• WARNING: Tube/Valve amplifiers use potentially LETHAL HIGH VOLTAGES.
    Building, troubleshooting and testing of these amplifiers should only be
    performed by someone who is thoroughly familiar with
    the safety precautions around high voltages.

Current best DIY preamp?

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#9
Eli Duttman said:
Define sounds great. Do you want linearity or do you want an effects machine?

Also, modern 2 VRMS digital signal sources are more than capable of driving many (most?) power amps into clipping. Therefore, is gain in the line stage needed?
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Good point. I am uncertain how I am going to use this tube amp. I had contemplated using it with both guitar and hifi application. My guitar pedal board is a mess currently but I am planning to make it a stereo setup eventually with an amp sim / preamp pedal followed by a stereo reverb pedal. Not sure the voltage those pedals put out because both are not on the market yet (Atomic Amplifire Box and Source Audio Ventris verb).

My external soundcard is an Audient ID14. I assume it puts out 2volts but I didn't see this in the specifications on their site.
 
#10
kodabmx said:
One thinks of amplification one usually thinks of voltage gain. And since current is drawn a buffer doesn't amplify current it sources it, no?
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People may usually think of voltage gain, but current gain is still amplification. A buffer gives current gain.

I had contemplated using it with both guitar and hifi application.
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It is difficult to conceive of a preamp design which would be appropriate for both guitar and hifi. They have quite different requirements and so different circuits.
 
#14
I've built loads of preamps - started with 6SN7s, anded up with 2C22s which was the best version of an indirectly heated preamp.

These were all blown out of the water by the 26 tube. When I heard it my jaw dropped and I muttered "This is the sound I've been looking for all my life...". I tried the 26 with interstages, resistors, plate chokes and anything else I could think of. I didn't rate active loads until Ale Moglia designed his gyrator, but that was a step just beyond the Lundahl LL1660 I was using. All the dynamics and detail without sounding hard or strident.

I moved on to the 4P1L and then 01A. I passed some interesting little tubes along the way like the 1G4G tall bottle. I currently use the 01A but have the option of using 10Y - I have a few. Thoriated adds a certain something.

So there we have it. Read all about it on Bartola Valves. That's the cutting edge these days. The 01A Gen 2 is a safe build - it's wonderful. But Ale is tweaking it all the time - new devices, new details. It's all on his blogs.

Nothing better I know of.
 
#18
m0b1liz3 said:
The more I think about it, I might not need a preamp given the sources I was considering.

Bartolo's preamp looks interesting.
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I'm a fellow musician. Never used DHT tubes like 26 for putting the bass through. I stick to the usual circuits using 12AX7, 6L6 etc. Different world - different requirements.

The Bartola circuits are for my hifi only. Again, as a musician I want two things:
- accurate acoustic sounds: kit sounds like a kit, vocalist like a vocalist, Steinway like a Steinway
- detail: obviously I want to hear every nuance in the mix

I get all that from DHTs. They really do give you a kind of enhanced clarity.
 
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