I've almost finished building my second Emerald phono stage. I've built it almost the same as the previous one but I've made a couple of mods this time. As I intend to swap between mm and mc carts I had no desire to keep opening up the enclosure for access to the jumpers so I added a switch on the back panel to alter the gain. For mc loading I installed two extra phono sockets in parallel with the original input sockets and I've made a selection of loading plugs. To make this work R2 is omitted. For 47k loading for mm I simply fit dust caps over empty loading sockets. I'm running it with the covers off for the moment as there's still a few bits and pieces left to finish off but it's sounding very nice indeed.
Thanks Richard.
Thanks Richard.
Thanks for the update.
Using an external switch for the gain instead of the jumper seems to work out fine, much to my relief.
Using an external switch for the gain instead of the jumper seems to work out fine, much to my relief.
You're welcome Richard.
The external gain switch works well but it's the convenience aspect that really appeals to me. I would prefer jumpers or something closer to the pcb if it was easier but it isn't. I was also thinking about input loading again today and wondered if it would be better to leave R1 off the board and make up some 47.5k loading plugs instead. When using MCs there are two resistors in parallel. Surely just one resistor would be quieter? Also I sometimes use an AT 440 MLb and find it works best into 38k so changing the MM loading becomes important too. I'll be having a play around with this when I get my original Emerald back.
The external gain switch works well but it's the convenience aspect that really appeals to me. I would prefer jumpers or something closer to the pcb if it was easier but it isn't. I was also thinking about input loading again today and wondered if it would be better to leave R1 off the board and make up some 47.5k loading plugs instead. When using MCs there are two resistors in parallel. Surely just one resistor would be quieter? Also I sometimes use an AT 440 MLb and find it works best into 38k so changing the MM loading becomes important too. I'll be having a play around with this when I get my original Emerald back.
Resistor noises are generated as charge (currents), manifested as voltage fluctuations created by the flow of that current through a resistance. In short, ten 1000 ohm resistors in parallel produce the same circuit noise as one 100 ohm resistor. Or to put it another way, one 10 ohm resistor has (functionally) the same noise as one 10 ohm resistor in parallel with several 1 megaohm resistors.
I tried changing to cardas copper litz 24 awg for the signal wire ..it definitely have a very huge jump in performance .
Happy to report
It's even more tube like less glare .musical better bass more texture. Huger fuller sound . Previously used silver coated solid core .
R core also a huge jump in performance .
Happy to report
It's even more tube like less glare .musical better bass more texture. Huger fuller sound . Previously used silver coated solid core .
R core also a huge jump in performance .
Success!! The S-reg is solid as a rock providing +/-12.5V from a +/-26V DC source.
Q3 and Q4 are barely warm to the touch after I played a whole lp, so no heatsinks needed for the time being at least.
No excessive woofer cone movement or hum any more with the use of separate transformer secondary windings.[/QUOTE]
Great looking build
Did you add up all the cost of your build?
Great looking build
Did you add up all the cost of your build?[/QUOTE]
Thanks! The transformer is second hand off ebay.. It costs roughly $20. The transformer cover is from ebay too. It was shipped from China at a cost of $5-10 if I remember well.
The emerald boards of course were purchased from Richard at the cost shown in his website. Same as the rumble filters from Rod Elliot's website. The rest of the parts were a mixture of left over parts and others I had to buy for this build, but the most costly item is the chassis. I think it costs roughly $100 depending on the shipping cost and custom duties. It was bought off ebay and shipped from china.
The cable is Van Damme cable which I had bought to upgrade my interconnects throughout my system (approximately $20 for 5m)
Last edited:
Having built my second Emerald phono stage I can tell you all that I'm extremely happy with it. However my main music system is mc only so I don't need a mm stage that will probably never be used. The question is for mc only is the phonoclone better than the Emerald?
Hi Simon,
No, the Phonoclone is not a better-sounding MC stage than the Emerald. The other way around, actually, if only by a whisker.
No, the Phonoclone is not a better-sounding MC stage than the Emerald. The other way around, actually, if only by a whisker.
Thanks Richard, that’s good enough for me.
Can you tell me what the input capacitance of the Emerald is.
Can you tell me what the input capacitance of the Emerald is.
It's whatever capacitance you load it with (c.f. Switchboard), plus the capacitance of the phono cable. The circuit itself has no significant contribution.
/R
/R
Fantastic. That makes for a very flexible phono stage. My home brew 834p had an input capacitance of 200pf. That and the external/internal arm wiring was just too much for some cartridges.
As well as R2 I've now removed R1 from both boards so no loading resistors fitted at all and I've made up a selection of loading plugs to cover the majority of cartridges I have. As I'm using loading plugs anyway I just don't see any reason to have two resistors in parallel. I will at some point make the gain switchable between four levels instead of the standard two. I sometimes use a Denon DL110 and it needs the gain setting somewhere between the two. I'm also looking at a DLS1 which I suspect will need a bit more gain than the standard MC setting.
I have several good phono stages to choose from but I have to say the Emerald has surpassed all of them bar one. There's nothing in it either way but because I can make the Emerald so flexible it's now my go to phono stage. There are no boutique parts, the kit is as Richard supplied it. Two friends who have also had this phono stage in their own systems are equally enthusiastic. I'm a happy man Richard and thank you.
I have several good phono stages to choose from but I have to say the Emerald has surpassed all of them bar one. There's nothing in it either way but because I can make the Emerald so flexible it's now my go to phono stage. There are no boutique parts, the kit is as Richard supplied it. Two friends who have also had this phono stage in their own systems are equally enthusiastic. I'm a happy man Richard and thank you.
I prefer to see it as "is there any reason not to" but my first thought was to worry about what would happen if you forgot to put a resistor in the socket and powered up the Emerald. On consideration I can't see any risk, however.
I'm happy you like the Emerald. As you note, there is in general no particular need to use special parts, though it does respond to boutique coupling caps for C3. That capacitor and the op amps is where most of the "sound" seems to come from.
"Is there any reason not to". I thought you might say that. I may put it back in yet but suffice to say it's only mine that is running without R1. The other Emerald I built for a good friend still has R1 in place.
Richard, do you have any idea how long before you can send items to the uk again? I'd like to build another for my other system and my son is making demands of his poor old dad to build him one for his 40th ( jeez you'd think he was still 15 lol ) I also have another good friend up in Scotland who is waiting for me to bring mine up to him once we can travel again. This guy has some seriously good kit but I'm pretty sure once he hears it he'll ask me to build him one.
I would like to stress that there's no profit in this for me. I build for fun and only for a small circle of hifi friends and family. Lastly do you have any objection to me putting the name Emerald on the front facia?
I would like to stress that there's no profit in this for me. I build for fun and only for a small circle of hifi friends and family. Lastly do you have any objection to me putting the name Emerald on the front facia?
Simon,
Sorry if I said something misleading earlier. UK, US, and Canada have not been and are not currently restricted, so at present I can send you stuff no problem. France and Germany are OK, but Scandinavia and Australia, which were initially OK, were added to the list a few days ago.
The list of countries can be found here at Japanpost website
Sorry if I said something misleading earlier. UK, US, and Canada have not been and are not currently restricted, so at present I can send you stuff no problem. France and Germany are OK, but Scandinavia and Australia, which were initially OK, were added to the list a few days ago.
The list of countries can be found here at Japanpost website