Bigbottle Phonostage Builders thread.

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"...will have lower operating temperatures and lower thermal noise as a result."

That makes sense. I was trying to get a handle on this on another thread (or two). For phono preamps and MC pre-preamps low noise is important. I would think that using 1/2W devices would be preferred if there was room on the board.

The general advice has been that Vishay/Dale have the lowest noise. But at 0.1Uv/V is it that much lower than, say, Takman's 0.3uV/V and in a meaningful way? Or PRP's -30db? (according to them). Or the -42 db of the near-unobtanium-grade naked foils Vishay TX2575?

And I expect there are other noise mechanisms -- other than thermal -- at play that have pundits and salesmen waxing poetic about "warmth" and such.
 
Here's mine finished and sounding very nice.

Made a maple and walnut veered case for the cover which was fun, finished in Danish oil. Last photo shows it in place. tapatalk_-1907996066.jpg tapatalk_-320916654.jpg tapatalk_488644906.jpg
 
I have been asked about where to buy the transformer so thought I'd post here.

I have been using Audiophonics.fr for my transformers for some time but they take forever to arrive.

I have approached a few transformer companies in the UK to try and find an alternative route into buying small quantities of Toroidal transformers.

If I get any joy, I'll share it here.

Oliver, did you find replacement for Audiophonics.fr?

I received my boards today, now I am looking for a transformer, Tiger Toroids quoted £50 (transformer) + £40 (shipping) - pricey. I am considering getting this one from ebay: https://www.ebay.com/i/192498606475...DQOvd7aLpwsnxHKdVnbKICbD3s88fjYxoC-RgQAvD_BwE

but not sure about quality...
 
Oliver, did you find replacement for Audiophonics.fr?



I received my boards today, now I am looking for a transformer, Tiger Toroids quoted £50 (transformer) + £40 (shipping) - pricey. I am considering getting this one from ebay: https://www.ebay.com/i/192498606475...DQOvd7aLpwsnxHKdVnbKICbD3s88fjYxoC-RgQAvD_BwE



but not sure about quality...
I have never used one personally but a good few have and reported no issues.

I did order an EI transformer from Chinese outfit, but I dont recommend them for one box builds.

Need to get them far far away from the PCB.

Toroidy.pl make really nice transformers.

Other than that, I think taking a punt in the one linked wont hurt..and a R core is a decent traffo.

It's cheap enough anyway.
 
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Observation from the cheap seats:
I've been mostly just monitoring this thread so I don't know the precise requirements of the transformer but I've seen descriptions of custom units with multiple outputs.
Why not get two transformers, one to handle each voltage?

In the States Antek -- Transformers - Page 1 - AnTek Products Corp -- seems to have a reasonable selection that might serve to keep your project going.

Just a thought...
 
Observation from the cheap seats:
I've been mostly just monitoring this thread so I don't know the precise requirements of the transformer but I've seen descriptions of custom units with multiple outputs.
Why not get two transformers, one to handle each voltage?

In the States Antek -- Transformers - Page 1 - AnTek Products Corp -- seems to have a reasonable selection that might serve to keep your project going.

Just a thought...


yeah, I was thinking about this as well, although I couldn't find transformer with 165V secondary...