Simplistic NJFET RIAA

After a long long time I finally began assembling the FSP!

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PRP resistors for R1, R14 and R5, vishay on the remaining positions. Mundorf Supreme capacitors for C3 and C4 are on the way.
10000uf capacitors on the raw supply and toroidy transformer will be used. Signal in will go directly to R1 without Rx resistors and switch.


One question. I have the little heatsinks for the 2sk369. Should I use thermal paste when mounting or is the simple contact between the metal and transistor enough?
 
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Hi Salas,

I am busy populating my boards now. Very exciting! I have bought 2 lots of 20 of K117 GR now, and have a nice matched pair of 4.92mA for the RIAA circuit. For the shunts though, you are recommending 3-4mA, and out of the 40 I've bought, none are below 4mA, and some are as high as 6.08mA. I am testing with a 9.6v battery, however.

My lowest 6 are: 4.00, 4.24, 4.33, 4.34, 4.59, 4.78

What do you think I should do? Use them or buy some more?

By the way, they seem to stabilise in less than half a second, unlike K170s which are all over the place for several minutes and vary with temperature. Is that to be expected?

Many thanks
 
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Hi Salas,

I am busy populating my boards now. Very exciting! I have bought 2 lots of 20 of K117 GR now, and have a nice matched pair of 4.92mA for the RIAA circuit. For the shunts though, you are recommending 3-4mA, and out of the 40 I've bought, none are below 4mA, and some are as high as 6.08mA. I am testing with a 9.6v battery, however.

My lowest 6 are: 4.00, 4.24, 4.33, 4.34, 4.59, 4.78

What do you think I should do? Use them or buy some more?

By the way, they seem to stabilise in less than half a second, unlike K170s which are all over the place for several minutes and vary with temperature. Is that to be expected?

Many thanks
K117GR is officially 2.6mA-6.5mA IDSS range. Chancing on mainly strong ones is not impossible. The measurement stabilizing behavior between those types is like you described. You can use them in the shunts but post a close up clear photo of one sample if you can so we could confirm originality clues for you before you populate the PCBs with those

From the guide

"*If batches of 2SK117GR are yielding circa 5mA IDSS then use 6.2K R3x 0.5W and 33R R6x"

Thus use the above resistors & ~5.5mA for your Q3x & Q2x, use the 4.33-4.34 you listed for Q5x
 
Thanks Salas,

It's so long since I compiled my BOM, I had forgotten that I've ordered and installed the correct resistor changes for 5mA K117GRs already! I've even posted pics to you to confirm that they're real ones....about a year ago now I think!

So, onwards! Many thanks again bro. You're quite the dude you know. I really appreciate it.

Lucas
 
My red LEDs are all 1.71x - All 40 of them. Tested with 9.6v battery and 1.8K resistor

1.71 x 3 = 5.13v

1.71 x 4 = 6.84v

Any good? Not the 7.75v and 5.8v you specify.

Is matching the strings the critical thing, or hitting specification voltages, or both?

Thanks again!
add a signal diode.
1n4148, or 1n914.
Gives 5.13V +~0.7V = ~5.83V & 6.84V +~0.7V = ~7.54V
All of those voltages can be trimmed by adjusting the current through the reference string. The source resistor is your adjuster
 
My red LEDs are all 1.71x - All 40 of them. Tested with 9.6v battery and 1.8K resistor

1.71 x 3 = 5.13v

1.71 x 4 = 6.84v

Any good? Not the 7.75v and 5.8v you specify.

Is matching the strings the critical thing, or hitting specification voltages, or both?

Thanks again!

My red leds were on the low side too. I used one green + two yellow for the 5.8V and two green + two red for the 7.75V.
 
Be wary of using higher Vf LEDs. I have a feeling that higher voltage risks higher noise.

I don't know how to check the effective noise of a voltage reference string.
Take a 3off 1.92Vf giving 5.76Vref and compare to 3off 1.7Vf + 0.66Vf(1n4148) also giving 5.76Vref
Which is quieter?
Which has lower dynamic impedance, (slope of the I vs V line)?