What do you mean by "tomb quiet"?
I hear no hum with mine, but I can hear some hiss with my ear near the tweeter. I'm always curious if others might have quieter (hiss-wise) Pearls than mine. However, it is to be expected that you can hear some hiss, there is 55dB more gain than on a line input of my amp, and even on the line input there is a minimal amount of hiss to be heard (no input signal, ear in front of the tweeter)
I hear no hum with mine, but I can hear some hiss with my ear near the tweeter. I'm always curious if others might have quieter (hiss-wise) Pearls than mine. However, it is to be expected that you can hear some hiss, there is 55dB more gain than on a line input of my amp, and even on the line input there is a minimal amount of hiss to be heard (no input signal, ear in front of the tweeter)
Absolutely silent, no hiss even with my ear against the tweeters of the speakers.
Have you tried the snubber at the input of the Pearl 2? My cartridge doesn't need it but some do.
680R in series with 1000pF.
Have you tried the snubber at the input of the Pearl 2? My cartridge doesn't need it but some do.
680R in series with 1000pF.
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I get a small bit of hiss with my ear against the tweeter and the preamp at 0dB (straight pass through to amp, no attenuation, no gain). No hum. Back off a few inches and the hiss is gone.
The gain on mine is a bit low for my Linn Arkiv so at the moment I'm just connected directly to the inputs of my Aleph 4, no volume control. I might get a bit of noise when I up the gain a bit.
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I've always been sceptical about the choice of resistors for certain projects but, as this was always a high gain / low noise application, I wonder if the resistors do make a difference here. I used the Dale RNCP55Y series for mine.
There are not many resistors better than the Dale RNC. It will make a difference in this application, and you made a very good choice.
Mine is certainly very quiet whereas others are complaining about a hiss. Mine doesn't hiss at all.
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I used Dale resistors in most places. In three places along the signal path (R11, R16, R17), I used the expensive "naked" ones. I did my signal wiring with 30ga fine silver wire sheathed in teflon tubing twisted together as a pair, so they are not shielded. This may be the source of my hiss, but as I can't hear it while listening, I don't bother much with it.
My interconnect cables have shielding, but my internal wire is just Teflon insulated hook up wire from apexjr.com
Russellc
Russellc
I've now increased the gain by bypassing R14 with 470R. That makes R14 approx. 320R.
If I press my ear right up to the tweeters I can now hear a barely audible hiss, this is raw fed through a 100W / Channel amp.
If I press my ear right up to the tweeters I can now hear a barely audible hiss, this is raw fed through a 100W / Channel amp.
That's a 20dB voltage gain amp. It would take a typically 10dB line stage preamp to bring up the system gain right for medium sensitivity home speakers. Because +10dB is roughly what people describe as twice as loud, expect double your now perceived hiss as a typical system's level. Not bad at all.
Sounds like clearly less hiss than mine. Mine is connected to an integrated amp (Sony TA-FA70ES). The built-in phono from that amp also hisses more than other line inputs (logical I think with all the extra gain).
I have Dale CMF resistors, not RND by the way. Don't know if they are a lot noisier.
I have Dale CMF resistors, not RND by the way. Don't know if they are a lot noisier.
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I'm thinking these differences in audible hiss are the result of different levels of gain in the various amps that we each are using. As I mentioned before, it doesn't cause me any concern since once you back off a few inches, it is gone.
A very valid comment. Once the cart is brought up to a common level, only then can we compare our results.