DIY Phono Pre- Boozehound OR Elliot P06?

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G

garpt

Member
Joined 2012
#1
Hi all,
Been here (this forum) before when I need a more Pro "take" on things.
Need a project for these middle-aged hands & eyes as a good stress relief project. It's been a while but I'm a moderate skill level. So, which of these two would one prefer? Looking for personal experience, or comments on design pluses or minuses of each.
*BOOZEHOUND: J Fet design, Russian NOS oil/ paper caps.

* ELLIOT P06: Dual Op-Amp design.

The Boozehound is $79, including PCB and all parts, no P.S., Case, connectors, etc.

The Elliot P06: $30 shipped for PCB Only (w/ instruction)

Thanks for any input at all.
-Gary
 
#2
Boozehound can sound a bit better but is very picky about power supply quality (filtering, noise). Also results in a bulky pcb than Eliott P06
Overall i would recommend Eliott P06 (Easier to build, sounds really good small pcb)

Adrian
 
#4
The Boozehound is going to have very poor PSRR -- almost every power supply issue will manifest itself on the output, so use batteries and don't be stingy. If you are going to build the Eliott P-06 definitely break for the OPA2134 op amps.

Both these pre's can be built on perf board, or manhattan style on blank pcb material.

You might want to take a look at Denis Colin's design from AudioXpress in 2007 -- more complicated than you require, but some good insights: http://www.audioamateur.com/media/aa/colin2774.pdf
 
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#6
atupi said:
Boozehound can sound a bit better but is very picky about power supply quality (filtering, noise). Also results in a bulky pcb than Eliott P06
Overall i would recommend Eliott P06 (Easier to build, sounds really good small pcb)

Adrian
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input Adrian,
I currently have a top quality PS (Hospital Grade, regulated linear, 6Amp continuous- a bit more then necessary, but....)
Only thing, it is dual rail +/-15VDC, about 16.5 no load. Is this adaptable? It should have the filtering necessary to be very quiet. By sound a "bit better", do you mean it cabn sound better then the Elliot p06?
Thanks.
Gary
 
#11
I've built the boozehound. After break in it was clearly better than the phono stage in my Carver C1 (which was better than my phono stage in a 90's Rotel integrated). Even after I upgraded the opamps and caps in the c1 the boozehound killed it. I run it off 16 AA batteries...it seems sensitive to voltage. 22-26V it's good. After that it drops in gain and SQ. I'd like to try a linear supply with it someday.

Highly recommend the boozehound. Seems expensive till you realize there are 4 matched toshiba 2sk170's in there and PIO caps.
 
#12
Hikari1 said:
I've built the boozehound. After break in it was clearly better than the phono stage in my Carver C1 (which was better than my phono stage in a 90's Rotel integrated). Even after I upgraded the opamps and caps in the c1 the boozehound killed it. I run it off 16 AA batteries...it seems sensitive to voltage. 22-26V it's good. After that it drops in gain and SQ. I'd like to try a linear supply with it someday.

Highly recommend the boozehound. Seems expensive till you realize there are 4 matched toshiba 2sk170's in there and PIO caps.
Click to expand...

Agreed. It definitely beats my Lehmann (early) Black Cube and Phonomena.
I also run batteries, 2 12volt SLA batteries. I've run as low as 18VDC, and I agree 22 volts (or up to 24) is definitely the sweet spot. I am still building other DIY preamps because it's fun and inexpensive. What I would like to gain, over the Boozehound, is:
*Better mid definition
*Although good bass extension, a bit flabby at times- Tighter Bass.
High end is good, but perhaps a bit better extension- a bit of rolloff noticed.

This is mostly "nitpicking", as for $90, it is already beating $600 preamps.
Not bad!!

-Gary
 
#13
audiorasp said:
Yes, there are pcbs available.

On Pavel's homepage click on pricelist:

Pavel Macura audiopage
Click to expand...

I emailed Pavel-
Unfortunately, he is busy with other ventures right now and not producing any more PCB's. And I don't trust my skills in assembling without a pre- etched PCB. But I really like the looks of that design, with all those J-FET's it must sound really nice!
I found a PCB project on Ebay (from Israel, I believe). It uses 3 AD706 op-amps.
Not sure what the third IC is (Buffer?) but it is an interesting looking design, so for $10, I said "what the heck?"
Is anyone familiar with that model- OR the Analog Devices 706 op-amp for a use such as this? There is frightfully little on the internet about this design, Or that op-amp.

Thanks!
Gary
 
#14
The AD706 is an interesting choice - very low bias currents which is good for low current noise, but the inputs don't have internal back-to-back diodes so you'll need to add these (otherwise the noise performance could be trashed via transients). Its also not great for voltage noise anyway, and its bandwidth is rather inadequate for audio use (you might get away at low signal levels, but the large signal response drops rapidly from 2kHz up). That's the problem with micro-power opamps, low bandwidth due to poor slew-rate - most audio opamps will be in the 3--6mA per amp supply current range to ensure adequate power slew-rate and bandwidth.

For MM preamp its still hard to beat the NE5534A as a device with the right combination of low-enough current noise, voltage noise, distortion and price, but there are modern JFET opamps that will do a good job. These days availability is a big issue so choose opamps you can actually get(!)
 
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