Grado PH-1 Phono Preamp - New caps, wire and connectors.

ALL212
ALL212 Posts: 1,577
edited July 2014 in For Sale (FS) Classifieds
I've had this Grado for a year or so and recently put together a Bottlehead Reduction phono pre. After comparing the two I thought I could improve upon the Grado as the Bottlehead pretty much blew it away. It is much better but the Bottlehead still wins and I only need one phono pre.

All caps replaced with Sonic Cap's - exact values used. (In order to fit the caps and get 5.1uf on the big ones I have a pair of 5uf on one side of the board and some .1uf's on the other in parallel)
In/Out wires replaced with Canare 2x24
All others replaced with 21g wire from Mogami w2534
Cardas GRFA RCA's and Cardas ground post
Feet are now the soft Sorbothane 1/2 rounds.
Exterior has been refinished (except the back with the RCA's).
The bottom is now heavy cardboard with a coat or two of hammer finish silver paint.
Power supply is included.
All exposed electronics (where the caps poke through the bottom) now have a layer of hot glue on them so nothing is exposed.
There is a switch to set this to High or Low gain but this is a MM phono pre only - THIS IS NOT AN MC PHONO PRE.

This is a great sounding phono Pre and at this price I'm just recouping my parts cost and a bit of labor time.

$250

Before:
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After:
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Aaron
Enabler Extraordinaire
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  • ALL212
    ALL212 Posts: 1,577
    edited July 2014
    Bumped and dropped.

    $200 shipped.
    Aaron
    Enabler Extraordinaire
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited July 2014
    WTF, I'm in. Totally don't need this. But I have a Grado Sonata cartridge, a Grado headphone amp, and Grado cans. So how could I not give this a try...

    Please pm me and I'll send you a paypal.
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • ALL212
    ALL212 Posts: 1,577
    edited July 2014
    PM on the way.
    Aaron
    Enabler Extraordinaire
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  • schwarcw
    schwarcw Posts: 7,341
    edited July 2014
    Congrats!

    A very nice looking piece! I would like to hear it one day.
    Carl

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  • SCompRacer
    SCompRacer Posts: 8,513
    edited July 2014
    That Aaron is one heck of a solder slingin' mudder...I mean solder slingin' modder...:cheesygrin:
    Salk SoundScape 8's * Audio Research Reference 3 * Bottlehead Eros Phono * Park's Audio Budgie SUT * Krell KSA-250 * Harmonic Technology Pro 9+ * Signature Series Sonore Music Server w/Deux PS * Roon * Gustard R26 DAC / Singxer SU-6 DDC * Heavy Plinth Lenco L75 Idler Drive * AA MG-1 Linear Air Bearing Arm * AT33PTG/II & Denon 103R * Richard Gray 600S * NHT B-12d subs * GIK Acoustic Treatments * Sennheiser HD650 *
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  • ALL212
    ALL212 Posts: 1,577
    edited July 2014
    Sold!

    That's Solder Slingin' Modder...SIR!
    Aaron
    Enabler Extraordinaire
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited July 2014
    This arrived today, I love that packaging! Saving that to reuse! Thanks for shipping so quick.

    So I haven't opened this up yet to see how things look inside, but I do have one question for you. You've paralleled a 5 and a .1 to get to 5.1, but did you measure the 5's? Reason I'm asking is what you've done is to wire up the .1 to act as a bypass cap. In crossover land that's avoided now with film caps. A more desirable way to do it would be to parallel two caps closer in value to each other, dead equal if possible. So you'd ideally want two 2.55 caps to get your 5.1. Soniccraft don't list a 2.55.

    However, I'm wondering what the tolerance of the original caps are? Do you still have them. Possible that the old caps could measure low, and Elliot would pull me a pair of matched 5's that measure on the heavy side of the tolerance range. Even possible that the existing 5's measure heavy and the .1's can be pulled. I have a meter, I will eventually start ripping into this myself a bit. After I rip into the Bellari VP130 tube phono preamp and do some caps and opamps. The phono preamp I don't need because I my preamp is a dared mc-7p. That I ripped into the day it arrived and recapped it with auricaps. I wasn't lying when I said I don't need this!
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • ALL212
    ALL212 Posts: 1,577
    edited July 2014
    I'm not sure what I got in that box originally but I just could not throw it away - perfect for shipping that size of item.

    How about I do one better than measure these - I'll send 'em to you! One of the reasons for putting the .1 on the inside and not something larger is physical space. There's not much under there. A pair of 2.x's might work but it depends on what brand and therefore physical size. I'll try and get these out to you in the next couple days.

    Pictures! If you change 'er up put some pictures somewhere so I can see what you did.
    Aaron
    Enabler Extraordinaire
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited July 2014
    Is the tolerance printed on the old caps? Like a +/-X%
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • ALL212
    ALL212 Posts: 1,577
    edited July 2014
    nspindel wrote: »
    Is the tolerance printed on the old caps? Like a +/-X%

    Solen - and your timing is amazing...just taped the box shut. So - whatever Solen caps are is what your tolerance is.

    Couple of solens I have here are 5%.
    Aaron
    Enabler Extraordinaire
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited July 2014
    Ok great. I can wait until they arrive, there is zero rush! Thanks for sending.

    If it is a 5% tolerance cap, then there probably is no need for the .1 at all. Anything above 4.845 would be in spec. I'll have a look when they arrive.
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • ALL212
    ALL212 Posts: 1,577
    edited July 2014
    Just a warning - that circuit board was never intended to rebuild on. I had to run wire in some spots where the pads lifted after removal of components.
    Aaron
    Enabler Extraordinaire
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited July 2014
    Bummer, thanks for the warning. I'm hoping all that's required is to pull the .1. I unscrewed it this morning, then I realized how much glue I'd need to peel to look inside, and lost interest quickly!
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • ALL212
    ALL212 Posts: 1,577
    edited July 2014
    I like glue...glue is good!

    I didn't think anyone would ever crack it open after my mods so I sealed it!

    sry....

    Box cutter works pretty good on what I used on the circuit board.
    Aaron
    Enabler Extraordinaire
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited July 2014
    Oh yes you do. Your old caps arrived, thanks very much. They read +/- 5%, so there is a very good chance the 5's are in spec without the .1's. I will pop one poll of the .1's and put my meter across the 5. As long as it's 4.85 or higher it's in spec.
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited July 2014
    I wonder about that opamp....
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited July 2014
    Score. The 5's come in at 4.93 and 4.94, so they are in spec. So I pulled those .1's.
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited July 2014
    http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/analogue-source/162309-grado-ph-1-op-amp.html
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • ALL212
    ALL212 Posts: 1,577
    edited July 2014
    nspindel wrote: »
    I wonder about that opamp....

    I looked at that also but after having a few pads pull on me I decided not to temp the issue. I found schematics on the web, not one was correct for values but you want I should get them to you?
    Aaron
    Enabler Extraordinaire
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited July 2014
    That thread has the links to the schematics.
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • ALL212
    ALL212 Posts: 1,577
    edited July 2014
    nspindel wrote: »
    http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/analogue-source/162309-grado-ph-1-op-amp.html

    Based on that leave the op-amp alone and wire in a new power supply!
    Aaron
    Enabler Extraordinaire
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited July 2014
    Or do both!
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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