gbyleveldt
AVForums Grandmaster
So I did it. I got some vinyl gear and now I'm a bona-fide audio nerd, all with trade mark anti-social behaviour and all.
I snapped up that Rega Planar 2 that went on BOB a few days ago (sorry iondb) and this turned out to be a real gem and in mint condition (at least, as far as I can tell). There's the odd slight scratch on the lid that can easily be buffed out, but the plinth, bearings and arm are all in perfect nick! I hardly did any cleaning at all. It even came boxed with all accessories and spare belts! It also came with two Grado carts, an FC3 and an XCE (equivalent to the Black and Green's). The only snag was that the one channel on the FC3 was dead, so that's a bit of a write off. But, the XCE is still brand new, I opened it for the first time. Not bad for R1650 I think.
So, I spent quite some time putting together a phono pre and a headphone amp to go with it. With the little one around I don't want to upset the whole household when I want to listen to some choons late at night and I've been meaning to do another nice head amp for quite some time.
The phono pre is based on a basic design by Thoersten Loesch using OPA637's and some real silly power supply work with subbers and what not. I'm sure it's not the epitomy of phono stages but it does seem rather popular with the golden ear guys for the money (at least, as far as I can tell).
The headphone amp is based in the popular TPA6120 and I must say I really, really like the sound of the chip. They a little finicky to keep cool (as it has a thermal pad under the device that needs to be soldered to a fairly large copper area) but I've managed to make a plan without having to resort to through hole plating. It is a general purpose, DC coupled design that cna be used for many other apps as well.
The result? Well, I can understand the hype around all of this. I'm still a little undecided though, as I've hardly got a reference class setup here and I've got a lot to learn still regarding tweaking it, but there is potential there - definately.
Next up will definately be getting an Ortofon Red cart I think. Also want to get the tone arm cables replaced with some nice Cardas stuff, I'll be squaring Froggo pretty soon for that. Not too sure how much of an improvement it'll be on the Grado cart.. And some vinylz of course.
I snapped up that Rega Planar 2 that went on BOB a few days ago (sorry iondb) and this turned out to be a real gem and in mint condition (at least, as far as I can tell). There's the odd slight scratch on the lid that can easily be buffed out, but the plinth, bearings and arm are all in perfect nick! I hardly did any cleaning at all. It even came boxed with all accessories and spare belts! It also came with two Grado carts, an FC3 and an XCE (equivalent to the Black and Green's). The only snag was that the one channel on the FC3 was dead, so that's a bit of a write off. But, the XCE is still brand new, I opened it for the first time. Not bad for R1650 I think.
So, I spent quite some time putting together a phono pre and a headphone amp to go with it. With the little one around I don't want to upset the whole household when I want to listen to some choons late at night and I've been meaning to do another nice head amp for quite some time.
The phono pre is based on a basic design by Thoersten Loesch using OPA637's and some real silly power supply work with subbers and what not. I'm sure it's not the epitomy of phono stages but it does seem rather popular with the golden ear guys for the money (at least, as far as I can tell).
The headphone amp is based in the popular TPA6120 and I must say I really, really like the sound of the chip. They a little finicky to keep cool (as it has a thermal pad under the device that needs to be soldered to a fairly large copper area) but I've managed to make a plan without having to resort to through hole plating. It is a general purpose, DC coupled design that cna be used for many other apps as well.
The result? Well, I can understand the hype around all of this. I'm still a little undecided though, as I've hardly got a reference class setup here and I've got a lot to learn still regarding tweaking it, but there is potential there - definately.
Next up will definately be getting an Ortofon Red cart I think. Also want to get the tone arm cables replaced with some nice Cardas stuff, I'll be squaring Froggo pretty soon for that. Not too sure how much of an improvement it'll be on the Grado cart.. And some vinylz of course.
