When I ordered the parts and pieces for my Clarinet back around Thanksgiving 2007, I had played music for more than 10 years with buffered passive and purely passive preamps. I was eager to see if Jim's line stage could sound as magical as his Coronet2 phono stage.
My Coronet2 project is a great success. I achieved excellent phono reproduction at a very modest investment of time and money. However, I really longed to get in and tweak the ever lasting daylights out of Jim's design. The C2 sounded great right out of the box with just Jim's recommended upgrades. I was not satisfied. I had some high end fish to fry.
The big problem is pretty simple, I have a taste for high end gear but I have a beer budget.
My Clarinet project aimed squarely at testing passive component upgrades that I could adapt back to my C2. I have spun in a variety of upgraded parts and pieces. I am aiming high and looking for perfection.
The Hagerman Clarinet is a true study of a cost effective giant beater. You get a circuit path with zero negative feedback, pure SRPP design and very short signal pathways.
To get the piece to perform with the top dollar high end pieces out there I knew I needed to start with clearer and cleaner passive parts. The first step was to ditch the specified resistors. In the H+ and B+ power supply I used Kiwami 2 watt resistors. I also used these for the grid resistors. I used S-102 Vishay nudes for the direct signal pathway. The results are very illuminating.
I eliminated all traces of brass. I am using the Vampire direct gold plated oxygen free copper RCA chassis connectors. I absolutely love these connectors.
For the H+ 10k uf supply caps I chose Panasonic TSHA caps. I soldered a lead to each post of the TSHA's and then soldered the lead to the board. The extra work is worth the effort if you have the gumption to eliminate every trace of grit and grime from the music.
For the B+ 47uf caps I selected Panasonic ED caps. I find the noise floor on these caps to be close to the dead quiet background of the BlackGate caps. They are completely smooth and effortless and provide an improved microdynamic range for the Clarinet.
I utilize Dynamicap 1.0uf bypass caps for the B+ positions. The Mundorf Silver Supreme 1.0uf caps take on the final signal cap position. A word about the Mundorf caps. The Silver Supremes give you great bass, a wide deep and tall soundstage, and a load of distance between instruments and performers on the stage. They give you detail and definition but take a great deal of time to smooth out and sound relaxed. They are worth the effort. I have been running mine for at least 3 weeks now and they are just beginning to settle in and play nicely with my system.
I like dynamics a great deal. I need to hear a performance run from dead silent to full crescendo instantaneously and without the soundstage collapsing from the effort. To accomplish this I have Russian FT-3 teflon 0.10uf 600V caps bypassing all three B+ cap positions as well as the final output caps. These gave me glorius highs, expressive bass prowess, and a very quiet noise floor.
Up to this week I felt like the Clarinet was good but not great. I was missing the top air and sparkle I heard from the ultra top end line stages I used to sell. The sound was good but not great.
I decided to take a chance and run an additional parallel bypass on my final signal caps. I decided to add a 0.053uf Silver Mica cap to see if I could get the highs as clean and effortless as the bass and midrange.
These took a few hours time to smooth out. The Silver micas are doing the trick. I have everything I need now. Great bass, great mids and effortless highs. Dynamics are off the chart with this line stage. I am loving every second of music.
The total cost for my Clarinet is approximately 1000 dollars. I figure this sounds as good or better than a great deal of 5k and up line stages on the market place. If you can afford BAT gear, you will hear better sound. My hotrodded Clarinet fits my requirements perfectly and for a price I can afford.
The picture I am posting does not show the tiny itsy bitsy Silver mica cap. However it does show the S-102's, and FT-3 Teflons.
I hope everyone has the chance to go out and hear some top dollar, high end audio gear. Then modify your Clarinet to your taste and budget and see if you cannot reproduce the magic I have found with my parts exchanges. I have not changed any parts values other than using the appropriate H+ and B+ step down resistor values to get my Clarinet operating at the specified voltages on my board.
Thank you Jim for all the help, answering at least a dozen emails, and building a super fine line stage.
One question for Jim. I am using a 24 position 50k Dale Vishay stepped attenuator with the balance pot completely bypassed on my board. I get full volume at position 8 to 14 of a 24 stepped attenuator. Do you think a 100k attenuator would do better in my hotrodded piece?
Cheers!
