Suggest a cheap DIY preamp project

Sami

Simple, SISO preferably, cheap. No chassis necessary, just the insides, I plan to put it in a wooden box. Something one with limited EE knowledge will be able to do. I intend to use this as a stepping stone to a more demanding project so it does not need to be sonically great, cheap and mediocre will do.

Wardsweb

This is very simple. A Bottlehead battery powered pre. You won't get the wood cabinet. It does come with the chassis plate (acrylic) and all the parts to build for $99. It comes with a black knob, I used an aluminum one I had.



The PCB is an upgrade option ($35).

ben62670

Grounded Grid tube pre.
Edit:WW very nice chassis.

bikerboy

I ordered a LDR preamp kit from http://www.buildanamp.com/
http://diyaudioprojects.com/Solid/DIY-Lightspeed-Passive-Attenuator/
The matched LDRs and boards should be here soon. I'll let you know how it works out.
The bottlehead is one I have looked at many times. Nice work Wardsweb.
DIY is fun. Makes use of many skills.

ben62670

Thanks for the linky BB. I have been wanting to add the LDR attenuator to my pre for some time now.
Ben

mhardy6647

another vote for the Grounded Grid:
http://www.transcendentsound.com/preampkit.htm

ben62670

I am running the Grounded Grid right now. Very pleased with the results. It is paint by numbers style.
Ben

strider

bikerboy wrote: »

I ordered a LDR preamp kit from http://www.buildanamp.com/
http://diyaudioprojects.com/Solid/DIY-Lightspeed-Passive-Attenuator/
The matched LDRs and boards should be here soon. I'll let you know how it works out.
The bottlehead is one I have looked at many times. Nice work Wardsweb.
DIY is fun. Makes use of many skills.

Aren't the LDRs finicky in regards to input and output impedances of the amp and sources used with it?

mhardy6647

ben62670 wrote: »

I am running the Grounded Grid right now. Very pleased with the results. It is paint by numbers style.
Ben

I am a ditz, neglecting to notice that the OP was asking for DIY. Sorry :-P

Did you peruse Pete Millett's site? He might have some good ideas.
I have used his original hybrid, low-voltage space-charge tube headphone amp also as a preamp and thought it sounded very good.

Pete is an outstanding resource for us DIYers, especially for his outrageous collection of scanned (ex-copyright) technical resources online.

www.pmillett.com
http://www.pmillett.com/technical_books_online.htm
http://www.pmillett.com/tube_data.htm

strider

Another thought is the PassDIY B1. It's an impedance buffer with no gain and a pretty simple circuit to boot. There's always a group buy going on DIYAudio.com for PCBs, and the guys over there are pretty helpful when your stuck, especially if you put the effort in first.

That Bottlehead kit does look really simple, however, and I'd bet the support would be much better then with the B1.

bikerboy

Strider-All passive preamps have to be matched as far as impedence. The kit I ordered claims to have provisions built-in to deal with that. So I'll see how well it works with the jolida. It should be here soon. The B1 seems to be a common solution with a standard LDR preamp.