Recommendations For A Phono Preamp

This all depends on the type of cartridge you have on the turn table.

Jamie

I would not use the "linear preamp with software equalization" method myself. It'll be tricky to capture the full dynamic range of a good LP, without running the risk of clipping the loud parts at one end of the frequency range, or having the quiet parts at the other end of the frequency range sink down too low towards the noise. It's probably possible to do it this way and get decent results, but I suspect that setting the system gain may be tricky, and applying the RIAA equalization digitally might require using 24- or 32-bit math. It's best, I think, to apply the RIAA equalization electronically, before digitizing.

I don't have a specific recommendation for a preamp (I bought my last one decades ago and it's still going strong) but I see that

If you're willing to think outside the box a bit... if you look around at local thift and used-electronics stores, CraigsList, electronics- and-ham-oriented flea markets and swap meets, etc., I'd be shocked if you can't find a very capable stereo receiver, or preamp (with phono stage) for well under $200 which will do the job for you just fine. This approach might not work if you have (e.g.) a low-output moving coil cartridge in your turntable, but if you have anything along the lines of a mid-range moving-coil or moving-iron cartridge you'd probably find that an older receiver's phono section is quite adequate for the job.

I should have added the cartridge is a good quality moving magnet. The sound card is a HT Claro+ 7.1 that is 24 bit, 192 KHz.

Gary

Your sound card is better than most of those found in USB phono amps. No need to digitize inside the phono amp.

I have one of these (on a rather vintage Sony PS-X60 turntable):

Make sure you ground the case to the turntable, not the computer.

This looks similar, with more detailed specs:

On a sunny day (Sun, 2 Sep 2012 13:35:08 -0400) it happened "Abby" wrote in :

Ferry Lon Taim Ago Dit Tat Wit Too Transitors

On a sunny day (Sun, 2 Sep 2012 23:17:11 -0400) it happened "Abby" wrote in :

"Jan Panteltje"

Same as Hype and HiFi ?

... Phil

I made myself something very similar from kit, with low-noise op-amps. Mine runs from a 9v battery.

Nope. The thing that ruled was a 12AX7.

On a sunny day (Mon, 03 Sep 2012 15:51:20 +0300) it happened Tauno Voipio wrote in :

Was it not only crystal (piezo) cartridges at first, but indeed I had a magnetic one in the fifties too. Mono, with a needle. Speed control was by centrifugal weights...

But then crystal took over (and stereo). Those has enough signal for the normal toob input. Then teh mroe sofistcated moving magnet stereos came, that needed a preamp. But hey, you are right, toobs are the best for Hipe Fidility applicatons the warm reds cannot be matched by any cold silicon.

For $20, you can make your own preamp. Add $30 more for a housing and connectors. The National Semiconductor Audio Handbook has a schematic of a RIAA preamp.

I particularly enjoyed the "Floobydust" Chapter ;-) ...Jim Thompson

National Semiconductor's AN-32 has a pretty good two-FET design, and the IC version in AN-346 is easy enough. That $20 should cover it handily.

and

are the application notes in question... I don't like the TI way of referencing 'em, though.

Or rather a 7023 over there, though, right?

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

(who used to own a bunch of tubes that were marked "12AX7A/7023A", and were used for thermocouple vacuum gauge preamps)

ECC83/12AX7 or ECC82/12AU7... I remember them well :-) ...Jim Thompson

Both designs run on +/-15v power supplies. Not a big deal if you have the right power supply handy, but not exactly what I would use in todays low voltage single power supply world. Not coincidentally, some of my older music black boxes run on 9VAC and use

If I add the cost of the required power supply:

it's going to be quite a bit more than $20.

Note that you can buy a preamp for roughly the same price as the $20 estimated cost of construction:

TI seems to be trying to bury the National Semi name. To the victor go the spoils, I guess. For $6.5 billion in cash, I guess they might want to do that.

ng my LP

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2. >

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The fidelity is rubbish, but the golden-eared boys do like adding even order distortion to the sound that the musicians originally produced.

-- Bill Sloman, Nijmegen

You forgot ECC81/12AT7 ;-)

"A" versions were originally numbered like "7023" (special quality, ruggedized). Later, they changed the system so that an SQ ECC83 became E83CC.

Horrible mish-mash numbering in Europe. Some manufacturers used US numbering (STC-Brimar), some used Pro-Electron numbering (Mullard, Philips, Valvo, Telefunken), some went their own way.

A 6AM6 might be marked 6AM6, or EF91, or 8D3, or all three at once.

Then there was the British military "CV" system...

Beats me how the Allies won the war ;-)