Belles 20a Phono Stage

Just a few brief comments regarding the new-to-me Belles 20a phono pre. Bought it on ebay recently for $325. It's wired by Belles when built, 47k / 60db gain in this case. Power supply is in separate case joined by faceplate and detachable cord. Matches my Belles 20a preamp I bought here from George Daniel that I am running at beach with Pass Aleph 30 and Revel M22's. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to move a turntable or albums down there (or even spend any real time dialing that system in), so I could only try it out on the still intact Den rig in town. I plan to move the Belles down there with the MMF5.1 (Office rig) this week.

Here's the only review I could find.

Not the strongest in inner detail, but provides an organic you-are-there soundstage that draws me in. Fleetwood Mac in Chicago '69 put me smack in the middle of the studio with Otis, Willie, and the boys. Precise placement, fantastic imaging through the SRS1.2's. LIVE guitar. Low noise floor and forgiving of worn vinyl. However, ambient queues and fine micro details are not as apparent as with the Budgie-Jolida playing Vanessa Fernandez' When the Levee Breaks 45rpm. Tone is noticeably dark as mentioned in the review, but provides excellent dynamics and musicality that keeps me tapping my feet and singing along. Sounds better than all the combos I tried except the Budgie/Jolida. Here's how they compared (best to worst):

Parks Budgie SUT - Jolida JD9a (caps, op amps, dynamat)
Belles 20a
Budgie SUT - PS Audio Nuwave Phono Converter
Lounge Copla - Jolida JD9a
PS Audio NPC

So, considering a used one cost a few bucks less than a new Budgie SUT alone, the Belles is IMO a very good value for a MC phono stage. Looking forward to seeing how it mates with the Belles pre and DL-103r after a few vibration control tweaks.
b]Beach Audio[/b]: Rega RP6 (mods) - AT33PTG/II - Parks Budgie SUT - PSAudio NPC * Eversolo DMP-A6 * Topping D90iii * Joule-Electra LA-100 mkIII * Pass Aleph 30 * MIT S3 * Polk SRS 2.3tl (mods) * PSAudio PPP3
Beach Study: Pro-Ject Stream Box S2 Ultra & Pre Box S2 * Pass ACA * DH Labs SS Q10 * Brines Folded ML-TQWT RS 40-1354 * PSA Dectet
Beach Master: WiiM Pro * Dayens Menuetto * Zu Libtec * Dynaudio Audience 50
Beach Den: Bluesound Powernode 2i * DH Labs SS Q10 * Zu Omen DWII * Richard Gray RGPC
Town Study: WiiM Pro * Chord Qute (Pardo) * Elekit TU-8600 * MIT S3 * Revel M22 * Beyer DT-990 * Shunyata Hydra 2
Town Den: Music Hall mm5.1se - Denon DL-103r - Jolida JD9ii (mods) * WiiM Pro * Cary xCiter * Rogue 99 Magnum * Schiit Aegir * MIT S3 * Polk SRS 1.2tl (mods) * Dectet * Bottlehead Crack - Senn 600
Town Porch: WiiM Pro Plus * Sunfire Sig II * Canare 4S11 * Magnepan 1.6 * Dectet

Comments

  • Dawgfish
    Dawgfish Posts: 2,554
    Nice review! I'm glad you posted this as I've been considering the Copla. I am currently running a similar modded JD-9 with a DIY Cinemag 3440A SUT. Like yourself, I've found this to be a fantastic combo that punches far above their weight. The only complaint I have with the modded JD-9 is it's not the most quiet phono pre, but when the needle is in the groove it's not noticeable. Your review confirms what yourself, others, and I have found, a modded JD-9 is really hard to beat for the price. If you get a chance try some Telefunken smooth plates in it. They really make a huge difference with the JD-9.

    Congrats on scoring the Belles phono pre at such an awesome price! I never would have thought you could get one for that. I would love to hear one sometime.
  • jonicont
    jonicont Posts: 281
    edited November 2016
    I've got a modded JD9 running a dynavector 20x2LOMC cart. Plenty of gain. What is the advantage of adding an SUT in the chain?
    DynaudIo Evoke 30, VPI Prime, Soundsmith Zephyr MKIII, PS audio Stellar phono pre, McCormack DNA 0.5 Gold, ARC LS-17se, Eversolo dmp A8, MIT AVT MA ic’s and speaker cables, ps audio stellar power plant 3
  • Dawgfish
    Dawgfish Posts: 2,554
    SUTS often have lower noise and lower distortion than many active gain sections in phono preamps. To get a phono preamp with comparable distortion, quietness, and overall sound quality you usually have to pay big bucks. The bottom line is a decent mid-fi phono preamp with a decent SUT usually sounds better than using the active gain section in the phono preamp alone provided the SUT is a good impedance match for your cartridge. I have the high output version of the DV-20X so I haven't heard it directly with a SUT but I also have a Karat 23R and was playing it today with the 50 ohm setting on my Cinemag 3440A SUT. It sounded wonderful. Chances are you would notice an appreciable upgrade in sound running a good SUT (like ones using Cinemag transformers) with your JD-9 while running your DX20x2L.
  • jonicont
    jonicont Posts: 281
    Thanks for the info Dawgfish. Just to be clear, I would then use the low output connections on the Jolida? Agree about the Telefunkens. Really like the way they sound
    DynaudIo Evoke 30, VPI Prime, Soundsmith Zephyr MKIII, PS audio Stellar phono pre, McCormack DNA 0.5 Gold, ARC LS-17se, Eversolo dmp A8, MIT AVT MA ic’s and speaker cables, ps audio stellar power plant 3
  • Dawgfish
    Dawgfish Posts: 2,554
    No worries, glad to help! You would configure the JD-9 as you would be using a moving magnet cart; set the loading to 47 kohms, run all the gain switches down, all capacitance switches down. Run your phono cable into the input of the SUT, then run a pair of interconnects from the output of the SUT to the inputs of the JD-9.
    Experiment running your groundwire(s) to different ground posts to get the lowest noise. With my Cinemag SUT I get the best results running the groundwire from the phono cable straight to the ground post on the SUT. With other SUTs I've used running the ground wire directly to the JD-9 ground post or running groundwires to the SUT and from the SUT to the phono preamp works best. You really have to experiment to see what works best with your setup.

    Unless you have replaced the stock resistors on the low outputs of the JD-9, I don't recommend using the low outputs. The stock resistors in the low outputs are not very good quality and you lose some sound quality using these outputs. For this reason I only use the high outputs. It may be worth replacing the resistors one day to get more versatility, but so far I have just used the high outputs. I currently have 31 different cartridges and I haven't had any issues with any just using the high outputs. Hope this helps.
  • jonicont
    jonicont Posts: 281
    Clear and concise. Thank you. Now to order one
    DynaudIo Evoke 30, VPI Prime, Soundsmith Zephyr MKIII, PS audio Stellar phono pre, McCormack DNA 0.5 Gold, ARC LS-17se, Eversolo dmp A8, MIT AVT MA ic’s and speaker cables, ps audio stellar power plant 3
  • Dawgfish
    Dawgfish Posts: 2,554
    edited November 2016
    Glad I could help! One final piece of advice, I was checking the internal impedance on the DX20X2L, which is 5 ohms. It's been my experience with carts with similar impedance (Shelter 501 mk2 also has 5 ohms impedance) that they perform best with the Cinemag 3440A when using the low taps. Cinemag specs these at 38 ohms but after all the connections are made, the impedance actually measures out around 50 ohms. The Parks Audio Budgie SUT is wired using the Cinemag 3440A medium (150 ohms) and high (600 ohms) taps. IMHO your cart will sound better using the 50 ohm tap. If you get the Budgie SUT, I would talk to Shannon Parks and see if he can either wire it with the low and medium taps, or he can make you some loading plugs to use with the medium setting to get the impedance down closer to 50 ohms.

    Bob's devices 3440 SUT is made using the low and medium taps, but they are too expensive new. You can commonly get them used in the $300-400 range. Another option is there is a guy on Ebay named SUT MAN that will build you a SUT for $100 over the cost of the materials. The costs for two Cinemag 3440a transformers, rca jacks, switches, and case is usually around $230, so the total cost would be around $330. That may be your best bet.

    Of course all of the above is under the assumption you use a SUT running Cinemag 3440A transformers. Cinemag makes other transformers like the 1254, but I believe the low setting will have an impedance that is too low for your DX20X2L. There is a Beyer Dynamic SUT on Ebay right now that does have a 50 ohm setting (the other setting is for 180 ohms which works very well for the Denon DL-103 (not as good a setting for 103R, which likes the 50ohm setting), most Benz LOMCs, and other carts with slightly higher impedance for $185. I have a SUT using the same Beyer Dynamic transformers and it sounds good. The highs are slightly rolled off and it's not quite as dynamic as the Cinemag, but it still sounds very good. On some carts that are on the bright side, I find the Beyer Dynamic SUT to be a better match as it tames the brightness while still retaining good detail.

    Hope this helps more than it confuses. Vcwatkins sorry to high jack your post.
  • vcwatkins
    vcwatkins Posts: 1,993
    Dawgfish wrote: »
    Nice review! I'm glad you posted this as I've been considering the Copla. I am currently running a similar modded JD-9 with a DIY Cinemag 3440A SUT. Like yourself, I've found this to be a fantastic combo that punches far above their weight. The only complaint I have with the modded JD-9 is it's not the most quiet phono pre, but when the needle is in the groove it's not noticeable. Your review confirms what yourself, others, and I have found, a modded JD-9 is really hard to beat for the price. If you get a chance try some Telefunken smooth plates in it. They really make a huge difference with the JD-9.

    Congrats on scoring the Belles phono pre at such an awesome price! I never would have thought you could get one for that. I would love to hear one sometime.

    Thanks Dawg. Yeah, still digging the JD-9. Can't remember for certain what tubes I've got in there. 60's Blackburn Mullards I believe. Some warmth was needed during a surprisingly long time needed for the mods to settle in. Never did any rolling later. Time to fix that. Appreciate the rec. Will try Telefunkens soonest.
    b]Beach Audio[/b]: Rega RP6 (mods) - AT33PTG/II - Parks Budgie SUT - PSAudio NPC * Eversolo DMP-A6 * Topping D90iii * Joule-Electra LA-100 mkIII * Pass Aleph 30 * MIT S3 * Polk SRS 2.3tl (mods) * PSAudio PPP3
    Beach Study: Pro-Ject Stream Box S2 Ultra & Pre Box S2 * Pass ACA * DH Labs SS Q10 * Brines Folded ML-TQWT RS 40-1354 * PSA Dectet
    Beach Master: WiiM Pro * Dayens Menuetto * Zu Libtec * Dynaudio Audience 50
    Beach Den: Bluesound Powernode 2i * DH Labs SS Q10 * Zu Omen DWII * Richard Gray RGPC
    Town Study: WiiM Pro * Chord Qute (Pardo) * Elekit TU-8600 * MIT S3 * Revel M22 * Beyer DT-990 * Shunyata Hydra 2
    Town Den: Music Hall mm5.1se - Denon DL-103r - Jolida JD9ii (mods) * WiiM Pro * Cary xCiter * Rogue 99 Magnum * Schiit Aegir * MIT S3 * Polk SRS 1.2tl (mods) * Dectet * Bottlehead Crack - Senn 600
    Town Porch: WiiM Pro Plus * Sunfire Sig II * Canare 4S11 * Magnepan 1.6 * Dectet
  • Dawgfish
    Dawgfish Posts: 2,554
    No worries, I tried some Blackburn Mullards in mine also but found them to be a little too warm as my system preamp and amp are tube units. Of course ymmv especially with more solid state gear in the mix. RCA black plates were choice 1A until I got my SOTA Sapphire table. The Sapphire has tremendous bass and it was a little too much with the black plates. RCA and Sylvania triple mica black plate 5751s also sound really nice. You know how it goes though the cat's meow in one system may not necessarily be it in another. Keep on enjoying the vinyl!