Okay put a fork in me I am done. On to the next project.
I learned about the parts and the people rolling the parts.
The Pearl 3 has too much gain for MM cartridges for my preference, 46 dB's is too hot.
I did borrow the regulated power supply design to use with a 36 dB gain Bugle. This Bugle uses 3 Brown Dog OPA 1656 Op-Amps with 36 dB's gain.
Got measurements to compare?
I learned about the parts and the people rolling the parts.
The Pearl 3 has too much gain for MM cartridges for my preference, 46 dB's is too hot.
I did borrow the regulated power supply design to use with a 36 dB gain Bugle. This Bugle uses 3 Brown Dog OPA 1656 Op-Amps with 36 dB's gain.
Got measurements to compare?
J112 Matching -- Act III
Now that the cast is assembled, its time for the executive summary:
Moving from the stock J112 to the low-noise onsemi NFet/S TO-92 J112 produces two audible improvements -- one barely audible and a second more significant. The first is an improvement in soundstage accuracy, particularly in spatial depth. The second is in increased transparency. Although the audible change is minor and will only be apparent on extremely quiet systems, the improvement kept me listening to vinyl for 5 hours the first night and seven hours yesterday.
First the soundstage improvement.
Like to use a DGG Tchaikovsky recording for assessing soundstage accuracy (Symphonies 4-6, Leningrad PO Mravinsky DG 2721085 -- see the JPeg below). A Russian orchestra playing Tchaikovsky is like Zeppelin playing rock -- everything is perfect in every way. T's symphonies are often dense and FFF -- with brass statements that literally pin you to your chair. This great recording has it all -- true analog from 1974, over-the-top performing excellence, and a great hall helped along by a fine conductor.
The J112 improvement is very slight and associated with first, a more accurate sense of depth and, secondly, with greater precision in sectional placement. The second violins are presented to the right of the first violins and slightly away-- exactly where they were in actual performance. Solo brass instruments (and especially the tuba) are positioned halfway right and behind the cellos, Again, exactly perfect.
So you say you only listen occasionally to classical music? You really want to get this recording! Or you say you hate classical music and will never listen to it? You really, really want to get this recording! It will change your mind. Just checked on Discogs and there are plenty available (don't forget to order near-mint condition and chose a mailing distance as close as possible).
Now for transparency. Have been touting the Burson V7V as shown by my review above (#4751). A fellow DIYer on this site, who has a particularly good ear, PM'd me that he got his Vivid and that it took the Pearl 3 to another level --exactly my thoughts as well. Moving from the stock 2068 (that we both also like) to the Vivid makes a great change in transparency. The stock 2068 has an ocean-worth of air between instruments/voices. So much so that each voice can sound separate from a no-longer-existent ensemble.
In contrast, the Vivid opamp presents voices clearly but with less air and you perceive, as a result, the overall ensemble as a coherent unit.
The low-noise J112 maintains this ensemble accuracy but each voice is (ever so) slightly more separate/transparent. Consequently, in dense textures you can distinguish individual voices and their timbres more accurately. I attribute this improvement to the low-noise of the 106-J112.
Now, of course, this is my listening assessment -- but I consider these accurate and not "IMHO."
But you don't have to take my word for it...
Have sent a matched pair of the 106-J112s to a fellow thread member and he will report his experiences.
Now if I could only remember which thread member's name rhymes with "Teamann."
Now that the cast is assembled, its time for the executive summary:
Moving from the stock J112 to the low-noise onsemi NFet/S TO-92 J112 produces two audible improvements -- one barely audible and a second more significant. The first is an improvement in soundstage accuracy, particularly in spatial depth. The second is in increased transparency. Although the audible change is minor and will only be apparent on extremely quiet systems, the improvement kept me listening to vinyl for 5 hours the first night and seven hours yesterday.
First the soundstage improvement.
Like to use a DGG Tchaikovsky recording for assessing soundstage accuracy (Symphonies 4-6, Leningrad PO Mravinsky DG 2721085 -- see the JPeg below). A Russian orchestra playing Tchaikovsky is like Zeppelin playing rock -- everything is perfect in every way. T's symphonies are often dense and FFF -- with brass statements that literally pin you to your chair. This great recording has it all -- true analog from 1974, over-the-top performing excellence, and a great hall helped along by a fine conductor.
The J112 improvement is very slight and associated with first, a more accurate sense of depth and, secondly, with greater precision in sectional placement. The second violins are presented to the right of the first violins and slightly away-- exactly where they were in actual performance. Solo brass instruments (and especially the tuba) are positioned halfway right and behind the cellos, Again, exactly perfect.
So you say you only listen occasionally to classical music? You really want to get this recording! Or you say you hate classical music and will never listen to it? You really, really want to get this recording! It will change your mind. Just checked on Discogs and there are plenty available (don't forget to order near-mint condition and chose a mailing distance as close as possible).
Now for transparency. Have been touting the Burson V7V as shown by my review above (#4751). A fellow DIYer on this site, who has a particularly good ear, PM'd me that he got his Vivid and that it took the Pearl 3 to another level --exactly my thoughts as well. Moving from the stock 2068 (that we both also like) to the Vivid makes a great change in transparency. The stock 2068 has an ocean-worth of air between instruments/voices. So much so that each voice can sound separate from a no-longer-existent ensemble.
In contrast, the Vivid opamp presents voices clearly but with less air and you perceive, as a result, the overall ensemble as a coherent unit.
The low-noise J112 maintains this ensemble accuracy but each voice is (ever so) slightly more separate/transparent. Consequently, in dense textures you can distinguish individual voices and their timbres more accurately. I attribute this improvement to the low-noise of the 106-J112.
Now, of course, this is my listening assessment -- but I consider these accurate and not "IMHO."
But you don't have to take my word for it...
Have sent a matched pair of the 106-J112s to a fellow thread member and he will report his experiences.
Now if I could only remember which thread member's name rhymes with "Teamann."
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Instead of complaining you could just modify R9... or R22...
EDIT: (A few minutes later) For lower gain, the most straightforward would be decreasing the value of R22.
The normal feedback resistor is R9 (2K2). When left by itself, "jumper open", that is MC amounts of gain. For low gain, MM, so to speak, the jumper is used and R22 (220R) is connected parallel to R9. Lowering (fewer ohms) R22 and using the jumper for MM will give lower gain if you feel there's too much with the standard resistor values.
EDIT: (A few minutes later) For lower gain, the most straightforward would be decreasing the value of R22.
The normal feedback resistor is R9 (2K2). When left by itself, "jumper open", that is MC amounts of gain. For low gain, MM, so to speak, the jumper is used and R22 (220R) is connected parallel to R9. Lowering (fewer ohms) R22 and using the jumper for MM will give lower gain if you feel there's too much with the standard resistor values.
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Obviously NOT with this design. However, if you think that running opamps at unity gain sounds like the cat's paw, putting a 50ohms in for R11 may do it for you.
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God.... I hated him at that time 🤣
Later, and still today, I´m eternally grateful, because it opened my eyes to all kind of solutions.
Seems nowadays, people much younger goes to the shelf to find the exact sparepart. If out of stock they don´t know what to do.
He gave me the ability to look around to see, if I could find anything, that with a little fiddle/machining could be usable in
the meantime..... or even permanently.
A skill, you keep developing over the years, that never goes away 👍
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I always treasured this one:
Will keep a lookout for the DGG version, you mentioned 🙏
Am a big fan of Haitink but haven't heard your recording. As you know, the third movement is largely pizzicato and is a great test of timbral accuracy -- suspect your system is stellar here.
This Xmas opened a copy of Haitink's last conducting gig with the Berlin PO. The BPO did the most voluptuous production of a direct-disc live performance I have ever experienced (see the JPeg below). Includes a sample ticket to the performance, an analog photo of the Neumann lathe cutting the master (2500 copies max) samples from Haitink's score, a book devoted to Haitink and on and on.
Like all direct-to-disc recordings it sounds exactly like the performance hall -- which is of mixed value here. The Pearl 3 is so accurate it paints page turns, bow drops and, especially, audience coughing with incredible clarity. Just a little too precise (LOL).
This Xmas opened a copy of Haitink's last conducting gig with the Berlin PO. The BPO did the most voluptuous production of a direct-disc live performance I have ever experienced (see the JPeg below). Includes a sample ticket to the performance, an analog photo of the Neumann lathe cutting the master (2500 copies max) samples from Haitink's score, a book devoted to Haitink and on and on.
Like all direct-to-disc recordings it sounds exactly like the performance hall -- which is of mixed value here. The Pearl 3 is so accurate it paints page turns, bow drops and, especially, audience coughing with incredible clarity. Just a little too precise (LOL).
Attachments
I built my Pearl 3 with 220R resistors at R27 before the build guide came out and without ever measuring the voltage drops across them. It turns out the op-amp output was biased too high, 9.7mA to 10.7mA. It's been running like this for a couple years and a few different op-amps. After playing around with different values this afternoon I settled on 39R, 0.967V and 1.057V, or 2.5-2.7mA. Some have said this is too low but it's within the build spec and sounds fine to me.
@Boydk : Whoops! Should have said. It was Bruckner's 7th symphony. The performance was a splendid live performance by an orchestra that truly understands Bruckner. You can tell, on repeated listenings, that Haitink had the casual tempos associated with extreme age. As with all Bruckner, you listen for the dramatic crescendos and those are here but not at all at the level of:
Jochum: Sinfonien 1-9 by Staatskapelle Dresden -- EMI SLS 5252. This is one of the greatest recordings I have ever heard. The crescendos blow you away and Jochum is at the top of the class for Bruckner interpretation. If you don't have this, make every effort to get a copy. As a recording used to show off an audiophile system the 4th symphony will do the trick. The first movement has the splendid drama associated with the famous subito decrescendo and the 3rd movement scherzo will rock your speakers with dramatic dynamic shifts. Have recommended this to many and they have all thanked me afterwards.
Jochum: Sinfonien 1-9 by Staatskapelle Dresden -- EMI SLS 5252. This is one of the greatest recordings I have ever heard. The crescendos blow you away and Jochum is at the top of the class for Bruckner interpretation. If you don't have this, make every effort to get a copy. As a recording used to show off an audiophile system the 4th symphony will do the trick. The first movement has the splendid drama associated with the famous subito decrescendo and the 3rd movement scherzo will rock your speakers with dramatic dynamic shifts. Have recommended this to many and they have all thanked me afterwards.
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@ranshadow: Am a bit confused. You mean you put a 39 ohm R in R27? That would be way too low. Ideally you would like between 3-5 mA, right? If you put a 39 0hm resistor in R27, got a voltage reading of 0.967, that would mean your current is 2.48 mA, right? This is too low for Randy's specs but suppose it could work for you. BTW your comment that you used a high value for years without issues is one I have tried and seems to work fine. But when the value is changed within range, noticed sound improvement.
Folks, I am no rocket surgeon mathematician but isn't
1V/39ohms=0.026A? Or 26mA or 5x higher current than the 5mA spec?