Boozhound Labs Jfet Phono Pre

[riley.reynolds]

Just a review of the phono pre kit pre kit i completed a few days ago.

heres the link Boozhound Laboratories: JFET Phono Preamp Kit

the board and components are all high quality stuff and everything was matched pretty darn close. the board is well constructed, designed and laid out.

i was able to find the box on ebay. i used cat 5 cable wires. one on/off toggle switch, 4 rca jacks and a ground screw i stole off a burnt up marantz receiver.

two banks of 10 AA batteries in parallel for 16v rail voltage, this should last about 100 hrs. costco batteries aren't to expensive, i think the batteries are worth the cost for no PSU noise.

overall once all the parts were rounded up it went together in one beer fueled evening. which i thought was appropriate at the time, although some of the craftsmanship is shoddy and i burned my finger with my iron only once

I made it as basic as I thought was possible it fits stealthily into my system

this is my first diy phono pre and i have to say it is the best phono pre ive heard.

my other experience is all vintage stuff. philips hifi labs preamp, mitsubishi pa-01, pioneer sx 1250/780, sansui AU11000A.

stereo imaging is excellent, the RIAA really brings the low end back in well, the bass sounds much more full than the vintage gear. i dont have any way to make measurements all i know is that it sounds much much better than my older gear.

Overall satisfaction: 100%
cost: $130
difficulty:low

test gear: Pioneer PL-540 w/ Ortofon Blue cart, benchmark dac 1 pre, Emotiva XPA2, troels gravesen 3 way classics.

Proper rack and speaker stands are in the works btw

[audiotux]

i think its more or less a _variant_ from Salas`s simple Phono ,
with _normal_ Parts , for the starter or beginner not so bad .

Greetings

Jürgen

[riley.reynolds]

Originally Posted by audiotux

for the starter or beginner not so bad .

i am a beginner

[kevinkr]

Looks good!

[bullpeters]

I built one! On batteries, black as! silent as a lamb.
I don't use it anymore but the follow up was great, the vendor seems like a really nice guy. I am using a valve pre at present. Better but not best

[Carlp]

Instead of starting a new thread, thought I'd piggyback on this one.

I use two 9v batteries to power my BHL phono stage. They run out of steam at around 6.5v each (12-13v total). So in order to get the most out of them (I'm a miserly New Englander, after all), I thought I'd also build a supply using 4 of the drained batteries.

But that would get me up around 25-26v raw supply and that's above the 12-24v range that Jason mentions on his site. I don't know if that range is based on some max ratings for the 2sk170 jfet or if it's just an optimal range (I can't find any D-S spec on the datasheet but it does give a -40v G-D voltage - well above the 24v that Jason mentions). And Jason's email bounced so I couldn't ask him.

I realize the batteries' ability to provide current is weak at this point, but the amp doesn't draw much... Or is the poor output of the amp due to current supply of the two 9v batteries at this point and not the lower voltage?

Thanks for any insights you can give me.

[Gluca]

Originally Posted by riley.reynolds

two banks of 10 AA batteries in parallel for 16v rail voltage, this should last about 100 hrs. costco batteries aren't to expensive, i think the batteries are worth the cost for no PSU noise.

looks nice. just a note, thou ... batteries noise can be higher than expected and higher than well conceived and built regulated PSU