[mjosef]

I may be interested also...already have 2 Bottlehead Foreplay, 1 & 2. Provided, of course, that it meet or exceed the sound quality of those.

[BillB]

Wanna send me one to find out? 

I picked up 10 Sprague Hyres-Q for a song tonight 

[mjosef]

Sure...I will have to dust them off and give them a run to make sure they still deliver the goods.
Will let you know.

[BillB]

That would be great! I have not heard one yet and it would be a good way to gauge performance as everything else I have or have heard is mega-bucks more (but still cheap compared to some systems).

From what I have heard:

>VTL Deluxe (more detail, less warmth)
> or = Candela (for the same reasons)
< Aikido (less detail, more warmth, less dimension)
< Shrimp (for the same reasons)

[FredT300B]

...I think if you want to move this thing it's got to be prettier.  Tube stuff has that cool look.  Definitely go black, lose the blue caps ( I don't know how) and add a single piece of wood across the front ( just screwed on from the inside).

I agree. Visual appeal is important. The wood side caps are a big improvement, and since it's important to keep the price as low as possible you might want to offer them as an option. Also, the tube covers are a deal killer for me - if I'm getting my first tube component I want to see the filaments' orange glow. Another potential appearance upgrade would be to move the controls to the front of the chassis. A black chassis would be nice, but the builder can easily do that themselves.

If you can keep the price low enough, about $225-$250 for a kit, and you provide it with the chassis pre-drilled, you'll have a winner. The Decware kit is a more sophisticated product, but it sells for $295 with only a blank top plate, and few of us have the equipment or skills to drill it attractively. Also, the chassis is an added cost option for the Decware. Bottlehead has all but priced themselves out of the entry level market at $489 for their Foreplay III.

The power supply is critical, and having a high voltage supply moves your product up at least one level from the wall wart powered Aric Audio preamps that are offered on Ebay. The ideal low cost supply would be a solid state CRC, and you could offer a CLC as an extra cost option.

[BillB]

The current model has a CLC PSU and there is still a low level buzz so I wanted to step it up a notch and get rid of that altogether. The controls can certainly be moved back to the front, but I tell you what, ever since building this thing I have really grown to like the top controls, I thought it was weird at first too, but now I am really appreciating its ease. Especially in desktop audio, you don't need any funky hand positioning to change sources or volume.

The following models will use aluminum chassis and they will be painted flat black.

[HAL]

Bill,
I know I do not need another preamp, but this sounds like a fun tube project.

Hmmm...  this and a pair of dweekie's moded Gizmo's would be a cool setup.

[BillB]

HAL,

I am in the same boat, I need another preamp like I need a hole in the head.

I have at the house:

VTL Deluxe
Aikido 24v
Burson discrete preamp
Euterpe preamp (this one)
Aikido 5687 (still incomplete)

For some reason I keep getting drawn to preamp design, maybe because it seems to have a huge impact on sound quality.

It is a fun little project and it fits in places most preamps do not, which is very nice.

[BillB]

Just a quick update:

I have some new parts coming that I will test in the mule to see if there are significant improvements.

I will then construct a rev-2 model documenting the process for user-manual preparation.

I will then test said rev-2 and offer it as a demo model which will require a PP transaction to secure a 2 week "rental".

At this time kits will also be made available. I request a parts cost deposit and when the unit is ready to ship will ask for the remainder.

We are just over a month and a half from implementing SAP at work and I am playing a large part in that so my time is pretty thin but I enjoy building stuff so it is a good way to relax.

[BillB]

Some new cleartop CBS Hytron 6J6:

[BillB]

Parts are on the way for Rev2.

The PSU was changed AGAIN.

It is now a CLCRC design with Nichicon caps, a Triad coil, and an Ohmite chip resistor. Ripple is <.001v which is an improvement over the .003 the last revision had. The change was not made for that reason though, the previous design slightly overloaded the transformer and this new one will run it at about 70% for only about a $6 cost differential, the coil is a 1H model and is nicely priced at Allied.

I had to make some parts substitution because Mouser was out of my original spec'd parts but all the subs are the same value, just different brands.

This 2nd model will be slightly upgraded over stock with a stepped attenuator and Hyrel Q capacitors in the output stage (if I can fit them!).

[jtwrace]

any updates?  Foreplay Vs this?