Small Signal Audio Design 3rd edition: Douglas Self

The 164x and 165x are also not bad. The 165x are mosfet input devices. The 1/f is a bit high, but the 164x devices are JFET and it’s a bit better, but not quite as good as the 5532/4 in that dept.

For RIAA both have commendably low noise since the noise current is essentially non-existent. Best of all, the power consumption is about a quarter of the 5532/4.
 
Hi

The chapter about tape electronics (and how to improve it) will be very interesting.
It is well known that in Revox machines the unbalanced outputs sounds better than the balanced ones (due to a poor design) so it looks like there is room for improvements.
 
Why mess with tape machines? If that type of sound is needed, why not get a couple of
channels of the colour modules and add both the 15ips tape saturation colour and the
TM79 Multi-stage Saturation colour?

Then if you wanted that sound, it's easy enough to dial it in at the level wanted and it's all
balanced. For a lot less than a tape machine and multiple reels of rusting oxide.

For those interested diyrecordingequipment.com (nope, not going to link to it).
 
I own two MX-50 which I basically restored as stock. The nicer of my 2 units has a recently serviced head stack.

I also own an MX-5050MKIII-2 which came to me as a basket case and I've completely overhauled and done extensive modifications to. This machine has SAKI heads on it. I'm also experimenting with a tape replay amp I designed and built last spring. (Supports 7.5 and 15ips playback with either IEC or NAB eq.) In my opinion it sounds significantly better than the modified replay electronics in this deck, unfortunately none of my friends have heard it yet.

So this is my motivation and I hope to learn something new from Doug's newest book..

I have 3 of his books thus far, always a good read, illuminating and entertaining..
 

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I have ordered three of your books now and looking forward to late nights into the dark winter season. Will load up IPAs in the fridge. Thanks for writing your books.
I am interested in mirrors and folded cascodes. Noise mechanisms, distortion, drift etc. How to tweak them etc. Using discrete components and which need to be matched and the optimum values for emitter resistance in the mirror pair. The ratio of current in the input device and the folded device etc. Hope to find enough info in your book. If not I will look forward to the fourth edition.
 
Bonsai, in the other MC pre-pre thread you started, Scott Wurcer remarked that transimpedance amplifiers with near-zero input impedance, effectively robbed the customer of the joy of twiddling with termination resistance values and termination capacitance values. Since that is a tangible and important slice of the pleasure of owning and using MC cartridges, he felt that the appeal would be lukewarm and sales would be limited.


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