Valve Itch phono

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stajo

Member
Joined 2011
Coal is unusual nowadays. Very good for gridstoppers because they have virtually no capacistance. Allen-Bradley, the company that invented noice. Comparable to a Duelund pencil but the trick is the connection between the coal mass and the metal. Bad connection high noice. But if you dont mind some aftermarket, search for Beyschlag. Great sounding resistors for low price.
 
Salas

Salas

diyAudio Chief Moderator
Joined 2002
Paid Member
webby said:
I use my itch with a grado gold, its never sounded better!
No changes to resistance or capacitance required.
Cheers
Ian
Click to expand...

Very good value cartridge Ian. What is the TT and the rest of your system? Someday when able, also keep in mind Dynavector 10X5, AT150MLX, Ortofon 2M Black, and Nagaoka MP-500. The Valve Itch is up for those when a vinyl rig can do them justice. First thing to look for when paying higher is that the rigidity, the profile, and the lower mass of the cantilever + needle assembly are getting better. Very evident in this video for same body cartridges and progressively better quality and more expensive pick up systems. Dire Straits - When It Comes To You - Vinyl - Ortofon 2M Styli
 
W

webby

Member
Joined 2004
Salas said:
Very good value cartridge Ian. What is the TT and the rest of your system? [/URL]
Click to expand...

Sorry for the poor picture quality.
I have a Thorens TD321 with the Grado gold and a Pioneer PL50II with a Shure V15.

I fitted dual RCA inputs and use the switch on the front to change turntables.
The switch is poor quality and doesn't always make a good contact, Can anyone suggest a good quality switch?

Salas, Can you advise the order of mods to maximise sound quality?
As stated before I built version 1.2 with basic parts except C3 was the Mica cap groupbuy and C4 I used a Russian Teflon I had on hand. The valves were Meltz.

What would you change or add next?

Did I remember correctly earlier in the thread to add small ceramic caps on the input to minimise RFI?

Cheers
Ian
 

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S

stajo

Member
Joined 2011
webby said:
Sorry for the poor picture quality.
I have a Thorens TD321 with the Grado gold and a Pioneer PL50II with a Shure V15.

I fitted dual RCA inputs and use the switch on the front to change turntables.
The switch is poor quality and doesn't always make a good contact, Can anyone suggest a good quality switch?

Salas, Can you advise the order of mods to maximise sound quality?
As stated before I built version 1.2 with basic parts except C3 was the Mica cap groupbuy and C4 I used a Russian Teflon I had on hand. The valves were Meltz.

What would you change or add next?

Did I remember correctly earlier in the thread to add small ceramic caps on the input to minimise RFI?

Cheers
Ian
Click to expand...

Any switch you put there will affect the sound. Maybe now forbidden mercury relays could affect least.
 
Salas

Salas

diyAudio Chief Moderator
Joined 2002
Paid Member
webby said:
Sorry for the poor picture quality.
I have a Thorens TD321 with the Grado gold and a Pioneer PL50II with a Shure V15.

I fitted dual RCA inputs and use the switch on the front to change turntables.
The switch is poor quality and doesn't always make a good contact, Can anyone suggest a good quality switch?

Salas, Can you advise the order of mods to maximise sound quality?
As stated before I built version 1.2 with basic parts except C3 was the Mica cap groupbuy and C4 I used a Russian Teflon I had on hand. The valves were Meltz.

What would you change or add next?

Did I remember correctly earlier in the thread to add small ceramic caps on the input to minimise RFI?

Cheers
Ian
Click to expand...

That PL50II is a looker. Japanese classic. Nice.

10nF can be connected from input RCA's ring direct to chassis so to ground incoming RFI before it reaches the signal ground in the circuit if there is some interference problem.

Use two NEC EA2-12NJ stereo relays remotely controlled by 9-12V DC through their coils with a cheap front switch if you must have the double input ability. On a very small matrix pcb at the back on the input RCAs or very near them. Each TT input to each relay and a common output from them relays. Actuating one or the other by passing DC to one or the other's coil. All signal runs must be done tightly wired with coax as now. Thiner flexible coax like RG174 would help in tight spaces.

Meltz are great and in general you use good components already. But if you have the inclination to compare other parts... You could also try R1 R5 R6 in 0.5W tantalum or other special resistors you fancy (to change all circuit resistors would be very expensive and prone to bad reworks, also not all positions are significant). For C6 Mundorf Supreme Evo cap maybe. Which is short and fat to possibly fit the space in your pictures, also stays in the rather affordable category still. Don't use something with oil there unless the specific position remains relatively cool after the lid is on. Constant exposure to high temperature worsens the characteristics and shortens a lot the life span of oil capacitors. Use C2 same type to C3 if you can find any 47n 1% Mica for it too.
 
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