Phono Preamp Suggestions?

Mikey081057

More depth in soundstage... Blacker background .... incredible detail... A very nice symbiosis with the Ushers.

indyhawg

Great thread. I have taken the plunge and ordered a Budgie.

indyhawg

Mine came in today. #517. Been listening for around an hour. Nice smooth sounding pre. Vinyl has never sounded better here. I can only imagine this will sound much better once the tubes are upgraded.

cvc

Purchased the Vincent PHO 8 yesterday from Audio Advisor.. Should have it hooked up by Friday..

FTGV

The Budgie has my interest.I'm in the process of building a copy of the original Bugle and a variant of the popular CNC phono stage of Audiokarma fame.Since like DAC's one can never have too many phono stages adding a tube unit would add a different flavour to the mix.

hochpt21

I had removed my Budgie for awhile and was using the phono stage on my Musical Fidelity Integrated.

I just got some new speakers and brought the Budgie back in. I was getting a horrible noise and albums sounded like crap. I narrowed it down to a bad cable.

I fixed that and it really shines with my new speakers.

I currently have some Amperex Bugle Boys in there from eBay and I'm getting a consistent noise out of the left channel when at idle. When the music is playing it sounds flawless.

I am going to swap the stock tubes back in to see if it is the tubes fault or the unit.

Also, just ordered some NOS Matched Pair 1982 Voskhod Rocket 6N23P 6922 6DJ8 Silver Shield S Wire Tubes.

The Bugle Boys and the Russian 6N23P's were both recommendations from Shannon when I bought the unit. Over a period of time, I am going to compare both sets to the originals (which he speaks highly of) and try to figure out which ones I like best.

msg

Man, it'd be cool to get a tube rotation going, so we could all compare notes on the same sets.

Which speakers?

hochpt21

That tube rotation idea is not a bad idea maybe?

PSB Stratus Gold i

voltz

Scott & Paul, I have many pairs of 6922/6dJ8's I'd box up and say send to Scott to try and he can send to Paul so you can compare...
amperex orange labels & 3 different Jans /Sylvania's and some telefunk's

I just use this in my headphone amps which are collecting dust mostly.

hochpt21

voltz wrote: »

Scott & Paul, I have many pairs of 6922/6dJ8's I'd box up and say send to Scott to try and he can send to Paul so you can compare...
amperex orange labels & 3 different Jans /Sylvania's and some telefunk's

I just use this in my headphone amps which are collecting dust mostly.

Whoa, that would be sweet. I'd need to throw down for your initial shipping so you wouldn't be out anything.

If it would work out easily...great, if not no problem.

Either way thanks for the kind offer.

voltz

it be really easy, those tubes wouldn't take up much room in a box!

I'm got 1 more day at work and a lot of running around to do before I go to the LSAF in Dallas Thursday, but When I get home Monday I'll start boxing them up

Stuck home tonight because of really bad storms & rain & hail

hochpt21

You can see the tubes just peeking out. Got the stock ones back in there right now.

voltz

And I see Franks Silver Cable I switched back to them again after trying several others.

I am curious how you two may like the Telefunken's vs Jans/Sylvania vs. Amperex and your Russian tubes

hochpt21

voltz wrote: »

And I see Franks Silver Cable I switched back to them again after trying several others.

I am curious how you two may like the Telefunken's vs Jans/Sylvania vs. Amperex and your Russian tubes

You've liked the signal silvers more than others?

I've really liked them since I've had them in the system, but I don't know if they have the correct capacitance for phono or not? I was just guessing.

And I've had two separate ones start buzzing on me. So I was considering getting all new interconnects because I was getting frustrated, but if they've bested other cables you've tried....

Maybe I'll get the buzzing ones re-terminated.

msg

voltz wrote: »

Scott & Paul, I have many pairs of 6922/6dJ8's I'd box up and say send to Scott to try and he can send to Paul so you can compare...
amperex orange labels & 3 different Jans /Sylvania's and some telefunk's

I just use this in my headphone amps which are collecting dust mostly.

Man, that would be great, D.

voltz

they equal to my other one I use from Ortofon... will tell more later got to log off for now ...storms and lightning are getting bad!

hochpt21

voltz wrote: »

they equal to my other one I use from Ortofon... will tell more later got to log off for now ...storms and lightning are getting bad!

Stay safe!

indyhawg

hochpt21 wrote: »

You can see the tubes just peeking out. Got the stock ones back in there right now.

Great album there.

hochpt21

Planning to dive into the sound signature of the three pairs of tubes I currently have for the unit.

1) The stock tubes which Shannon likes and recommends 2) and 3) The Amperex BB's and the Russian 6N23P's that he also recommended as starting points for tube rolling.

Listened with the stock tubes last night for about 3 hours. The Electro-Harmonix 6922. Shannon likes these tubes because of the low noise floor.

Boy is he right! I had my ear to the speakers with the volume up a lot and I could barely hear a hiss. Super quiet.

I feel like these are very 'clean' sounding tubes. Don't feel like they impart an overly tubey sound signature. To me they almost sound clean solid state with some slight tube feel. I like that sound.

They don't quite give the lush liquidity and musicality that is sometimes preferred, but again, my mind keeps going back to the word clean, if not ever-so-slightly dry (but not in a bad way). Nice and solid base and open highs. Midrange is clean, but not magical.

I feel these are solid tubes that could be enjoyed without a second thought if you prefer something natural sounding.

I'm gonna leave them in for awhile.

SCompRacer

hochpt21 wrote: »

To me they almost sound clean solid state with some slight tube feel. I like that sound.

You ain't alone. I prefer an accurate sound with very low distortion in my tube gear. I've been the other ways and prefer where I am at.

voltz

The Jans/sylvania I have a so quiet and very neutral sounding to me.

As for Franks Silver's I think they sound as good as my more expensive Ortofon & other cables sound and they were cheaper.

hochpt21

voltz wrote: »

The Jans/sylvania I have a so quiet and very neutral sounding to me.

As for Franks Silver's I think they sound as good as my more expensive Ortofon & other cables sound and they were cheaper.

Glad you survived the storms.

I'm looking into Doug's cables, but haven't ruled out the silvers. Like I said above, just a little frustrated with two cables going out on me. Plus, I believe phono cables are supposed to have a certain capacitance, and I don't know what that is so I was just winging it for awhile.

Maybe the silvers are a great match for phono, but I don't know that and I don't know how to tell.

I like the look and flexibility, so maybe I'll just get them re-terminated.

voltz

I keep saying one day I'd have Doug make me a set of his TT cables, think he uses his alpha cables too. I should be seeing Doug Tomorrow in Dallas!

msg

hochpt21 wrote: »

I'm looking into Doug's cables, but haven't ruled out the silvers. Like I said above, just a little frustrated with two cables going out on me. Plus, I believe phono cables are supposed to have a certain capacitance, and I don't know what that is so I was just winging it for awhile.

Maybe the silvers are a great match for phono, but I don't know that and I don't know how to tell.

I like the look and flexibility, so maybe I'll just get them re-terminated.

yeah, I think you're right. I remember when I was considering replacing the captive cables on the Technics, Doug and I were talking about the importance of phono cables' capacitance. Had I not known that and not done any other reading, I'd have thought they were just like any other interconnect.

voltz wrote: »

I keep saying one day I'd have Doug make me a set of his TT cables, think he uses his alpha cables too. I should be seeing Doug Tomorrow in Dallas!

Hey D, tell Doug I said hey. I think last we spoke he said he's flying in to LSAF by gyrocopter.

msg

Guys, I don't know anything about tubes. How do we know which tubes we can use with the Budgie? Is it just pin pattern and size, or is there more to it than that? Can I use regular light bulbs?

JuanR

msg wrote: »

Guys, I don't know anything about tubes. How do we know which tubes we can use with the Budgie? Is it just pin pattern and size, or is there more to it than that? Can I use regular light bulbs?

MSG - do not stick anything other than a 6922 (6DJ8) variant. Unless you want to cause serious damage to your gear.
Start here and read up on the various types out there. http://www.audiotubes.com/6dj8.htm

The fun in tube rolling is that you can change the tubes until you find the right synergy with your gear, everyones taste is different, so you may wind up liking a certain brand.

Some popular brands out there - and rightfully so are: Telefunken, Mullard, Amperex, Siemens (of course this is not the entire list)... read up on them. I have the Budgie as well and I use all of the tubes I just mentioned and they all bring something special to the table. Some of these tubes can run a small fortune , but some you can pick up relatively cheap if you know how to bargain hunt on E-bay.

Juan

voltz

and the web site you mention also shows 7308 are on the listed with 6DJ8's and the 6922's, Woo audio recommended the 7308's to me in place of the 6922's.

hochpt21

FYI fellas...

One of the great regrets in my life was selling the PS Audio GCPH I had which was the best phono stage I had ever owned.

In the back of my mind I always wanted to get another one, but I purchased the Budgie a while back just because of the price point.

Well I stumbled on a PS Audio a month ago and bought it. Put it back in the main rig in place of the Budgie and.......

......wait, is that it? That doesn't sound any good!!

Put the Budgie back in and ahhhhhhh.....sweet music.

Ok, there is some light exaggeration in this thread. The GCPH did in fact sound good, actually, just the way I remembered, but I've become accustomed to the tube magic, and I don't think I can go back.

I'm going to move the PS Audio down to my SDA rig where I have a tubed preamp and I'm hoping it works its magic there.

Moral of the story is that I surprised myself. I really didn't think the Budgie would hold up to the GCPH, but boy did it ever...even earned itself the undisputed starting spot in my main rig.

Mikey081057

Haha great story ... I had musical surroundings phonomena II and the budgie is much sweeter.