Hi everyone,
I'm interested in building a new phono preamplifier for my stereo. I'm not sure which model to make, and I'd be very grateful to hear your suggestions.
A few bits of possibly relevant information:
So I'd like a phono stage that is low (zero?) capacitance. It could be adjustable, but it's not that important b/c, as I understand it, the Grado carts don't care about capacitance. I don't have a preference for tube vs. solid state -- whichever produces good sound. I've built some amps (Tubelab SSE, Starving Student II headphone amp, Fender 5e3 clone) so I have a bit of experience and am good w/ a soldering iron. But I'm nowhere near being able to look at a schematic and just go from there. I don't need a kit, per se, but a BOM and a bit of guidance/documentation of the build process is important. Lastly, cost isn't too much of an issue. I don't think it would make much sense to spend +$1k..., but I would like to have a great phono stage at the end.
I'd be very grateful to hear your suggestions!
Thanks,
Dan
I'm interested in building a new phono preamplifier for my stereo. I'm not sure which model to make, and I'd be very grateful to hear your suggestions.
A few bits of possibly relevant information:
- I'm using an old Luxman PD277 turntable. Works great.
- The Luxman gets plugged into a Schitt Mani, then into an Onkyo integrated (used as a preamp), and tape out to a Tubelab SSE (as poweramp). My speakers are Tekton Lore.
- I've been using 2 cartridges recently: a Grado Prestige Black (v3, I believe) and an AT vm540ml.
- I like the warm sound of the Grado. Zeppelin never sounded so good. At some point, I might get the Gold version
- I like the detail of the AT. I can hear a lot of the nuances in jazz records
- The AT cart sounds a little ... bright? it's not unpleasant or shrill, and you can definitely hear the bass very clearly. It's just voiced kind of on the highend for me. I understand this could be b/c AT carts are very sensitive to capacitance in the phono stage, and I don't know what the capacitance of the Schitt Mani is, nor whether the captive RCA cord on the Luxman is low capacitance.
- I listen to a pretty wide variety of music: rock, jazz, country, my kid plays imagine dragons...
So I'd like a phono stage that is low (zero?) capacitance. It could be adjustable, but it's not that important b/c, as I understand it, the Grado carts don't care about capacitance. I don't have a preference for tube vs. solid state -- whichever produces good sound. I've built some amps (Tubelab SSE, Starving Student II headphone amp, Fender 5e3 clone) so I have a bit of experience and am good w/ a soldering iron. But I'm nowhere near being able to look at a schematic and just go from there. I don't need a kit, per se, but a BOM and a bit of guidance/documentation of the build process is important. Lastly, cost isn't too much of an issue. I don't think it would make much sense to spend +$1k..., but I would like to have a great phono stage at the end.
I'd be very grateful to hear your suggestions!
Thanks,
Dan
Thanks very much. Looks like an interesting build. Two issues:
When clicking through to the booze hound page, it says the store is closed bc they can't source the parts to sell the kits. I'll keep an eye on that.
Do you know if that preamp is low capacitance? I didn't notice any mention of it on the diyaudioprojects page.
Thanks!
Dan
When clicking through to the booze hound page, it says the store is closed bc they can't source the parts to sell the kits. I'll keep an eye on that.
Do you know if that preamp is low capacitance? I didn't notice any mention of it on the diyaudioprojects page.
Thanks!
Dan
I would recommend the Salas NJFET phono stage, here:
Simplistic NJFET RIAA
I haven't built the new version, but do have the previous version built and really like it. There is a user/builder manual, a GB for PCBs and any hard to find parts (if there are any on this version; the previous version did have some). Powered via Salas's shunt regulators, so very quiet. I don't believe there are any loading capacitors, but think those can be added if necessary.
Simplistic NJFET RIAA
I haven't built the new version, but do have the previous version built and really like it. There is a user/builder manual, a GB for PCBs and any hard to find parts (if there are any on this version; the previous version did have some). Powered via Salas's shunt regulators, so very quiet. I don't believe there are any loading capacitors, but think those can be added if necessary.
Thank you! I'll read through that thread. Some of it any ways...
I've also been reading about the Vacuum Tube Audio phono preamps (ph14 and ph16), which also look very nice: Vacuum Tube Audio preamp kits. If anyone has thoughts on these I'd be happy to hear them as well. Thanks.
Best,
Dan
I've also been reading about the Vacuum Tube Audio phono preamps (ph14 and ph16), which also look very nice: Vacuum Tube Audio preamp kits. If anyone has thoughts on these I'd be happy to hear them as well. Thanks.
Best,
Dan
VTA products have a hit and miss rep, a lot of hum complaints,? I can’t say from personal experience but consider this; both the ph-14 and the little bear t10/11 are supposed to be EAR 834 clones. Also have you considered a pearl 2 (PassDIY)
From my personal experience it's right here in the forum. Ultra high spec. opamp MC/MM phono, warp "elliptic" filter, line, headphone amps.
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This is the phono stage that I have chosen - I hope to build it up in the coming months. It seems like an interesting addition to the other amazing designs posted here such as Pearl 2 and the Salas UltraFSP RIAA.
It would be lovely to try them all one day.
😀
If you want an easy and reliable build, I can recommend the Muffsy preamp.
https://www.muffsy.com/
A friend on the forum gave me a kit. I built it and like it. The Muffsy is clean, quiet and smooth. It has adjustable gain and capacitance loading is easy to change, which makes it easy to adapt to your system.
https://www.muffsy.com/
A friend on the forum gave me a kit. I built it and like it. The Muffsy is clean, quiet and smooth. It has adjustable gain and capacitance loading is easy to change, which makes it easy to adapt to your system.
Thank you, all, for these great suggestions. I'm going to spend some looking through the descriptions and associated materials to see what a build would entail.
One additional question: does anyone have any experience w/ the Bottlehead phono preamps (reduction & eros)? I havn't built any of their kits yet. I know they're a bit further away from a full on DIY project, but, to be honest, the 'hand-holding' might be helpful for me. Also, I saw that the reduction is low capacitive loading.
Thanks,
Dan
One additional question: does anyone have any experience w/ the Bottlehead phono preamps (reduction & eros)? I havn't built any of their kits yet. I know they're a bit further away from a full on DIY project, but, to be honest, the 'hand-holding' might be helpful for me. Also, I saw that the reduction is low capacitive loading.
Thanks,
Dan
Yes, very reliable designs. If you need help with a DIY one of these, check out wardsweb.org/audio/seduction. Also checkout a Sirensong or Hagerman octal cornet, both octal tube based designs, which I prefer. I've also built several hybrid fet/tube. PM me.