Phono stage kit? need help to chose - TY

[rmihai]

I am looking to build a phono stage that will work as well with MM (Ortofon OM40) and low output MC (Ortofon MC-20 Super II). This MC asks for at least a 63db nominal.

Specs of cartridges are:

OM40:
OUTPUT 5cm/S:4mV
LOAD IMPEDANCE: >47kOhm, 200-500pF

MC-20 Super II
Output voltage at 1000 Hz,5cm/sec.: 200 µV
Internal impedance, DC resistance: 5 Ohm
LOAD RESISTANCE: >10 Ohm

I have a limited budget unfortunately: $300 (240 euro) for pcb, parts, transformer(s), components, connectors, etc.

I hope is a reasonable budget and it will give me the chance to find an excellent project.

It it matters, I listen 98% of the time old and very old recordings.

Please let me know yoour opinions.

Thank you very much.

[biovizier]

try wnaudio.com

[jcarr]

Non-RIAA EQ curves were very common among old and very old recordings.

If this describes a good portion of your record collection, and on your budget, I'd look at the half-kit for Hagerman's Bugle Pro.

Bugle Pro Variable EQ Phono - $399 ($89 half-kit)

hth, jonathan carr

[rmihai]

Well, I am impressed. Mr. Carr, the designer of the famous Lyra, answered me.

Thank you Sir.

The earliest recording that I listen at are from '50's.

[pjpoes]

I had looked into that phonostage. My concern was with the sound quality. The Opamps I wasn't sure to be of the best quality, and the design is surely not to the level of some of the best phonostages. At the same time, its a cheap phonostage, and probably would rival many more expensive units for far less money. I still would think it would be a bit out of place with something like the Lyra Cartriges.

Hagtech has some higher end designs which are tube based, and which appear to be his prefered method. I have been looking at those more seriously, as they look to be of good design. Bottlehead also has one, but that looks too basic to me, I question its value compared with some of the better designs I have seen. Some tube phonostages may sound good, but dont have the resolving power of a better design.

Things I would like to know is, how important is matching the RIAA resistors and parts. I often see them suggest high quality parts, but I would think that then hand measuring each part that goes into that circuit would benefit it greatly. I am sure that slight variations in the resistors would not drasticly change the curve, but I would like to know how critical that is. Also, how important is propper sheilding, given how low a level signal it is. How important is the type and size of the power supply, should it be regulated or not. Is tube capable of being a good phonostage compared with solidstate. Though you hear a lot of debate over tube vs solidstate all the time, to me, this seems like a different matter. Tubes frequently offer a worse S/N, and I have noted some companies choosing solidstate over tubes, even if they offer tube preamps and amps, for the reason of noise. Is this a personal philosophy of the company, or a compromise I would make in choosing one over the other? Also, I noted that the Hagtech's have a pretty bad looking S/N, its in the mid 70's on most all of their designs. Are they measuring it differently than others. Some companies claim numbers in the low to mid ninties, are these misleading? Are the Hagtech's as quiet as any other comercially available product, but simply measured in a more honost manner?

[Cobra2]

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showt...703#post733703

ArneK

[Panelhead]

It would be very hard to get a finished phono with those boards for 300.00. Two chassis, a power supply, and all the connectors add up. 400.00 is more like it.
The phonoclone and the mm circuit sold by Richard Murdey could both be built for 300.00. This would give a dedicated mc and a dedicated mm phono.
Cannot comment if they sound as good as the Ononclone.


George

[reverber]

I built my PassDIY Pearl for under $300, and I do believe it was worth far more than I paid for it. It is also fairly adaptible to cartridge needs. And the support is exemplary.

Cody