Hi all,
I am looking for an upgrable, good and not so expensive tube preamp for my modded TPA 3116.
I know aikido have some reputation but I red bad reviews as well....
GlassWare Audio Design Software
I had a look on this one:
Yuan Jing Audio - 6Z4 Tube Pre-Amplifier Board [ Maratz 7 ] [ No 6N4 ] - $26.20
I think I can upgrade the tubes and capcitors with better quality.
What do you think? Is this pre can be upgraded? or is there other good alternative?
Thanks all!
I am looking for an upgrable, good and not so expensive tube preamp for my modded TPA 3116.
I know aikido have some reputation but I red bad reviews as well....
GlassWare Audio Design Software
I had a look on this one:
Yuan Jing Audio - 6Z4 Tube Pre-Amplifier Board [ Maratz 7 ] [ No 6N4 ] - $26.20
I think I can upgrade the tubes and capcitors with better quality.
What do you think? Is this pre can be upgraded? or is there other good alternative?
Thanks all!
If you want really upgradeable (and I don't mean just swapping caps and stuff) you better not go with a PCB.
Have soldering strips on the chassis and go point to point. Pick a common enough socket for the tubes (octal or noval) and have one tube socket per channel - that way you can go balanced at some point, with dual triodes.
Leave a lot of room, so you can add different plate loads, CCS tails for balanced, and source follower output buffers at some point.
Then begin with a simple all resistors and capacitors and tubes kind of a setup, and get experimenting!
The single most significant thing in a preamp is not the tubes you use, not the capacitors you use but the topology. Leave room to change that (most significantly, to go balanced).
Have soldering strips on the chassis and go point to point. Pick a common enough socket for the tubes (octal or noval) and have one tube socket per channel - that way you can go balanced at some point, with dual triodes.
Leave a lot of room, so you can add different plate loads, CCS tails for balanced, and source follower output buffers at some point.
Then begin with a simple all resistors and capacitors and tubes kind of a setup, and get experimenting!
The single most significant thing in a preamp is not the tubes you use, not the capacitors you use but the topology. Leave room to change that (most significantly, to go balanced).
Also I would put the input-output section on small separate plate that is screw mounted on the back of the preamp. That way you can make changes to that (XLR balanced input/output for example).
Thanks for answer,
what kind of schema do I use? Do you have some links and advertise?
Thanks!
Hi,
First of all I don't understand why anyone would want a preamp where all it takes is a source selector, a volume control and, if you need to drive long capacitive cables, a well designed buffer stage?
Anything else thrown in only just degrades the sound further, surely?
So, O.K. you want a preamp to add some even harmonics to that sterile digital sound......😀
Anywho, of the two I'd rather put my beans on the Aikido than on a dubious clone of a circuit that sounds like someone has pulled a sock over your ears.....
@McCurwen: you make leaps and bounds but from what the TS expresses I'm not sure he's still with you....😛
Ciao, 😉
First of all I don't understand why anyone would want a preamp where all it takes is a source selector, a volume control and, if you need to drive long capacitive cables, a well designed buffer stage?
Anything else thrown in only just degrades the sound further, surely?
So, O.K. you want a preamp to add some even harmonics to that sterile digital sound......😀
Anywho, of the two I'd rather put my beans on the Aikido than on a dubious clone of a circuit that sounds like someone has pulled a sock over your ears.....
@McCurwen: you make leaps and bounds but from what the TS expresses I'm not sure he's still with you....😛
Ciao, 😉
Let's assume he has a signal source giving some 300 mV but the output amplifier needs 1 V to be driven full.
I would build something like this:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/u8ngp55qcfcb3ch/Esiv_s%C3%A4%C3%A4d_G.GIF?dl=0
Non-inverting, low THD and adjustable gain ( with P1).
I would build something like this:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/u8ngp55qcfcb3ch/Esiv_s%C3%A4%C3%A4d_G.GIF?dl=0
Non-inverting, low THD and adjustable gain ( with P1).
Last edited:
Well, it looks good,
But I am not sure to be able to do it.
This is why my first intention was to look for a kit.
Hi,
Provided one holds a degree in eastern philology, that is.🙁
What about the previous circuit: drop the 6N2 stage and just use the 6N6 and a 100K log pot.
After that all it takes is a decent PSU and there you go.
(I know someone will object as it will invert phase. So what?)
Cheers, 😉
Provided one holds a degree in eastern philology, that is.🙁
What about the previous circuit: drop the 6N2 stage and just use the 6N6 and a 100K log pot.
After that all it takes is a decent PSU and there you go.
(I know someone will object as it will invert phase. So what?)
Cheers, 😉
Watch out for the 220V primary, the web is legion with stories of transformers that cooked on the "nominal" 230V mains found in the EU which in some places at some time of the day might be as high as 240V.
My advice would be if possible to find someone local who can guide you through the process of designing and building your first pre-amp.
Kits are well and good, but what if you cannot get it to work properly or worse, like so many these days it turns out to be a very badly designed circuit that someone nonetheless decided to commercialize?
My advice would be if possible to find someone local who can guide you through the process of designing and building your first pre-amp.
Kits are well and good, but what if you cannot get it to work properly or worse, like so many these days it turns out to be a very badly designed circuit that someone nonetheless decided to commercialize?
this is exactly what I think!
I know nothing on tubes.
Maybe a simple pcb kit could be suitable?
Then I recommend you forget about the idea of modifying something not so good...
Instead buy something so good that no modifications are required.
How about this:
Xiangsheng 728A Vacuum Tube Pre Amplifier Preamp Shigeru Wada Japan Circuit PMSV | eBay
Well,
I would like to learn as well...
This kit looks good. I am going to think about it.
Thanks all for your answers
I would like to learn as well...
This kit looks good. I am going to think about it.
Thanks all for your answers
Take a look at the Bottlehead Quickie, it's a battery powered preamp that can be upgraded. Fun to build, inexpensive and great sounding.
Douk Audio 6j4+6p6p Class A preamp
Hi
I am a complete novice and beginner into valve technology. At the risk of
being laughed out of the park by the guys out there who really know their
stuff, can I add the following:-
A friend gave me a pair of Hacker speakers which were being thrown out,
they were knocked about a bit and looked in need of a little TLC. I spent
some time refurbishing the cabinets and crossovers and I am very pleased with the result. Surely then these speakers in all their vintage splendour
deserved to be paired with a valve amplifier?
As a retirement present my wife bought me an Icon Audio ST25 valve amp.
This opened up a whole new interest, such a gorgeous sound !
If I haven't bored anyone to sleep yet, this is where it started.
I wanted a remote volume control for the system, but didn't want to start carving up my Icon Audio amp. Also my listening room isn't perfect and I always could perceive an imbalance between the speakers. I tried various
things to remedy this, but nothing worked. So, I thought maybe a balance
control!
OK, so maybe a remote volume and balance control doesn't really warrant
building a preamp. But the problem is, I've been bitten by the valve bug.
So to cut a long story short (are you still there ! ) I purchased the Douk Audio 6j4+6p6p preamp in an attempt to enter the wonderful world of valves. I found a motorised volume control complete with remote in kit form on E-Bay for only £19.99p.
Both kits have been built and are working beautifully. I found that using the preamp between my Cyrus CD player and Icon amp opened up the sound stage somewhat and increased separation between instruments.
For the price I am very pleased, there was a very small amount of hum
when connected to the main amp. I cured this by splitting the mains earth
and OV rail, then reconnecting via a 100R resistor and 220nf capacitor.
The system is now noiseless. I solved the sound imbalance problem by
mounting two 47k pots on the front panel of the preamp and wiring them
between the input jacks and the stereo motorised pot. It's given the desired result, but I'm not sure whether this is good practice.
I think the Douk preamp is excellent value for money, it has given me a real insight into the construction of valve audio equipment and because of the "point to point" wiring, can be modified as I learn more.
Hi
I am a complete novice and beginner into valve technology. At the risk of
being laughed out of the park by the guys out there who really know their
stuff, can I add the following:-
A friend gave me a pair of Hacker speakers which were being thrown out,
they were knocked about a bit and looked in need of a little TLC. I spent
some time refurbishing the cabinets and crossovers and I am very pleased with the result. Surely then these speakers in all their vintage splendour
deserved to be paired with a valve amplifier?
As a retirement present my wife bought me an Icon Audio ST25 valve amp.
This opened up a whole new interest, such a gorgeous sound !
If I haven't bored anyone to sleep yet, this is where it started.
I wanted a remote volume control for the system, but didn't want to start carving up my Icon Audio amp. Also my listening room isn't perfect and I always could perceive an imbalance between the speakers. I tried various
things to remedy this, but nothing worked. So, I thought maybe a balance
control!
OK, so maybe a remote volume and balance control doesn't really warrant
building a preamp. But the problem is, I've been bitten by the valve bug.
So to cut a long story short (are you still there ! ) I purchased the Douk Audio 6j4+6p6p preamp in an attempt to enter the wonderful world of valves. I found a motorised volume control complete with remote in kit form on E-Bay for only £19.99p.
Both kits have been built and are working beautifully. I found that using the preamp between my Cyrus CD player and Icon amp opened up the sound stage somewhat and increased separation between instruments.
For the price I am very pleased, there was a very small amount of hum
when connected to the main amp. I cured this by splitting the mains earth
and OV rail, then reconnecting via a 100R resistor and 220nf capacitor.
The system is now noiseless. I solved the sound imbalance problem by
mounting two 47k pots on the front panel of the preamp and wiring them
between the input jacks and the stereo motorised pot. It's given the desired result, but I'm not sure whether this is good practice.
I think the Douk preamp is excellent value for money, it has given me a real insight into the construction of valve audio equipment and because of the "point to point" wiring, can be modified as I learn more.
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