That is the Opus Magnum. I build them by hand after the specifications of the customer.
This one goes to Bangkok and the customer is a mechanical engineer that totally rebuild his Goldmund Reference including the arm. He had collected parts over the last 10 years and wanted to put them into use, so he send me Black Gates, Bulk Foils, etc.
Even the trimmers are Bulk Foils, 50,-$ a pop. The rectifier bridges are IXIS Silicon-Carbite, 90,-¢ per piece. The snubbers are REL-Cap Teflon. The common mode coils are
Lundahl ( 250,-€ a piece ), the PSU caps Slit Foils. I chose the Mundorfs because i am very friendly with those guys and can pick the stuff up, selected for me directly at the headquarters.
I put in some Silmics because there where some values where i had no Black Gates.
Did i ever say that there are no superior parts ? I can not remember.
What i also said is that ones the quality of the components are very good like Panasonic FM or Wima FKP the differences are small. When you experience a magical gain in sound quality by changing a cap there is something wrong or something was wrong before. For example the Suesskind Rauschfrei, that was part of the system that Holger and Christian evaluated yesterday, is build with good quality, standard parts. I challenge everybody to bring me a better phono for that price, retail of cause.
Coming back to the Pardise i can only repeat that the goal is to make a stage with unique performance, superior or innovative topology plus reasonably easy to build plus very affordable. It´s all in the engineering plus searching for parts that are reliable, affordable AND available.That simply cuts out exotic parts. If you want to use them or can not live without them, please go ahead. If you are happy i am happy too.
This one goes to Bangkok and the customer is a mechanical engineer that totally rebuild his Goldmund Reference including the arm. He had collected parts over the last 10 years and wanted to put them into use, so he send me Black Gates, Bulk Foils, etc.
Even the trimmers are Bulk Foils, 50,-$ a pop. The rectifier bridges are IXIS Silicon-Carbite, 90,-¢ per piece. The snubbers are REL-Cap Teflon. The common mode coils are
Lundahl ( 250,-€ a piece ), the PSU caps Slit Foils. I chose the Mundorfs because i am very friendly with those guys and can pick the stuff up, selected for me directly at the headquarters.
I put in some Silmics because there where some values where i had no Black Gates.
Did i ever say that there are no superior parts ? I can not remember.
What i also said is that ones the quality of the components are very good like Panasonic FM or Wima FKP the differences are small. When you experience a magical gain in sound quality by changing a cap there is something wrong or something was wrong before. For example the Suesskind Rauschfrei, that was part of the system that Holger and Christian evaluated yesterday, is build with good quality, standard parts. I challenge everybody to bring me a better phono for that price, retail of cause.
Coming back to the Pardise i can only repeat that the goal is to make a stage with unique performance, superior or innovative topology plus reasonably easy to build plus very affordable. It´s all in the engineering plus searching for parts that are reliable, affordable AND available.That simply cuts out exotic parts. If you want to use them or can not live without them, please go ahead. If you are happy i am happy too.
I am already sorry I asked.... I was just joking. I know that in some situations I can hear differences just by selecting parts but you already explained that the paradise will present a very good psrr and will work perfectly without "special" parts.
I like Pana very much and RC55Y inexpensive resistors also and I can surely live without exotics.
I like Pana very much and RC55Y inexpensive resistors also and I can surely live without exotics.
No problem Ricardo, i know your humor in the meantime.
Sometimes, or often, exotics can even destroy the sound. I have made really bad experiences with some "designer parts" that are made to blow up the sound. When you are in the factory and see the same parts falling to the left ( 50 cent a piece ) and then falling to the right ( 5€ a piece ) you start to understand the name of that game.
I am simply not impressed by labels.
Sometimes, or often, exotics can even destroy the sound. I have made really bad experiences with some "designer parts" that are made to blow up the sound. When you are in the factory and see the same parts falling to the left ( 50 cent a piece ) and then falling to the right ( 5€ a piece ) you start to understand the name of that game.
I am simply not impressed by labels.
you had better give me some credit for this design as I and you co-designed this MCRI
Joachim,
you had better give me some credit for this design as I and you co-designed this MCRIAA amplifier. The regulator is my design.
Attached is an enalargement of the photo of the design.
Jan Didden did the PCB layout with me as reviewer, and Jan should get credit for the excellent PCB design.
Best regards,
Sigurd Ruschkowski
Sweden
Joachim,
you had better give me some credit for this design as I and you co-designed this MCRIAA amplifier. The regulator is my design.
Attached is an enalargement of the photo of the design.
Jan Didden did the PCB layout with me as reviewer, and Jan should get credit for the excellent PCB design.
Best regards,
Sigurd Ruschkowski
Sweden
Attachments
I am pretty certain that these acknowledgements were given by Joachim some time ago.
Thanks Joachim. I remember burning a lot of midnight oil going up and down to Sigurd to figure out the sizes of these special caps and resistors and how to get them all placed with shortest tracks, lowest parasitic C and as much star grounding as possible and a few other 'non-negotiable' specs. It's nice to see the result in Holgers picture. Maybe I should twist your arm to get some boards for my own
jan
Yes, Sigurd and i can be a pain in the b..., actually it is more me. Sigurd is the perfect gentleman.
The result is phenomenal though.
I have only one pair of boards left at the moment but i will order some more.
Sure, i get you some and Sigurd too.
Sorry that i reacted not immediately after Ricardo posted the picture.
The result is phenomenal though.
I have only one pair of boards left at the moment but i will order some more.
Sure, i get you some and Sigurd too.
Sorry that i reacted not immediately after Ricardo posted the picture.
My God this thread goes at a speed
(so much about the speed of light- and the karma of the universe: here things are more related to the speed of " Enlightment"?!? )
Yes , Jacco,
whatever we think of doing to " survive" the next ETF's listening
"Nights & Setup till dawn Sessions"
As Holger did listen to the Rauschfrei...:
I thought I might contribute some impressions from the last weeks because Joachim and I used the Rauschfrei on various systems and by accident my iphone took a Minivideo
-So I do have some pictures and files to share for your interest with a few seconds sound with a Lyra Titan on my Turntable and the Rauschfrei . Taken all at an event where some Naim DBL speakers where used and also my own speakers- I need to find out to uplead these files
The Rauschfrei has an ability that I find most intriguing- you simply hear everything at no expense of beauty- that said means I used it with Ortofon Cadance Black, Ortofon SPU, Lyra Skala, Lyra Titan and - surprisingly one of the best perforomances a phonostage gave to a Lyra Olympos ( not owned by me but I was given to use it for a while..) Especially the Olympos which I know quite well, does only sound that wonderfull if the phonostage drives it correctly - otherwise no "magic" in the tonality-
Because of the rather high priced cartridges I sometimes have to work with, I also enjoy the evolution of the Opus Magnum, of Jan, Joachim and Sigurd.
Although i must admitt for the past two years I used more affordable builts from Joachim for my own Musicsystem but I have wittnessed the " arrival" of the boards at Joachims place and whilst using the " pocketphono" or the Figaro phonostages , I looked from time to time over to the desk where Joschim soldered something onto the Opus Magnum Boards
To phrase it as precicely as I can do : I like what I get to lisen to these days!
this applies to most of the phono builts of this thread- at any given pricepoint!
( Joachim may reveal which ones I did not like that much...- me not liking something lead to days of opamps, Jfets and capacitor testing- as Joachim gave me oneday a little box with parts and said: " Here you go...."
As I know the Rauschfrei only came into existance because of cooperations on this thread I decided to write all of this to give my compliments to the high level of teamwork in your thread, because these great phonostages wouldn't made it into reality without all of you Guys
Holger knows that I know his Nobrainer and many other incarnations from the hard work of this group of people . Included Joachim, who sleeps on pacific time scedules if required...
It is because of friendship that I get the chance to listen to many of the results the past two years and i must state, I know phonostages since decades at so many pricepoints,
And now we have here an almost scientific overview and testing of the todays knowledge
- this is unique , in the whole DIY forum as well as in this particular thread!
Concratulations to all of you reponsible for that spirit and level here!
Hope I didn't bore anyone with that - I just felt I really wanted to acknowledge and say a few words here- because sometimes one forgets how unique that level of cooperation and loyality is!
Happy New Year Evrybody!
Martina
(so much about the speed of light- and the karma of the universe: here things are more related to the speed of " Enlightment"?!? )
Yes , Jacco,
whatever we think of doing to " survive" the next ETF's listening
"Nights & Setup till dawn Sessions"
As Holger did listen to the Rauschfrei...:
I thought I might contribute some impressions from the last weeks because Joachim and I used the Rauschfrei on various systems and by accident my iphone took a Minivideo
-So I do have some pictures and files to share for your interest with a few seconds sound with a Lyra Titan on my Turntable and the Rauschfrei . Taken all at an event where some Naim DBL speakers where used and also my own speakers- I need to find out to uplead these files
The Rauschfrei has an ability that I find most intriguing- you simply hear everything at no expense of beauty- that said means I used it with Ortofon Cadance Black, Ortofon SPU, Lyra Skala, Lyra Titan and - surprisingly one of the best perforomances a phonostage gave to a Lyra Olympos ( not owned by me but I was given to use it for a while..) Especially the Olympos which I know quite well, does only sound that wonderfull if the phonostage drives it correctly - otherwise no "magic" in the tonality-
Because of the rather high priced cartridges I sometimes have to work with, I also enjoy the evolution of the Opus Magnum, of Jan, Joachim and Sigurd.
Although i must admitt for the past two years I used more affordable builts from Joachim for my own Musicsystem but I have wittnessed the " arrival" of the boards at Joachims place and whilst using the " pocketphono" or the Figaro phonostages , I looked from time to time over to the desk where Joschim soldered something onto the Opus Magnum Boards
To phrase it as precicely as I can do : I like what I get to lisen to these days!
this applies to most of the phono builts of this thread- at any given pricepoint!
( Joachim may reveal which ones I did not like that much...- me not liking something lead to days of opamps, Jfets and capacitor testing- as Joachim gave me oneday a little box with parts and said: " Here you go...."
As I know the Rauschfrei only came into existance because of cooperations on this thread I decided to write all of this to give my compliments to the high level of teamwork in your thread, because these great phonostages wouldn't made it into reality without all of you Guys
Holger knows that I know his Nobrainer and many other incarnations from the hard work of this group of people . Included Joachim, who sleeps on pacific time scedules if required...
It is because of friendship that I get the chance to listen to many of the results the past two years and i must state, I know phonostages since decades at so many pricepoints,
And now we have here an almost scientific overview and testing of the todays knowledge
- this is unique , in the whole DIY forum as well as in this particular thread!
Concratulations to all of you reponsible for that spirit and level here!
Hope I didn't bore anyone with that - I just felt I really wanted to acknowledge and say a few words here- because sometimes one forgets how unique that level of cooperation and loyality is!
Happy New Year Evrybody!
Martina
Hi Martina,
good to have you here.
Finally someone who actually listens to all those phonostages and not only talks about cascode variations and current mirror implelementations
Hi Holger,
Yep- And given your visit to Joachim, I am not the only one
"listening"
... and of course this has all to do with the "Karma of the universe"
All the Best to You as well!
( And I would miss the unfolding of folded cascodes...)
Martina