CTC Blowtorch

Dopogue -

I sent John an email yesterday, but no reply yet. More than anything, I was looking for anecdotal evidence from those who had tried stacking vs. separating, and what differences if any were heard.

Hi Mike,
Stacking them will work fine for the interim. I had mine set up that way for a while till I put them in a proper rack. Depending upon what else is nearby, you may notice a reduction in noise by separating them. Isolating the power supply (shelf, etc.) can be a benefit. Enjoy!
Brian

I don't think stacking them will hurt very much, except if the Blowtorch has a phono stage. That's the circuitry you want most to keep away from power supplies. I would ultimately recommend separating them, though, if you can, in order to avoid audiophilia nervosa...

I have my power supply on the floor, and the control section is in a rack. This works very well. Obviously you want to have the power supply on some kind of rack/base/isolation unit on the floor. The question, of course, will be whether the length of your umbilical cord will allow this in your set-up. Good luck.

One of the areas where the Blowtorch excells is in its extremely low noise level. On regular inputs on a 93db efficient speaker, there was no audible noise at 12 noon on the volume controls. Advancing the volume to higher levels did little to increase the noise. The unit is inherently quiet with no 60hz hum. Using a Vendetta into the Blowtorch, siting, grounding and cables became more of an issue. Even in phono, if everything is properly set up, there is very little noise. Having said this, I would try to avoid stacking the units. There is a reason that the power supply is in a separate box with a long umbilical. Bob could have saved several thousand dollars on each unit by putting everything into one box.