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Trevor Lees Custom Pre Amplifier Trevor Lees made this preamp for me when he had his store in Kew. It is a dual monobloc with separate power supply and has been made from very high quality components throughout Each channel has 6 Wondercap capacitors and 4 Sprague Atom 200uF capacitors with an additional 10UF can capacitor. There are four 12AX7s per channel and one Sovtek 6H30O-EB There is a phono input too The power supply has four Sprague 10,000uF capacitors. There is one LM 338K transformer for each channel and one Ferguson 40VA low profile transformer per side I can provide the o
This is a niche piece with collector appeal more than a mainstream preamp buy. At A$2,500, it sits far above the recent Australian used median of A$120 and even well beyond the A$190 75th percentile, so by the numbers it’s very ambitious rather than a fair-market bargain.
What could justify it is provenance, originality, and condition: these custom/Trevor Lees pieces are bought by people who value the sound and the story as much as the hardware. If the circuit is fully working, quiet, and comes with any matching PSU, paperwork, or service history, that helps; otherwise, a buyer should treat this as a specialist purchase and verify exactly what’s included before paying that premium.
Independent perspective — not a price guarantee. Always verify condition, accessories and provenance before purchase.
Sovtek emerged in 1988 under the vision of Mike Matthews, the American innovator behind Electro-Harmonix effects pedals and a former Jimi Hendrix promoter. Leveraging his connections in Soviet electronics, Matthews established the brand to tap into Russia's military-grade manufacturing, particularly vacuum tube production in Saratov factories. The company's debut product, the MIG-50 amplifier released in 1991, was designed by New York amp builder Tony Bruno and assembled in former Soviet military facilities, marking a bold fusion of Western design and Eastern engineering amid the USSR's collapse.
Sovtek focused primarily on guitar amplifiers and vacuum tubes, such as the rugged 5881 (originally 6P3S-E for military aircraft and vehicles), prized for their durability and tone. Early offerings like the MIG-50 50-watt head embodied this niche, incorporating abundant military-spec components for reliable high-gain performance. While not venturing into speakers, turntables, DACs, headphones, or cables, Sovtek's tube lineup briefly extended to replacements for hi-fi and guitar applications.
Today, Sovtek holds vintage-collector status in the guitar amp market, celebrated for its quirky Cold War heritage and sought-after Soviet tubes, though production ceased years ago due to manufacturing challenges. Discontinued amps command premium prices among tone chasers, positioning the brand as a cult niche rather than active high-end or mid-tier contender. Knowledgeable buyers value its historical edge, but obscurity limits widespread availability.
See all Sovtek listings on RADAR.
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