Pearl Two

You guys are talking about a bias device in a Constant Current Device. If the voltages all around the schematic are good, whatever LED you have is doing a great job!

Stop worrying about it and buy more vinyl -- I found some great stuff today.

:D :D :D :D :D
I did not think the led was critical. :)

What you buying? Mark Kozelek "The Finally" mint, unopened for $9 was a recent steal! Also a near mint Keith Jarrett Lausanne Bremen solo concerts box set for $12. Solo, acoustic music really showcases the Pearl 2!
 
I received the last two from the remaster series from Kraftwerk yesterday. Sound track from Blade Runner by Vangelis should arrive in a few weeks. I'm awaiting some reviews to see if the re-release of Eliminator by ZZ Top is any good. In between, I'm thinking about new cartridges to make my Pearl sound even sweeter :)
 
Hello all,

My PCBs are stuffed, and my VPI Traveler coming this Friday.... have to work quick..... :D

I have 2 questions:

1. Does anyone use some sort of socket soldered to PCB for the loading capacitor and resistor. If yes, could you please tell me what you use and post picture if convenient?
I was thinking about using a rotary switch or DPDT switch to setup variable loading like DCbingaman, but a socket will give me more flexibility for experimentation.

2. I remember reading back in the thread that someone is using Ortofon 2M Blue. Wondering if the standard gain will be too high (5.5 mV cartridge output)?

Thanks for all your help!
 
Hello all,

My PCBs are stuffed, and my VPI Traveler coming this Friday.... have to work quick..... :D

I have 2 questions:

1. Does anyone use some sort of socket soldered to PCB for the loading capacitor and resistor. If yes, could you please tell me what you use and post picture if convenient?
I was thinking about using a rotary switch or DPDT switch to setup variable loading like DCbingaman, but a socket will give me more flexibility for experimentation.

2. I remember reading back in the thread that someone is using Ortofon 2M Blue. Wondering if the standard gain will be too high (5.5 mV cartridge output)?

Thanks for all your help!



I didthe rotary switch route. It works great. Put in 10 settings for cap loading, and resistive loading for both the r19 (?) and r-user with a blank to bypass or switch out the r-user. If you use a switch use a make before break type for the resistors especially if you use low r values for mc carts like 10 20 30 50 100ohm.. As tthhere will be a big noise switching between values if you dont.
I have one swtich for mc resistive load and one for mm resistive load. The resistive loading makes a big difference for the mc cart i have which needs 10ohms. Switching to 20 or 30 increases the output but changes the frequency balance of the cart. Its nice to be able to make on the fly changes. Makes cart swapping easier
Use make before break for gain resistor as well. I dont think the switch for the cap makes a difference.

Board slots might work tooa... That was my original plan but opted for switch as getting the size right for the slotsmmay be a little trial and error and i prefered not opening it up every time i swapped carts or settings.

Also,
 
It might not overload, but it would not be my choice. At higher cutting speeds the output voltage of the cartridge will be higher, and since the stock Pearl amplifies around 500x, you are looking at maybe 5V into you pre-amp. It will be sounding much louder than other sources. Lowering the gain somewhat would be my choice.
 

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I was messing around with jhs' Pearl module repairing the trace that got lifted on his PCB. Once it was all put back correctly I gave it a test signal and started poking around to see if it was doing anything silly...

I started front to back, the front end looked great, as did the RIAA. But I was scratching my head a bit once I looked at the output, and saw a very clean sine wave with the tops and bottoms cut off... ? Why the heck was it clipping?

When I realized that I had my generator set to .3V (three hundred millivolt), I figured it out.

It didn't clip with a 30mV signal and the stock gain. (actually, it took a lot more than that to clip it...)

I wouldn't worry about 5.5mV.

:) :) :)
 
would'nt a pre-amplifier start clipping from 15V input (30mV*500). Now this of course is an extreme example, and everything will probably just work fine, but I think it's just not comfortable when your amp starts reaching its maximum output with the volume set to 12 o' clock because of high input levels from the phono pre-amp. One advantage: you will not be bothered by noise from the Pearl with 5mV input.