Wayne's BA 2018 linestage

Absolutely fantastic!! They are great regulators for sure.

Would be great to see pads for discrete diodes, and CR snubbers. Looks like there’s reason me room to do it.

Don’t forget the standby switch on those regulators, it’s a neat feature. :)

The snubber cap and diode IC package is located on the bottom left of the board below the transformer. As for the standby feature, I've already implemented that but I may move the connector location yet away from the rear of the board. :)
 
Okay this is the final design I have chosen. I have also managed to reduce the size of the PCB further. The overall size of this power supply is now 160mm x 100mm and has been designed to slide straight into a Hammond 1455T2201 enclosure but still has grounded mount holes for customised mounting. Once I am happy with everything, I will be using this one for my BA2018 Linestage build. I also updated the trimpots to through hole as per Marks suggestion as they are cheaper.
 

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Great job Gaz.

Wondering if the screw terminals need to be moved in to give room for the wires if the supply is put in the hammond case?

I only designed the board to slide into the enclosure. You would have to ensure the room for the wires. The board should be a tight fit so shouldn't slide back and fourth but you could always implement stoppers on the rails to keep the board secure or I could add a couple of extra mount holes to use to stop it moving if needed.
 
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... [the PCB] has been designed to slide straight into a Hammond 1455T2201 enclosure ...

That's a great idea, congratulations! I hope the transformer body is placed far enough inboard that it won't scrape the left hand wall when the card slides in. The right hand side with the heatsinks, appears to have plenty of spacing. It might just be an illusion caused by viewing angles....
 
That's a great idea, congratulations! I hope the transformer body is placed far enough inboard that it won't scrape the left hand wall when the card slides in. The right hand side with the heatsinks, appears to have plenty of spacing.

Thank you Mark. I am sure the spacing is enough but I will triple check it when I have a bit more time and make alterations if needed. I am having a hard time sourcing some of the resistor values in the correct surface mount package so I may just go back to through hole for all components as it seems there is plenty of room on the PCB so kind of defeats the whole object of using the surface mount components in the first place! 😂
 

6L6

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What kind of power supply does this thing need?

As Gaz2613 mentioned, a bipolar PSU of +/- 15vdc to +/- 24vdc will work great. I've tried the following -

https://www.muffsy.com/store.html#psu (Currently have one in use with this PSU, it works great and is very compact)

Dual/Bipolar LV-Reg

LR Phono Preamp (The PSU is hidden 1/2 way in the page, it's wonderful)

And I have plans to try -

https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pow...-ckts-11v-20v-1-5a-de-noiser.html#post6262173

Also Gaz's psu looks fantastic and should work perfectly with this project. :)
 
Parts kits are in the store now, contains all the transistors, caps and resistors to build it with the big outputs or the small. Also includes 2 extra 2SK209 in case you drop on on carpet or sneeze. :) :D :rofl:

I have one built up with the kit parts, it works beautifully and is currently the preamp I listen to the most. Love it!

You can find it in the drop-down menu on the PCB page - Wayne's Burning Amp 2018 Linestage – diyAudio Store

Is the kit for one channel or both?
 
I agree with 6L6. I currently prefer my BA2018 over my other preamps.

Although I am not driving headphones, I was reading Dimitri Danyuk's "Build a Fully Balanced Transconductance Preamplifier" in this month's Audio Express. He says "I prefer the sound of transistors with large dies in circuits without overall feedback." So I thought I would replace the regular outputs I had originally installed with the optional large ones. I really can't hear much difference, so maybe that isn't critical in Wayne's circuit design. Or maybe my ears just can't hear the difference.

See you have B1-korg, do you think BA2018 is better? I found B1-korg is fantastic.
 

6L6

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It’s not an apples to apples comparison, in my opinion. Particularly if you want to say one is “better.” The NuTube is a very unique gain device and has large amounts of “tube sound” and a very distinct (read strong) harmonic structure. It’s absolutely beautiful, but it’s absolutely editorializing on the music. This is not a criticism, but an observation. I rather like it. :)

The BA18 linestage is a much more “normal” circuit and has very high performance. With a few options it can be configured for different gains if you’d like, can be easily made balanced, and can drive any load you’d like up to and including headphones. It’s versatile, straightforward, able to be used with many various PSU options and sounds utterly fantastic. :D
 
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Thanks for your reply 6L6,
seems a well thought after reply. I am looking for a balanced diy pre and for having already valves in the amplifier the best option between the B1+Korg and the BA18 seems to be a BA18.. best would be to try both, but success with the B1+Korg might be more difficult to achieve in my case.. BTW, getting the BA18 stereo board from diyaudio shop, is one single stereo board needed for input/output balanced operation? Thanks
 
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Folks:

I posted a description of my new preamp on the Pass pictures thread but thought I'd leave a teaser here. The BA2018 sounds fantastic -- kudos to Mr. Colburn!

Regards,
Scott
 

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See you have B1-korg, do you think BA2018 is better? I found B1-korg is fantastic.

I like them both. The BA2018 for accuracy, detail and stereo separation. The B1K for that "something" different you get from an H2 rich sound signature. Now that I have both, if I had to keep just one, it would be the BA2018, but why choose?

I like the B1K much better than my Aikido tube preamp and my NuTube Buffer preamp. But I like the BA2018 so much I built a second one so I would have one in each of the two systems I listen to the most.