Big Bottle Audio BB3 Tube Phonostage
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The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
John, these are built, by hand, in the UK, so subject to exchange rates. I would count on about $1,500 USD (including shipping), but, of course, the seller will have the official selling price.
Although I haven't seen any direct comparisons to Herron tube phono preamps, I think the performance is in that latitude...and for less $."This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
"Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon -
Firebottle here, the BB3 designer. The 6DJ8/ECC88 and the 7DJ8/PCC88 operate exactly the same apart from the heater voltage.
The 6DJ8 is 6.3V heater, the 7DJ8 is 7V. The BB3 operates at 7V for the 1st and 3rd stages so needs the 7DJ8/PCC88. The second stage required a high gain valve hence the use of an ECC83, this operates with a 6.3V heater fed from the 7V heater traces.
A 6DJ8 'circuit' will work just as well with the 7DJ8, providing the heater voltage is correct. Almost any valve 'could' be used in a phono stage but some are better suited than others.
The BB3 circuitry includes tricks to make the valve work in a much more linear fashion with a 'triple stack' circuit for the first stage, unlike the majority of phono stages that use a more generic approach.
Also included in the design is a novel MC/MM switching technique that avoids a mechanical contact in the direct cartridge signal path. This is believed to be unique. -
Enjoying mine quite a bit! I made two pair of RCA loading plugs to get me down to 20 ohms and 80 ohms for a few of my MC carts."This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
"Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon -
nooshinjohn wrote: »
If you'd like to send me a message, I am happy to talk to you about it....as long as we aren't breaching any forum rules 👍 -
Enjoying mine quite a bit! I made two pair of RCA loading plugs to get me down to 20 ohms and 80 ohms for a few of my MC carts.
That's great to hear. It's always very rewarding to know it's doing good work. ☺️
