One note of caution for those embarking on this project who reside in the UK..
After some site down time I managed to order a pair of Pearl II boards and fets from PASSDIY....ye ha....
$200 + $7 shipping Total $222 ???? WTF
I pressed the buy button 'I'll take the $15 on the chin' I want to build this Phono stage.....
On to the commit to order button and pay 'USPS' export duty/tax & handling + $47 Do I realty want this phono stage 'The Pearl II' Now nicked named the 'The Black Pearl' II, I pressed the pay button... Do I really want these boards.....!!!!!!! YES !!!!!I Do want these boards YES YES YES....
So now their on its way to the UK ..... they land in the UK....ye ha. they'll be here soon...I realty want this Black Pearl II phono amp....WooHoo
Days later I receive a letter / bill from Royal Mail customs excise UK....If you want this package (containing the Black Pearl II from the US) you to have to pay us..wait for it £44.33 or another $54 ....WTF..!!!!So the total to get the 'Black Pearl II' to the UK ... is $324. So, I must be realty keen on this project and as I see this "Taxation" as Piracy and awarding the project with the name "The Black Pearl II" as the original Black Pearl was owned by pirates!! as I recall.
Now this was just my experience and others in other countries may not have the same 'in out' taxes applied for the service....
It begs the question 'Why didn't I have this issue with the DIYaudio F5T PCB & transistor buy???
After some site down time I managed to order a pair of Pearl II boards and fets from PASSDIY....ye ha....
$200 + $7 shipping Total $222 ???? WTF
I pressed the buy button 'I'll take the $15 on the chin' I want to build this Phono stage.....
On to the commit to order button and pay 'USPS' export duty/tax & handling + $47 Do I realty want this phono stage 'The Pearl II' Now nicked named the 'The Black Pearl' II, I pressed the pay button... Do I really want these boards.....!!!!!!! YES !!!!!I Do want these boards YES YES YES....
So now their on its way to the UK ..... they land in the UK....ye ha. they'll be here soon...I realty want this Black Pearl II phono amp....WooHoo
Days later I receive a letter / bill from Royal Mail customs excise UK....If you want this package (containing the Black Pearl II from the US) you to have to pay us..wait for it £44.33 or another $54 ....WTF..!!!!So the total to get the 'Black Pearl II' to the UK ... is $324. So, I must be realty keen on this project and as I see this "Taxation" as Piracy and awarding the project with the name "The Black Pearl II" as the original Black Pearl was owned by pirates!! as I recall.
Now this was just my experience and others in other countries may not have the same 'in out' taxes applied for the service....
It begs the question 'Why didn't I have this issue with the DIYaudio F5T PCB & transistor buy???
)Shipping&import duties on the boards is what held me back as well. I just built it on perf board. Works perfectly fine and has that real DIY look ;-)
Same for me: 241€ (247$) for the boards/jfets/shipping etc... and 50€ for the french custom (but I knew I will pay custom taxes and took it into account when I prepared my budget).
I might have posted my build in another thread. I bought the Pearl boards from Pass DIY and built them as stock.
Bear in mind that the stock boards have the regulators built on the boards so really any reasonable supply will do.
I built a +/-30VDC with some surplus 22000uF caps I had to hand and the result is stunning.
I did opt for an EI transformer in preference over a toroid for mains noise rejection.
Bear in mind that the stock boards have the regulators built on the boards so really any reasonable supply will do.
I built a +/-30VDC with some surplus 22000uF caps I had to hand and the result is stunning.
I did opt for an EI transformer in preference over a toroid for mains noise rejection.
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Would you anticipate the sound of the Pearl II changing with an increase in gain (Decreasing R14 from 1K to 300)? I needed the extra gain in my system as I run a LOMC at .4mV. My system seems ultra detailed now. Just trying to figure out if it's the Pearl II or the new F4 I'm running. One way to find out for sure, but I don't feel like pulling the boards today.
So some progress on the raw PSU for the Black Pearl II, One side finished and tested (+&-34vdc) Ive gone for 80va 0-22 0 22 transformers as I can fit them in one of my existing cases. As you can see there are lots of holes from previous incarnations. I was going to have a 6 way inter but have (at this stage) gone for a 5 way Phrew job. So the star earth will be within the Pearl case.
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Not tying to teach people how to suck eggs but for the budding builder it may be of some use..
Rather than build one board at a time I'm populating and soldering (a few components at a time) in tandem. I find its easier this way while I have the bag of bits on the bench. Each resistor is checked and cross checked against the schematic prior to insertion in the correct location on the board.
Always the shortest components are inserted (stuffed) first. R20 is the cartridge loading resistor and in my case a Dynavector XX2 MKII which the manual suggests 30Ohms is required. In fact 1K is the way to go. Never believe what the manufacturer tells you...Except for NP who always imparts the truth...
Soldered and excess legs trimmed off.
Rather than build one board at a time I'm populating and soldering (a few components at a time) in tandem. I find its easier this way while I have the bag of bits on the bench. Each resistor is checked and cross checked against the schematic prior to insertion in the correct location on the board.
Always the shortest components are inserted (stuffed) first. R20 is the cartridge loading resistor and in my case a Dynavector XX2 MKII which the manual suggests 30Ohms is required. In fact 1K is the way to go. Never believe what the manufacturer tells you...Except for NP who always imparts the truth...
Soldered and excess legs trimmed off.
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So, trying to think ahead I soldered some legs at R14 remembering this could be changed from 1K to 300 Ohms to lift the db.
I was going to use a 5 way Phrew for the interconnect between the raw PSU case and the regs and Pearl II boards case. But Ive reverted to my original design of a 6 way interconnect. So I had a rummage through my bins and found some 3 pin XLRs plugs and sockets. I'm going to use these.
The cable is UK mains cable 13amp and is 1mtr long, should just about do the job.
Pin 1 = +vdc Pin 2 = -vdc Pin = 3 0v
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