Thanks to promithius for the great pcbs!
The casework is aluminum and mdf (internally shielded with copper foil from www.onlinemetals.com). The faceplate is Indian rosewood and the mdf case is spray enamel black.
I'm running my Pearl with a Music Hall MMF-5 with the 47K loading resistor, Rogue Magnum 66 line stage and Audio Research D-125 tube amp. It sounds great. I've had a Grado as well as a Clearaudio Basic phono stages come through my system recently. They were both a little better than my Hagerman Bugle (with battery) and were quite a bit better than the Bugle (when used with the regulated power supply). I won't go into to much detail, but the Pearl is quite good!
nate
The casework is aluminum and mdf (internally shielded with copper foil from www.onlinemetals.com). The faceplate is Indian rosewood and the mdf case is spray enamel black.
I'm running my Pearl with a Music Hall MMF-5 with the 47K loading resistor, Rogue Magnum 66 line stage and Audio Research D-125 tube amp. It sounds great. I've had a Grado as well as a Clearaudio Basic phono stages come through my system recently. They were both a little better than my Hagerman Bugle (with battery) and were quite a bit better than the Bugle (when used with the regulated power supply). I won't go into to much detail, but the Pearl is quite good!
nate
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can we get an idea of what the entire piece looks like? its hard from just small shots of single sides.
also, someone will ask... we need to see the guts 🙂
also, someone will ask... we need to see the guts 🙂
nice innards. now lets see some full-figured pics of the unit! none of this camera-phone style photography work 
now there we go! interesting use of MDF for the case. i was wanting to do that awhile ago with another project that never happened.
have you ever thought of using some sort of lacquer or resin on the wood faceplate to shine it up a bit? it will bring out the grain a lot more.
looks good though. it feels good to be done. its a feeling i seldom get 🙄
have you ever thought of using some sort of lacquer or resin on the wood faceplate to shine it up a bit? it will bring out the grain a lot more.
looks good though. it feels good to be done. its a feeling i seldom get 🙄
Yeah, It feels really good to finish something! The rosewood is actually much darker and a little more lusturous than it appears. I sanded/scraped and then polished the rosewood and thenapplied a paste wax finish. Nothing really fancy. I'll probably rebuild the cases at some future date. They were scraps from another project.... The mdf works well but I still need to line the case with the copper foil. It hasn't arrived yet. 🙁
The reason the pics are from a difficult angle is mostly due to my amp. I really wanted to start listening so, after testing, I got my new pre into my system. My rack is wedged inbetween my fireplace and my lp rack (read: Ikea table). This wouldn't be so bad if it wern't behind my 85lb tube amp. If I move that amp more than once a month it it too many times!
The reason the pics are from a difficult angle is mostly due to my amp. I really wanted to start listening so, after testing, I got my new pre into my system. My rack is wedged inbetween my fireplace and my lp rack (read: Ikea table). This wouldn't be so bad if it wern't behind my 85lb tube amp. If I move that amp more than once a month it it too many times!
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I'm jealous. Please post more pics if you can.
I've been dreaming of building a Pearl for some time.
Jeff
I've been dreaming of building a Pearl for some time.
Jeff
Nate,
Congradulations!
Well I already have seen the pcbs 😉
but that enclosure is really cool.
Did you have time to listen to it?
Congradulations!
Well I already have seen the pcbs 😉
but that enclosure is really cool.
Did you have time to listen to it?
Yes, I spent most of Monday night listening. It sounds great! I’ve been really busy with work and I haven’t listened since then. I think that this pre needs some serious break-in. Tomorrow I should have some more time to really listen. My biggest initial disappointment is that I’ve now discovered all the shortcomings of my turntable! Now I need to build a crazy DIY turntable to match!
Thanks again for all your work on the PCB group buy!
Cheers
Thanks again for all your work on the PCB group buy!
Cheers
I have a friend who works at a pretty cool machine shop. He said that they could build me something cool! My biggest concern is the bearing. This requires some seriously fine work and to me it is one of the most important parts of a tt.
While I want to start this project now, in reality it will be awhile. I will definetly keep you posted on my progress!
Cheers
While I want to start this project now, in reality it will be awhile. I will definetly keep you posted on my progress!
Cheers
The Bearing is very important indeed.
Thats why the ones that are sold for the DIYer cost a lot of money.
If you can make one from a friend thats cool.
Thats why the ones that are sold for the DIYer cost a lot of money.
If you can make one from a friend thats cool.
Nate,
Check out bearing assembly shown on the Teres site. This should
give you a good idea of what's required. Clearance between spindle
and bearing material should be .0002-.0003 inches.
http://www.teresaudio.com/bearing.html
Jeff
Check out bearing assembly shown on the Teres site. This should
give you a good idea of what's required. Clearance between spindle
and bearing material should be .0002-.0003 inches.
http://www.teresaudio.com/bearing.html
Jeff
that bearing is ridiculous! im looking at CNC conversion for my milling machine, and the tolerances for that stuff is a lot higher, and bearings arent anywhere NEAR that much. high-quality precision NSK thrust bearings can be had for $50 - $100, or $20 if you check ebay.
i was playing with one today at a surplus shop. feels like you are spinning on air, its just SO smooth. and the price was $20. you could plop a TT platter on it and man, that would be a NICE table. and this is used for motion control for large CNC machines with tolerances in the 0.000x range.
i was playing with one today at a surplus shop. feels like you are spinning on air, its just SO smooth. and the price was $20. you could plop a TT platter on it and man, that would be a NICE table. and this is used for motion control for large CNC machines with tolerances in the 0.000x range.
cowanrg could you maybe make a few?
I would really want one.
Is the price from Teres or others so high because of the work hours or why are they so expensive?
I would really want one.
Is the price from Teres or others so high because of the work hours or why are they so expensive?
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