All Tube Phono Stage Pre-amp Part 18: Subjective Wrap-up Final Review 

Thanks for this valuable presentation. I built a similar kit from Zhili Audio, adding a few premium parts. In usage, my finished kit needed two mods - 1., Use a 12AU7 as Tube No.3 position to lower the gain w/o resorting to use of a potentiometer; and 2., Use a grounded tube shield on Tube No.1 to quell hum. Fixing the hum resulted in an enjoyable improvement.😀

Congratulations on the final video! Really well presented and detailed.

Still waiting on parts but I plan to do this as my winter project. Going with a shorter chassis because my shelf is not deep enough. Thanks for the wrap-up! You are the best!

Thanks for this video series. I just finished this preamp and I am astonished at how good it sounds. Same little bit of 60 hz hum but can't hear it unless close to the speakers. Your videos and tips helped me a great deal. This bit of ChiFi is really good piece of gear.

Thank you for being honest about the sound. So many "Audiophiles" will say there is a huge difference between Chineseum and high quality, audio specific parts. I agree, you want the RIAA section right, but sometimes people get fooled by the plecebo effect. I guess it keeps an industry alive by selling a power cable for several thousand dollars :)

Hi, love your videos. I have built 3 of these now. All with 6n2p ev rather than 12ax7. I have re-wired the pins to do this and changed some of the resistor values to suite. The last one had Charcroft silver micas, matched RIAA components, all good quality parts, bypass Caps under the 6 elecyrolytic, and the 2 small elevtrolytics changed to elna silk caps, I also use the Alpha2delta power supply board built from a kit. It is very quiet and sounds very, very good. I use russian pio caps with very good results. A lot of people on the Lenco forum build these and do all sorts of mods etc one of the members put a lot of effort into making a guide on modding/building these. I must build the standard one some day to compare, but mine sure sounds good. The A2D power supply made a quiet amp silent.

Thanks for the series. This is going to be my first tube project and between this series and the popularity on lencohaven, i have the confidence to tinker untill i get somthing i like alot better then the phono stage in modern integrated amps. The parts cost sure do add up quick. I cant ever seem to settle on any cheap hobbies.

Very good explained what you heared. Interesting conclusions!

god some good suggestions from you on AK (tryin out the EH 7025 tues). I sure enjoy these videos. just ordered one a the ear834 clones offa eBay. this is making me want get another soldering iron. aint done that in at least 10 years and didn't do much more than guitar cables when I had one .

Well, I just watched all your videos on this project and I want to build one! I have two Schiit Manis, one Schiit Mani 2, one ART DJ II, and one Cambridge 615 (I believe that's the model number) phono preamps, but this sounds like a lot of fun. The only thing I didn't hear was what the total cost of the project you built compared to the original build with the Chinese parts. I did download your BOM, but I haven't had the time yet to research the cost. I have a variety of MM carts and one MC cart so I'd be using this on my Technics SL-Q2 that I swap between the MM carts on. I use my Denon DL-103R exclusively on my Rega Planar 2 with my Schiit Mani 2. There were a few places in your build that was missed when it came to the placement of the parts on the boards as I've never done this kind of build before. I've mainly modified/refurbed turntables, but this will be a new adventure. I found your videos after possibly looking into a DIY tube phono preamp. Thanks for the videos as I'll be watching them again when I start building mine! Duh, I just found a couple missing videos on this series and going to watch them now!

Thanks for this helpful series. My parts-swapping in this model brings me to disagree on parts choices for the 0.1uF and the 1.0uF coupling caps and the RIAA silver-mica caps. The original parts yielded a thin, harsh, lackluster, and impaired-harmonics sound, even with 2 weeks break-in time.. But with quality RIAA caps, plus coupling caps of Jupiter 1.0uF and NOS Russian 0.1uF silver-mica caps, this thing sings, right off the bat. YMMV, as hifi is about system-dependency.

Slamming mundorf :) It would be interesting to see if the bode plots for each of those caps.

Great stuff

some of the newer men of integrated amps sound pretty good--ive heard. coupla rega amps, and those are geared towards records. they sound good and have fantastic synergy with the rega turntables. outboard phono stage is where its at, tho. some a the cheap ones, like the tube box s2 and the hifi zen, sound real good.

Thanks. Instructive comparison. I wonder whether, if you'd had a more mellow sounding pair of speakers, your preferences may have been different....

I finished my build and sounds great. i watch your videos and follow your build, but I need to crank up the volume to get more sound up to 2 o’clock on my volume. I don’t know what is wrong.

The Miflex coppers do sound rough in the first couple of weeks, and that’s as couplers between driver stages and 300B output tubes.. It might take longer in an input position where much lower voltages (and current) are usually the case..

I’ve been looking for a pre amp to run my kt88 single ended amp that I built from watching Marks videos on Blueglow electronics. Mark mentioned that it would take probably 2V to drive it, so what might this amp produce from a 4mV input from a phono cartridge at the output. I have ordered the kit for this one, and am looking forward to building it. Really enjoying your videos 👍

Hi Skunkie Is there any analysis that you can do on the scope etc For this build? Wish I had your knowledge and skills. I have also built a tubelab sse with switchable cathode resistors for el84, kt88 etc. All this sounds good to my ears but I wish I knew how to go over them and measure them etc.

What was the mouser part number for the shorter chassis? I've just ordered the PCB it. The mains transformer Mouser part number for European customers (230v) is 266L6 {6.3v @2amps)

Must depend on what circuit you put those miflex caps in. I put them in my 2a3 amp and they started out very harsh and bright like you said but after 3 days straight of letting it run it has settled way down. Very smooth now and the brightness is almost gone. It had extreme sibilance for the first 2 days but that's all gone now.

Hey skunkie. Have you considered a step up transformer for a mc cart? Im only asking because im thinking of moving into one and my decware phono stage will need a sut. Love your channel!

What do you think about getting 2 boxes the size of the main board and separating the pre and power supply. If you stack them it would have a smaller footprint.

Did you ground the PS Board also? Or just the preamp board.

where did you run your turntable ground to? Just to the chassis? I bought the bare pcb and there are no directions. There is a spot between the inputs on the pcb for a ground connection which looks like the spot. i assume that's the place-just want to be sure. thanks

Is there a more "standard" sized chassis available for this phono pre?

hello Skunkie, what is the DMM on your table ?

Do you have a link to that board?

I'd still go with Nichicon electrolytics in the power supply to get 30 years of reliable service.

Is this one for sale?

Speaking of vinyl it is vinyl coming back?