Where to source parts for 'El Cheapo' phono pre?

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robselina

Member
2005-05-20 9:47 pm
Socorro, NM
  • #1
    Sorry for what feels like a pretty silly question but I'm having trouble sorcing parts listed for Thorsten's phono pre:

    http://www.users.nac.net/markowitzgd/phonopre.html

    I'm usually an off the shelf kind of guy, buying mostly from Mouser and Digikey so this is a little higher quality than I'm used to.

    Anyway, mouser has some of the Wima MKP4 caps (smaller ones), but not the larger ones required. I can't find 1/2W Holcos, just the 1/4W ones, no idea whater to get the Elna Starget power supply caps and I can't seem to find the philips caps too easily either.

    I tried MCM and partsexpress too and I can't seem to muddle it all together quite yet.

    Could someone who's built this stateside help me out with some sources?

    Thanks,

    Rob
     
    R

    randytsuch

    Member
    Paid Member
    2003-01-16 6:12 am
    LA
    randytsuch-audio.blogspot.com
  • #2
    Hi
    The philips caps are polystyrene
    I just bought some styrene caps from these guys
    http://www.surplussales.com
    You can see if they have the values you need.
    They are nos styrenes, not the philips that Thorsten recommended, but I think they will do the trick. Polystyrene is no longer manufactured, so it is hard to find these caps.

    For Holco's, you need to make sure they are NOS, as the NOS holco's have non magnetic leads, which sound better. If someone is using Holco's for audio, they use the nos non magnetic ones.

    Michael percy has holco's, but not in all values. He also carries Resista resistors, which I like to use. Percy is a good source for parts for diy audio in the US.

    I am not sure where to get elna caps, you could use blackgates or nichicons from percy. I like blackgates better, but they are more expensive, and you have to give them time to burn in, at least a couple hundred hours.

    Hope this helps.
    Randy
     
    R

    randytsuch

    Member
    Paid Member
    2003-01-16 6:12 am
    LA
    randytsuch-audio.blogspot.com
  • #4
    One other thing.
    If you do use polystyrene caps, they are very heat sensitive, so you must be carefull when you solder them.

    I attach an alligator clip on the lead, between the cap body and the solder joint, which helps suck up the heat, so the cap does not see as much heat when I solder. I also try to solder quickly. When finished, I always make sure the cap is not shorted out with an ohmmeter.

    Randy
     
    R

    randytsuch

    Member
    Paid Member
    2003-01-16 6:12 am
    LA
    randytsuch-audio.blogspot.com
  • #8
    Now that it's too late to use, some other advice I forgot to give you before :( .

    I am building a similiar circuit, a phono input using fet's, thorsten's version on the l'pacific phono stage, available at the yahoo thunderstone page.

    I am using polystyrenes for the RIAA part, and bought a bunch of them. Bought 3x what I needed. Used a cap meter to measure the actuals, so I could match them. I matched them to be very close to each other, and within about 1% of the schematic value.

    I also bought matched pairs of fets for my circuit, and I always match resistors, even if they are 1%, I but extra so I can match as close as possible.

    Maybe I am just anal, but if the parts are cheap, it makes me feel better to buy extra so I can hand match them. It is one advantage a DIY'er has over mass produced stuff, this would be very expensive to build in production, but my time is "free", so I can do it for my one phono stage.

    Randy
     
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