My new sexy pre-amp

Well, I just thought I would post a picture of my new pre-amp! They are not even run in yet but sounding very fine indeed. I have to save up a bit before getting the volume control switch so I am stuck with this very err.. modern looking design! I actually think it looks pretty cool but I wonder what the cat will think.



I actually have 6 of these which will go towards the 3 way active digital crossover system I have in mind.

With luck I should also be trying a clock mod to the Cambridge Audio Disc Magic some time soon so stay tuned!

 

Don't forget that there's a lot more than clock mods that you can do without spending wads of cash on the cdp.

At first glance I thought it was a flower arangement on top of the hifi and had to look twice to realise what you meant!

 

I wasn't really feeling the urge to upgrade the DiscMagic but Rob had a spare Flea so I thought it would definitely be worth doing. What other mods are you thinking of Pete? The only thing I can think of is some new caps. It already has a number of different regulated power supplies and I don't expect op-amps make such a difference in digital only gear?

 

Sexy pre, eh? So now we know that your taste in women is for the "stick insect" type.

 

Tits on stilts? Why not?!

 

I was thinking more along the lines of ultrafasts, hexafred or schottky diodes depending on your tastes. Then look at the digi signal out new socket rewire to pcb etc. Caps yes and bypass caps....case damping. Theres a lot you can do for seriously little money....say £30 tops that would get you the decent caps,diodes sockets and damping.

As to opamps well if your going to use it as a stand alone cdp it would be worth the effort but not otherwise.

 

Apart from the case damping and new socket it sounds good. I don't believe cables make a large enough difference to worry about so that holds true for sockets as well I'm afraid. The standard locking XLR will do. As for damping it has the DEQ on top, sorted!

So caps, diodes and a clock mod.

Cheers

 

Are there even any op-amps in the discmagic?

 

the cables act as caps resistors etc so must make a notable difference. (well silver ones did in my gear)

xlr is far better than a pcb style phono socket, so you might not notice, marantz ones are terrible and changing for hard wired ones did make a difference to my ears.

make an external psu for the clock too this made a massive diference to clarity.

 

The new pre looks like a fiber-optic lamp - does it glow in the dark?
Case damping, Flea+Tent Labs clock and perhaps an ALW SR for the main supply to the transport electronics.

 

I don't know, I thought maybe they were used to create the electrical digital outputs?

I don’t want a cable argument I have no doubt that cables do make a difference for the reasons you state. However, the difference is VERY small and so I just don't care.

 

you'll have to take photos as you build it Tenson.

Im sure lots of people would be interested in the build project.

Cheers
Chris

 

fair enough, I should add that I have changed cables before and they made a small difference, but other times (in hardwired valve amps for instance it made a big difference) so yes you are probably right in a cd player it wont make that much difference, but any difference however small (price is a factor of course) must be a good thing.
good luck with the mods, and the pre.

 

... with a heavy bottom ... oaky, I'll shut up, no more lame attempts at humour from me today.

 

There seems to be a large amount of "soiled" kleenex in your bin there, Tenson?!?!?

DT

 

Lol! Yeah with the warm sunny weather my hay fever has got worse There is also a lot of beer cans mind!

Dean you say any difference however small must be a good thing. This is where I disagree. A system would have to be pretty bad for any difference to automatically be an improvement.

 

I believe you

DT

 

You have hay fever too?

 

Yes, but my "sneezes" clearly aren't half as violent as Tenson's....

 

you should try some local honey....however, if you live in london then I guess you're stuffed!