAUTION: Cadmium loaded solder produces toxic fumes when molten.  Servicing must be undertaken under ‘clean air’ conditions.)
 

Sonically it is extremely neutral, uncolored and does not restrict the dynamics of the preamplifier.
 

For a solution, we turned to a proper switched ladder attenuator as used in instrumentation. (The “click stops” found on many volume controls are meant to mimic the feel and operation of the switch.)

Instead of a potentiometer built from conductive plastic or similar resistive material, the switched attenuator uses a high quality switch, to select combinations of discrete resistors.  This allows precise matching of the channels, maintained at low levels.

Switched attenuators have been used before, but they are more commonly the series-attenuator type, which is simpler to build, but have the disadvantage that all the resistors are in the signal path, along with all the solder joints.

The step-ladder attenuators that we use are more complex to build, but have only two resistors in circuit at any time.  The Matisse attenuator is a 26 position switch with hard gold contacts, and we feel that the performance more than justifies the extra effort and cost required to build them.
 

Incidently, this cable is also available (And recommended) as inter-connecting cable.
 

We have used conventional solid-state regulators through-out for maximum reliability consistent with performance. As in the audio section, we found that high quality components significantly improved the performance.  The 100% over-rated transformer wound for low acoustic noise and radiation has been housed in a MuMetal can whose shielding properties ensure that all radiation is reduced to zero.