BF862 Preamp

In the meantime I added shunt regs (fellow member Salas published this reg) to the preamp, so final schematic now looks like this:
 

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PCB looks like this (picture shows bottom view, dimensions are 16cm x 4cm):
Note: This PCB does not contain prereg (7915) in negative shunt reg as well as pi filter after 7915. I used that prereg just because my transformer had too high voltage (15V AC). 9V AC is OK.
 

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juma:

nice job - looks impressive!

i am curious to know if you ever thought about using an emitter follower buffered reference to supply the negative voltage for the first bf862 and parallel a couple of nice, large value film caps instead of series electrolytics for the output.

to me, that's a lot of negative regulator for the purpose it's serving ...

again, not complaining, just curious ...

mlloyd1
 
juma:

nice job - looks impressive!

i am curious to know if you ever thought about using an emitter follower buffered reference to supply the negative voltage for the first bf862 and parallel a couple of nice, large value film caps instead of series electrolytics for the output.

to me, that's a lot of negative regulator for the purpose it's serving ...

again, not complaining, just curious ...

mlloyd1

Thanks mlloyd!
- output coupling can be solved in many different ways (film caps, dc servo...). The solution shown is my preference (anti-serial elkos with negative polarization in the middle, bypassed with stacked foil cap) because it sounds most neutral to me (those elkos are nice rubycon caps)

- negative rail is actually crucial because just the first JFET is preamplifier (the other two are variation of Nelson's B1) and it has almost no PSRR. Anything bad from negative rail will not be just present in output signal but also amplified. Positive shunt I added just for good measure ;)

Now I see that I made a big MISTAKE in the last schematic drawing - R17 (in the Source of Q2) should be 10-15R, not 1k
 
Intrigued by good reports (Scott Wurcer and EUVL) on BF862 JFET I also got some. The idea was to build a preamp based on JBOZ and B1 concepts with gain of 2 (enough to drive F5) and ability to drive 5K next stage impedance. Also, 6-7 V of undistorted output signal is needed.
This is what I ended with and it's all I hoped for, it sounds great, better than 2sk170 in same topology - I suppose it's due to much higher transconductance and smaller parasitic capacity. The only "problem" is that BF862 is an SMD part but that's easily cured with small adapter PCB.
This is the preamp and PSU schematic:

Hi

I have a bunch of 2SK170.

Can I use my 2SK170 as drop-in replacement of the bf862, in this bf862 preamp or do I need somes mod to do ?


Thanx

Paul
 
Alas, Old Age (and its consequences) is keeping me from this project. If you go to post #10 you will see a strip of miniature PCB's made for the BF devices used in this project. I have one of these strips and the BF862's to go on the strip.

I have made numerous attempts to solder the devices to the strip but poor eyesight and shaking hands keeps success at bay. Believe me, this is not a one or two attempt scenario but a concerted daily ongoing trial and error thing that creates suicidal tendencies!!

There are 14 pads on the strip as shown in post#10 . What I seek is an individual with the ability and courage to solder these together,with a barter deal of some sort to show my gratitude. It would be best if that (wonderful) person were in the US to keep it more manageable.

I can furnish solder and a flux pen for the job.