[undertowogt1]

Hi Audio enthusiasts,

I am looking for recommendations for a quality solid State DIY Phono Preamp kit. Must be able to handle MM / MC carts with load settings. Price would be Up To 1000 dollars but can be much lower in price as long as it punches higher than the price point. Any recommendation or experiences would be appreciated.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

The Pass Labs Pearl 2 would be high on my list.

https://www.passdiy.com/gallery/preamplifiers/pearl-2

https://www.passdiy.com/store

[undertowogt1]

Ya thank you. By chance I am looking at it right now. It would all depend on the instructions available, I am not an electronic wizard but enjoy putting stuff together and soldering. I will do more research on it but people love this phono

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Ya thank you. By chance I am looking at it right now. It would all depend on the instructions available, I am not an electronic wizard but enjoy putting stuff together and soldering. I will do more research on it but people love this phono

Getting the parts and stuffing the board is the easy part per the directions but testing it is the hard part.  If you have an EE friend who can test it and adjust it that would help.  I built the B1 buffer without any issues but my son and I built the Bride of Son of Zen and it was over our heads.  I have an EE friend that is trying to figure out all the noise issues, otherwise it sounds fabulous.

You can get a lot of help on the DIY forum and Nelson Pass will take emails and answer questions.


https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pass-labs/204336-building-pearl-2-a.html

[undertowogt1]

For that project is it just the
(2) Pearl 2 PCB Boards plus 6 Matched JFETS per Board.
I guess the power supply is up to me.

The website is pretty vague.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Here are the directions and parts list-

https://www.passdiy.com/project/preamplifiers/pearl-2

[dB Cooper]

Another contestant https://hagerman-audio-labs.myshopify.com/products/bugle3-phono-preamp-mm-mc

[undertowogt1]

Thanks for the info. The kit versions looks fun and has all the parts listed. Does it perform well? Have you heard it

[dB Cooper]

No longer 'spinning' here so I know it only by reputation, but both this product and its maker have stood the test of time. The Bugle is now on its 3rd iteration.

[undertowogt1]

These look pretty nice, 

https://www.muffsy.com/store.html

people seem to like them as well

[undertowogt1]

After some research I am leaning toward the Passlab Pearl 2.

[simoon]

You might want to check out Boozehound Labs.

There is a deluxe phono preamp, MC stage and power supply.

Very good products!

My friend used to have the phono stage and power supply, and their sound quality far outperformed their price. Haven't heard the MC stage.

https://boozhoundlabs.com/

[I.Greyhound Fan]

After some research I am leaning toward the Passlab Pearl 2.

Excellent choice, it is the best of the lot.  It will be my next project for the winter.

[undertowogt1]

Excellent choice, it is the best of the lot.  It will be my next project for the winter.

The project seems a little intimidating but I think I can handle it. The only thing is I will need to inquire on the DIY forum about the power supply. I am not the best at electronics but get by with good instructions. I built Folsoms fo Felix and his a bottlehead reduction but they all have pretty good instructions and parts list in the past .

[mkane]

 Go here. Read everything . Awesome piece and I've been through quite a few. https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/high-gain-opamp-based-preamp-for-low-output-mc-cartridges.879145/

[undertowogt1]

Go here. Read everything . Awesome piece and I've been through quite a few. https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/high-gain-opamp-based-preamp-for-low-output-mc-cartridges.879145/

Thank you I will take a look

[SteveJewels]

For that project is it just the
(2) Pearl 2 PCB Boards plus 6 Matched JFETS per Board.
I guess the power supply is up to me.

The website is pretty vague.

I built a Pass Pearl II for my ZYX Omega. It is phenomenal!!!

There is good filtering on the DC input. Some people claim to have success with very modest power supplies, wall wart kinds of things.

I did not put the power supply in the PP II case. Iuse lab grade analog power supplies and will soon build a DIY analog power supply that will have a DC ripple value in the microvolts.

There is a design on the diyAudio site for a power supply.