Happy Sunday Guys,
Thought I'd share a find (that I didn't pick up) that I saw over at Electronics Exchange.
Late last week I was trolling EE and stumbled across an unassuming microphone preamp. Knowing these typically have good stuff inside them, I popped the cover off. Rather than finding tubes I found a nice pair of Dukane microphone set up transformers hiding inside. The unit itself is a early solid state piece but the transformers are well worth salvaging. Bruce had a price tag of $40 on the piece.
If you aren't aware, a far chunk of people are running microphone stepup transformers as their initial gain stage for low output MC cartridges. While the Dukanes aren't considered "top shelf" like the Altecs or Tamura iron, they are well worth the $40 Buce is asking for the preamp.
These microphone set ups are an easy DIY project. They have an octal base just like a EL34/KT88/6L6. I think Bruce even has some of those on one of the shelves. The pin outputs and loading values are marked right on the side of the Dukane's. With a little Hammond project box from Gateway or Rat Shack, a drill, some hook up wire and four RCAs of you could have a LOMC step up gain stage in about two hours time. Here is a link to a guy who has built a few and has some schematics listed on his site;
LOMCThought I'd pass this one on to one of the other DIYers here in town as I've already got the Slee Elevator and Signet (with Tamura iron) step ups...not to mention, all I need is another project
This microphone preamp is in the first isle at Electronics Exchange. Its about 1/2 way down on the middle shelf about chest high. The case is battleship gray and (of course) it has a bunch of volume pots across the front. The build looks to be mid-60's in design. The case is about twice the width of a toaster, same height and a little deeper. Sorry, I can't remember the name but I know it wasn't Dukane, it was some other brand. If you pick the unit up and look inside (the case is ventilated front to back by means of a large slot), you can see the black label of the Dukane transformers off in the back and to the left.
Hopefully one of you guys grabs this thing. If you do, after its built we can get together and give it a listen and compare it to some of the other step ups we all have.
Thought I'd share
