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Blimey John, that's a big question you ask . The short answer is that this phonostage sounds significantly better than any other stage I have tried.
Compared to the Superline it is more dynamic, more transparent and has better bass definition.
Compared to the Uphorik it has significantly better tonal shading and sounds much less 'electronic/mechanical'.
Both the valve stages sounded rounded at the top end but ultimately lacked definition and I found their sound uneven across the frequency range with a sense of different timing in the lower registers. I don't think these issues are necessarily the case with valve gear but I do find it to be true with a lot of it.
The upgraded Cambridge stage (really a completely different stage in the same box) sounded very like the Uphorik (which makes it a blooming bargain).
The bottom line is that the level of dynamic, focus and insight this phonostage offers is in an entirely different league to those stages I have previously tried. I thought I had a reasonably good idea of the performance envelope that phonostages existed within - but that has been proven to be a false belief.
Details of the design of the stage can be found on the DIY Audio forum. The actual circuit design was by Joachim Gerhard (who, among other projects, designed all the Audio Physic and Immedia sonics lines of speakers). The circuit board CAD and other details were carried out by other forum contributors.
This is quite a complex DIY build - the circuit uses low levels of feedback and instead achieves linearity through close matching of components (time consuming to do). It's not that cheap a project either;although much cheaper than a commercial product it is quite expensive by DIY standards. If anyone is interested I believe the group buy for the phonostage proper (not the power supply which came later) has ended, but boards can still be bought from forum members who bought too many etc. (though you will have to search).
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Thanks for the detailed explanation.
I think if I attempted such a project I would either end up cursing myself for being so foolhardy, or I’d be left sat in a acrid smoke filled room blaming the soldering iron and instruction manual.
So for now, I’ll have to make do with drooling and dreaming.
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Ah well, it's certainly not a 'first time' electronics project and is pretty much on the edge of what one can do before quite sophisticated (expensive) measuring equipment is needed).
But don't worry about swearing at the instructions - as there aren't any !
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If I may be allowed the self indulgence of "blowing my own trumpet" here I'll just point out that it was the Arkless 640P.... The one that I make...
There's loads of info and customer reviews over on PFM here: http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/s...d.php?t=126877
Arkless Electronics-Engineered to be better. Tel. 01670 530674 (after 1pm)
Modded Thorens TD150, Audio Technica AT-1005 MkII, Technics EPC-300MC, Arkless Hybrid MC phono stage, Arkless passive pre, Arkless 50WPC Class A SS power amp, (or) Arkless modded Leak Stereo 20, Modded Kef Reference 105/3's
ReVox PR99, Studer B62, Ferrograph Series 7, Tandberg TCD440, Hitachi FT-5500MkI, also FT-5500MkII
Digital: Yamaha CDR-HD1500 (Digital Swiss army knife-CD recorder, player, hard drive, DAC and ADC in one), PC files via 24/96 sound card and SPDIF, modded Philips CD850, modded Philips CD104, modded DPA Little Bit DAC. Sennheiser HD580 cans with Arkless Headphone amp.
Cables- free interconnects that come with CD players, mains leads from B&Q, dead kettles etc, extension leads from Tesco
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Ah yes, very true, it was indeed the phonostage that Jez does that I was referring to. Jez and I have not always seen eye to eye but there is no doubt that his design punches well above it's price.
I believe there is also a more sophisticated, and more expensive, stage in development and I very much look forward to hearing that (should the opportunity arise).
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Arkless Electronics-Engineered to be better. Tel. 01670 530674 (after 1pm)
Modded Thorens TD150, Audio Technica AT-1005 MkII, Technics EPC-300MC, Arkless Hybrid MC phono stage, Arkless passive pre, Arkless 50WPC Class A SS power amp, (or) Arkless modded Leak Stereo 20, Modded Kef Reference 105/3's
ReVox PR99, Studer B62, Ferrograph Series 7, Tandberg TCD440, Hitachi FT-5500MkI, also FT-5500MkII
Digital: Yamaha CDR-HD1500 (Digital Swiss army knife-CD recorder, player, hard drive, DAC and ADC in one), PC files via 24/96 sound card and SPDIF, modded Philips CD850, modded Philips CD104, modded DPA Little Bit DAC. Sennheiser HD580 cans with Arkless Headphone amp.
Cables- free interconnects that come with CD players, mains leads from B&Q, dead kettles etc, extension leads from Tesco
John if you can be arsed to look for the PCBs I'd build one up for you. As mark says though it would still be quite expensive, the last one I built for someone totalled £700.
Kuzma Stabi/S 12", (LP12-bastard) DC motor and optical tacho psu, Benz LP, Paradise (phonostage). MB-Pro, Brooklyn dac and psu, Bruno Putzeys balanced pre, mod86p dual mono amps, Yamaha NS1000m
That’s great Simon!
Unfortunately, I boxed-up my kit last week. And it’s probably going to be in storage for the next three years (although things might change). Last night I had to sit through Strictly Come Dancing, whereas normally the Hi-Fi would be on, such is life. I’m already missing my system and reading this forum only makes things worse, especially as I’ve had my imagination fired up with the thought of what could be the next step up in sound quality.
I thought it would be expensive with all those bits to buy and solder together and the subsequent time that’s involved, but if it made a big enough improvement over my inbuilt phono stage I would commit to getting one.
Perhaps if my circumstances change we can pursue this later on. Otherwise maybe we can revisit this in three years time?
Cheers