Booze Hounds Labs Phono any good?

[JZatopa]

So I've seen the BHL phono kits on ebay and read about them at the site. It looks nice and simple but I'm not sure how well it could perform. It seems like it would be very susceptible to the type of power supply you hook it up to.

Boozhound Laboratories: JFET Phono Preamp Kit

Boozhound Laboratories: JFET Moving Coil Pre-Preamp lit

Has anyone played around with these?

[TomTerrific]

I completed my Boozhound phono pre build a couple of weeks ago, and I'm VERY pleased with the results. I'm powering it with 16 Alkaline "D" cell batteries that measures at just over 25VDC. The amp is dead silent and my record collection sounds better than ever.

This is my first stand alone phono preamp, but I've had other preamps with fairly respectable phono sections. Advent 300, Sonographe SC-1, McIntosh MX110, NAD 3020, Parasound PHP-850, Great American Sound Thoebe, Dynaco PAS-3. Some of these were better than others, but none of them come close (as I remember) to the Boozhound.

The cabinet is a recycled Ethernet repeater. You can see where I covered dozens of holes in the chassis with copper tape in an effort to prevent/reduce EMI/RFI, and then covered the front and back with a new facade.

Kudos to Jason at Boozhound for bailing me out when I domed a cap on first power up with power polarity reversed...(duh)

[JZatopa]

Could you tell me how many amps this circuit draws?

[TomTerrific]

I shouldn't have said the Boozhound MM preamp sounds better than those other phono sections i've used. I should have said my current turntable/cartridge and supporting stereo components sound better with the Boozhound than with the other MM preamp sections I've used in the past. (got that out of the way...)

The Boozhound Labs site Boozhound Laboratories: JFET Phono Preamp Kit says it draws <50mA. I'm interested to see how long the batteries are going to last. My thumbnail calculations estimate ~250 hours. At a $1.50 / Coppertop, that about ten cents an hour. Works for me.

[JZatopa]

I'm debating where to start with a reasonably priced DIY phono kit. The BHL looks pretty good and I can power it off of 2 rechargable 9V batteries if I wanted to. The problem for me is will I be happier spending a little more on an Akido Phono or something like this. It's hard to know where the diminishing returns start when you are talking about DIY.

[Cobra2]

Do not even think about that fleabay-tube-kit...
Thinking of total cost; the BLH-kit will be cheaper, and make you happier!
(Do try another pair 33nF caps than the supplied...)

Arne K

[JZatopa]

Originally Posted by Cobra2

Do not even think about that fleabay-tube-kit...
Thinking of total cost; the BLH-kit will be cheaper, and make you happier!
(Do try another pair 33nF caps than the supplied...)

Arne K

ok you got me, I won't go with the fleabay kit.

[TomTerrific]

I've been musing this over, and one of the criteria you might want to consider when selecting a phone pre is how much gain you need. Just like you want to match your phono cartridge to the tonearm, you want to match the cartridge to the preamp too.

The Boozhound has ~40db gain. My rig would probably benefit from another 10db or so. And make no mistake, I'm blown away by the Boozhound, but this Winter when it's cold and wet, and I'm not building speakers in the garage, I'll be building the VSPS (Very Simple Phono Stage) RJM Audio - The Very Simple Phono Stage that can easily be configured to 50db gain, on my wife's kitchen table

[JZatopa]

I have such high sensitivity speakers that I am not to worried about 10DB.

Its so hard to pick because I am sure they are all good but considering the level the rest of my system is at I don't want to waste to much time building and selling to get something of a halfway decent quality.

[MagnumOpus]

I have the Boozehound and I am not parting with it anytime soon

Get a good psu for it. I have tried two wallwarts, both incredibly noisy.