I’m curious about few things and I would like to know!
I have built several stages of DIY phono, some published in DIYAUDIO, but I always have the doubt that is what gives good dynamics to a preamplifier.
I have passive phono preamps; assets; mixed some I like their sound but they do not have good dynamics and vice versa.
In all of them I use the same power source (50 watts and ultra-fast diodes); and the rest of the audio system is the same
Please what is the factor for good dynamics to be obtained?
I have built several stages of DIY phono, some published in DIYAUDIO, but I always have the doubt that is what gives good dynamics to a preamplifier.
I have passive phono preamps; assets; mixed some I like their sound but they do not have good dynamics and vice versa.
In all of them I use the same power source (50 watts and ultra-fast diodes); and the rest of the audio system is the same
Please what is the factor for good dynamics to be obtained?
Objective dynamic range is determined by the noise floor and the output voltage headroom. These are not very difficult to acheive these days.
Subjective sense of dynamic is related to psychoacoustics and is rarely determined by the objective, measurable dynamic. Subjective lack of dynamic may come from various flaws, e.g. drop in low frequencies, high distorsion, etc.
Use some high quality preamp as a reference to compare with your preamps. Keep everything same but swap preamps to compare.
Also give your preamps a try with high quality turntable and cartridge.
Compare carefully and make conclusions. Than make measurements to find objective source of perceived difference.
Subjective sense of dynamic is related to psychoacoustics and is rarely determined by the objective, measurable dynamic. Subjective lack of dynamic may come from various flaws, e.g. drop in low frequencies, high distorsion, etc.
Use some high quality preamp as a reference to compare with your preamps. Keep everything same but swap preamps to compare.
Also give your preamps a try with high quality turntable and cartridge.
Compare carefully and make conclusions. Than make measurements to find objective source of perceived difference.
Actually it's quite difficult to preserve a real world vinyl dynamics without compromising on the sound with today components without sacrificing some of the SNR...Real world vinyls have dust and scratches on them...Computer digital scratch ticks and pops removal softwares are available today to help it out...If you go exclusively analog, high quality is not easy to get.Not going to go again about it, I'm not in the mood today, but the issue was fist handedly analysed by EF Taylor and John Linsley Hood.
It's a lot, really a lot to talk about it.Tubes are king in the vinyl area.
It's a lot, really a lot to talk about it.Tubes are king in the vinyl area.
Last edited:
I think I refer to "good dynamics" as they say in the reviews, to the difference that exists between the soft passages and the strengths of a disc.
There are preamps that if you compare them with another sunansin life, "flat".
Also, the same goes for power amplifiers. I remember a Technics that I had. Then I replaced it with a Rotel and then with a Marantz PM6006 and there is no comparison but techhcnics sounds dead even if you turn up the volume, it does not have that "life", the soft passages are almost equal to the strong passages.
That's what I mean, which makes some sound "flat" and others "real".
There are preamps that if you compare them with another sunansin life, "flat".
Also, the same goes for power amplifiers. I remember a Technics that I had. Then I replaced it with a Rotel and then with a Marantz PM6006 and there is no comparison but techhcnics sounds dead even if you turn up the volume, it does not have that "life", the soft passages are almost equal to the strong passages.
That's what I mean, which makes some sound "flat" and others "real".
Real dynamic compressors are complex circuits. There is close to zero chance a phono stage becomes a dynamic compressor unintentionally. You can verify that by digitizing the output of a same track amplified through various preamps. If you visually compare the files (with Audacity for example) you will hardly see any difference, especially not a compression.
Source of what reviewers experience as a dynamic compression is some imperfection not related to real compression but is perceived so through the mechanisms of psychoacoustics. That's why it's not a straightforward task to mitigate it. One should first identify the root cause.
Can you name a preamp that you've used in your system that provided satisfactory subjective dynamic?
Post the exact schematics. Othewise its all useless chat.
On the other hand, have you tried ear834 tube pre?
Cartridge loading affects HF -- one of the Stereophile writers recommended an absurdly low loading resistor which lead to a more rapid roll-off of HF.
Muddy bass -- in a tube phono-pre it may be the cathode bypass capacitor perhaps?
If the pic below is representative maybe a pretty good chance of it being a fast high frequency clipper though. 16 mV @ 10 kHz is 10 dB above 5 mV.
Attachments
Depending on the compression curve that's probably the case. For HF clipping much of the distortion falls at the very top of the audible spectrum and, judging from too many years tuning over-the-air broadcast processors, often also manifests as a blunting of the sense of dynamics. Not very different from the perceptions reported by 7Crankshaft above. Wondering if tube phone stages do better in this regard.