View Full Version : ‘Little Bear’ Moving Coil Step Up Preamplifier T8-1
‘Little Bear’ Moving Coil Step Up Preamplifier T8-1
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NTk0WDczMw==/z/mv8AAOSwZd1VZC8U/$_35.JPG
Prompted by Ali Tait’s mention of this amp, I thought I would take a punt. It arrived today, so I plumbed it into my system. The cartridge is a ‘cooking’ Denon 103 and the headamp feeds the DISC input of a Quad 44 (sensitivity set to 3mV), connected by a pair of 1m RG-223/U-01 cables.
http://i780.photobucket.com/albums/yy88/barrydhunt/008_zpsfotykr4e.jpg
At only £20 I wasn’t expecting too much, but I was very pleasantly surprised by what I heard. Until now I have been using either a Linn LINNK phonostage (actually made for Linn by Naim and based on the circuit of the Naim 323 boards) or either a Mark Levinson ML-25 phonostage or a ML-10A preamp. All of the latter are considerably more expensive than the Little Bear T8-1!
OK, the Little Bear doesn’t trounce any of the above devices, nor would I expect it to, but it does sound very good indeed; and for the price astonishing. I played Dire Strait's eponymous LP: all the sublety I associate with this album as well as the tight, driving, rhythm were there. Next up was Linda Ronstadt's 'Hand Sown, Home Grown', a good test for treble control, as Ronstadt's voice can sound hard and edgy if there are problems in the replay chain. The Little Bear sailed through this hurdle. The sound stage is not as deep as that with either the Linn or the Levinson designs, and the treble can at times, ‘shout’. But for £20 it’s bloody fantastic!
Being an inquisitive person I just had to take a peek inside, to see what £20 bought you. Not surprisingly the circuit is simple – dead simple: just a single transistor (marked as K184 (a BC184 perhaps?)) per channel, drawing a collector current of ~2mA.
http://i780.photobucket.com/albums/yy88/barrydhunt/005_zpszerzh3fa.jpg
http://i780.photobucket.com/albums/yy88/barrydhunt/006_zpsot0av1kp.jpg
A single Elna 470uF input coupling capacitor is followed by a shunt 680Ω resistor. The emitter resistor is 1kΩ, bypassed with an Elna 470uF capacitor. The output is taken directly from the collector.
Raw 12V AC from a 'wall wart' is rectified by a bridge rectifier and then smoothed by a 200uF electrolytic, itself bypassed with a 100nF capacitor. This in turn feeds a linear voltage regulator using a 12V Zener diode reference. Hum and noise is commendably low, but of course, not as good as with either the Linn or the Levinson amps. Switch spikes are not as well suppressed as they are with either Levinson product (which appear to be totally immune to switch spikes) - in fact they are quite bad (but then so too is the Linn LINNK in this respect).
Such a simple circuit has no right to sound as good as this. With a little fettling, such as perhaps upgrading the capacitors in the signal path, and replacing the Chinese sourced 200uF caps in the power supply, the performance could well be further improved. However, as it stands, this little device represents excellent VFM and is to be commended.
The published specification for the Little Bear T8-1 head-amp is as follows:
Step up ratio: 1:10 (i.e. 20dB)
MC input support: Moving coil cartridges 0.3 - 0.8mV, impedance 20 - 100Ω
(by this I take it to mean the amp will be suitable for those MC cartridges requiring a loading of 20 - 100Ω)
Output: 3 - 8mV, impedance 47KΩ
(i.e. the RIAA equalised input of the preamp will have an input impedance of 47kΩ)
Frequency range: 20 - 20,000Hz +/- 0.5dB
Distortion: < 0.1%, 1kHz
Power: 12 - 18VAC, 100mA
Ali Tait
10-07-2015, 05:16
Good stuff Barry, not got round to trying mine yet, too busy fettling the Denon.
As you say, better caps and maybe resistors too would be worthwhile.
For what one pays for the Little Bear products, they are remarkable.
Ali Tait
10-07-2015, 07:56
A better power supply would probably be worthwhile also.
Good stuff Barry, not got round to trying mine yet, too busy fettling the Denon.
As you say, better caps and maybe resistors too would be worthwhile.
I would be interested to learn of your findings. I would expect your Denon to offer superior SQ, but then I expect it cost somewhat more than the Little Bear.
However, you may be pleasantly surprised by what the T8-1 can offer for such little outlay - I was. :)
Ali Tait
17-07-2015, 03:30
I have gone further with the Denon, replacing all the ceramic and tantalum caps also. Best I've heard from my vinyl set up to date. Compared it before doing this at a friend's house to an S & B SUT (costing four figures), with which it was thought to have a little different but equally good sound. Great result given the cost.
Time to check out the Little Bear now.
‘Little Bear’ Moving Coil Step Up Preamplifier T8-1
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NTk0WDczMw==/z/mv8AAOSwZd1VZC8U/$_35.JPG
Prompted by Ali Tait’s mention of this amp, I thought I would take a punt. It arrived today, so I plumbed it into my system. The cartridge is a ‘cooking’ Denon 103 and the headamp feeds the DISC input of a Quad 44 (sensitivity set to 3mV), connected by a pair of 1m RG-223/U-01 cables.
http://i780.photobucket.com/albums/yy88/barrydhunt/008_zpsfotykr4e.jpg
At only £20 I wasn’t expecting too much, but I was very pleasantly surprised by what I heard. Until now I have been using either a Linn LINNK phonostage (actually made for Linn by Naim and based on the circuit of the Naim 323 boards) or either a Mark Levinson ML-25 phonostage or a ML-10A preamp. All of the latter are considerably more expensive than the Little Bear T8-1!
OK, the Little Bear doesn’t trounce any of the above devices, nor would I expect it to, but it does sound very good indeed; and for the price astonishing. I played Dire Strait's eponymous LP: all the sublety I associate with this album as well as the tight, driving, rhythm were there. Next up was Linda Ronstadt's 'Hand Sown, Home Grown', a good test for treble control, as Ronstadt's voice can sound hard and edgy if there are problems in the replay chain. The Little Bear sailed through this hurdle. The sound stage is not as deep as that with either the Linn or the Levinson designs, and the treble can at times, ‘shout’. But for £20 it’s bloody fantastic!
Being an inquisitive person I just had to take a peek inside, to see what £20 bought you. Not surprisingly the circuit is simple – dead simple: just a single transistor (marked as K184 (a BC184 perhaps?)) per channel, drawing a collector current of ~2mA.
http://i780.photobucket.com/albums/yy88/barrydhunt/005_zpszerzh3fa.jpg
http://i780.photobucket.com/albums/yy88/barrydhunt/006_zpsot0av1kp.jpg
A single Elna 470uF input coupling capacitor is followed by a shunt 680Ω resistor. The emitter resistor is 1kΩ, bypassed with an Elna 470uF capacitor. The output is taken directly from the collector.
Raw 12V AC from a 'wall wart' is rectified by a bridge rectifier and then smoothed by a 200uF electrolytic, itself bypassed with a 100nF capacitor. This in turn feeds a linear voltage regulator using a 12V Zener diode reference. Hum and noise is commendably low, but of course, not as good as with either the Linn or the Levinson amps. Switch spikes are not as well suppressed as they are with either Levinson product (which appear to be totally immune to switch spikes) - in fact they are quite bad (but then so too is the Linn LINNK in this respect).
Such a simple circuit has no right to sound as good as this. With a little fettling, such as perhaps upgrading the capacitors in the signal path, and replacing the Chinese sourced 200uF caps in the power supply, the performance could well be further improved. However, as it stands, this little device represents excellent VFM and is to be commended.
The published specification for the Little Bear T8-1 head-amp is as follows:
Step up ratio: 1:10 (i.e. 20dB)
MC input support: Moving coil cartridges 0.3 - 0.8mV, impedance 20 - 100Ω
(by this I take it to mean the amp will be suitable for those MC cartridges requiring a loading of 20 - 100Ω)
Output: 3 - 8mV, impedance 47KΩ
(i.e. the RIAA equalised input of the preamp will have an input impedance of 47kΩ)
Frequency range: 20 - 20,000Hz +/- 0.5dB
Distortion: < 0.1%, 1kHz
Power: 12 - 18VAC, 100mA
I have never owned any Quad gear, but those that do seem to be satisfied.
Do they persist with the Fischer-Price look or is yours a vintage unit?
Gordon Steadman
18-07-2015, 07:15
I have never owned any Quad gear, but those that do seem to be satisfied.
Do they persist with the Fischer-Price look or is yours a vintage unit?
Best ignored I think.
I have never owned any Quad gear, but those that do seem to be satisfied.
Do they persist with the Fischer-Price look or is yours a vintage unit?
Unfortunately the coloured buttons were phased out decades ago and replaced by uniform grey units.
The early models are indeed like Marmite but personally I love them - as did the UK Design Council.
(I also love Marmite though .... :lol:
Unfortunately the coloured buttons were phased out decades ago and replaced by uniform grey units.
The early models are indeed like Marmite but personally I love them - as did the UK Design Council.
(I also love Marmite though .... :lol:
I could live with anything if I liked the sound Mike.
Can you remember when all N.A.D buttons looked like Tootie Fruities?
Can you remember when all N.A.D buttons looked like Tootie Fruities?
Yep, used to rib my mate about it back then - he was a NAD fanboy :lol:
As you say - it's what's in the box that counts (although I draw the line at shocking pink....)
I have never owned any Quad gear, but those that do seem to be satisfied.
Do they persist with the Fischer-Price look or is yours a vintage unit?
:lol: Well I have never heard the term 'Fischer-Price' used to describe the cosmetics of the Quad Series 4 electronics before. Certainly the looks and styling are individual and distinctive - sufficiently so for Quad to have been given a Design Centre award for all their Series 3 and Series 4 electronics. As to the colour: Quad 'Bronze' (although I think 'snot-green' is more descriptive), well they are a bit of a Marmite thing but then I also love Marmite! :) Most of my Quad gear does sport the older livery, but I also like the slate grey colour of the later Series 4 electronics and of the Series 5 and 6 electronics.
I fact I love Quad equipment full stop: for the design, styling, build quality and, dare I say it, for the sound. Quad equipment is superbly well made and reliable. Not for nothing is Quad gear used by the BBC and by many recording studios.
To say I’m a bit of a Quad lover is a bit of an understatement, I have about 18 items of Quad gear. You can, if you are interested, read of my love affair with Quad here: http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?27351-My-Life-with-Quad&highlight=Life+Quad
‘Little Bear’ Moving Coil Step Up Preamplifier T8-1
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NTk0WDczMw==/z/mv8AAOSwZd1VZC8U/$_35.JPG
Prompted by Ali Tait’s mention of this amp, I thought I would take a punt. It arrived today, so I plumbed it into my system. The cartridge is a ‘cooking’ Denon 103 and the headamp feeds the DISC input of a Quad 44 (sensitivity set to 3mV), connected by a pair of 1m RG-223/U-01 cables.
http://i780.photobucket.com/albums/yy88/barrydhunt/008_zpsfotykr4e.jpg
At only £20 I wasn’t expecting too much, but I was very pleasantly surprised by what I heard. Until now I have been using either a Linn LINNK phonostage (actually made for Linn by Naim and based on the circuit of the Naim 323 boards) or either a Mark Levinson ML-25 phonostage or a ML-10A preamp. All of the latter are considerably more expensive than the Little Bear T8-1!
OK, the Little Bear doesn’t trounce any of the above devices, nor would I expect it to, but it does sound very good indeed; and for the price astonishing. I played Dire Strait's eponymous LP: all the sublety I associate with this album as well as the tight, driving, rhythm were there. Next up was Linda Ronstadt's 'Hand Sown, Home Grown', a good test for treble control, as Ronstadt's voice can sound hard and edgy if there are problems in the replay chain. The Little Bear sailed through this hurdle. The sound stage is not as deep as that with either the Linn or the Levinson designs, and the treble can at times, ‘shout’. But for £20 it’s bloody fantastic!
Being an inquisitive person I just had to take a peek inside, to see what £20 bought you. Not surprisingly the circuit is simple – dead simple: just a single transistor (marked as K184 (a BC184 perhaps?)) per channel, drawing a collector current of ~2mA.
http://i780.photobucket.com/albums/yy88/barrydhunt/005_zpszerzh3fa.jpg
http://i780.photobucket.com/albums/yy88/barrydhunt/006_zpsot0av1kp.jpg
A single Elna 470uF input coupling capacitor is followed by a shunt 680Ω resistor. The emitter resistor is 1kΩ, bypassed with an Elna 470uF capacitor. The output is taken directly from the collector.
Raw 12V AC from a 'wall wart' is rectified by a bridge rectifier and then smoothed by a 200uF electrolytic, itself bypassed with a 100nF capacitor. This in turn feeds a linear voltage regulator using a 12V Zener diode reference. Hum and noise is commendably low, but of course, not as good as with either the Linn or the Levinson amps. Switch spikes are not as well suppressed as they are with either Levinson product (which appear to be totally immune to switch spikes) - in fact they are quite bad (but then so too is the Linn LINNK in this respect).
Such a simple circuit has no right to sound as good as this. With a little fettling, such as perhaps upgrading the capacitors in the signal path, and replacing the Chinese sourced 200uF caps in the power supply, the performance could well be further improved. However, as it stands, this little device represents excellent VFM and is to be commended.
The published specification for the Little Bear T8-1 head-amp is as follows:
Step up ratio: 1:10 (i.e. 20dB)
MC input support: Moving coil cartridges 0.3 - 0.8mV, impedance 20 - 100Ω
(by this I take it to mean the amp will be suitable for those MC cartridges requiring a loading of 20 - 100Ω)
Output: 3 - 8mV, impedance 47KΩ
(i.e. the RIAA equalised input of the preamp will have an input impedance of 47kΩ)
Frequency range: 20 - 20,000Hz +/- 0.5dB
Distortion: < 0.1%, 1kHz
Power: 12 - 18VAC, 100mA
Great write-up. I saw these on eBay and would have passed if not for your findings so I've just ordered one to try while I figure out a way to get a bit more gain from my Croft headamp. The NWA DL103 has a lower output than stock and I desire a bit more gain. I will then use it with my NetAudio Quad 33/303. I'm currently using an AKG P8ES supernova in an SME 3009 II on a Thorens TD150 with it but will be nice at this price to have the flexibility of an MC as well - be keen to hear how my Zyx R100 H sounds through the Quad - I think it might be a bit too "fullsome" in the midrange though.
Thanks for your kind comments Stephen.
At £20 you have little to loose, but I think your NWA 103 deserves a much better head amp than the Little Bear design.
Agreed you can use it as 'stop gap' whilst you discuss with Glenn how the gain of your Croft amp might be increased. Remind me of the output of the NWA 103. The stock Denon 103 has an output of ~0.35mV (at 5cm/s).
Regards
Barry
Hi Barry - Dom didn't mention a figure when I spoke yesterday just that
it was lower - I would estimate about 0.2 given the difference between
the stock Denon and the Zyx which is 0.8mV.
Glenn reckons there is a bit of gain to be had in the headamp but it needs
some components (unspecified) that were discontinued years ago
but he is on the case. Alternatively, he says there is lots of gain to be
had from the 25R with a MOSFET so I have definite options.
Hi Barry - Dom didn't mention a figure when I spoke yesterday just that
it was lower - I would estimate about 0.2 given the difference between
the stock Denon and the Zyx which is 0.8mV.
Glenn reckons there is a bit of gain to be had in the headamp but it needs
some components (unspecified) that were discontinued years ago
but he is on the case. Alternatively, he says there is lots of gain to be
had from the 25R with a MOSFET so I have definite options.
So you're looking for an extra 5dB of gain, or nearly double the sensitivity. Good luck with project.
At least the Little Bear will get you 'up and running', but ultimately it is not worthy of a £1,350 cartridge!
Ali Tait
30-08-2015, 15:52
If you can find one, the Denon HA 1000 is a great bit of kit.
So you're looking for an extra 5dB of gain, or nearly double the sensitivity. Good luck with project.
At lest the Little Bear will get you 'up and running', but ultimately it is not worthy of a £1,350 cartridge!
Yep. TBH I'm listening to the NWA DL 103 now (Nude Ants - Jan Garbarek) - sounds stunning and in actual fact the vol pots
are at 5 o'clock with perfectly acceptable volume so maybe I just needed a few hours to "adapt" to the new settings.
It would be nice if Glenn can source the bits for the headamp - since he fettled it and added an external PSU it really is darn good
Anyway, the LB will be useful for the Quads - at £20 I can't go wrong
If you can find one, the Denon HA 1000 is a great bit of kit.
Thanks for this.
I've been disappointed by the SQ of a few SUT's I had in the past including a Dynavector SUP 2000 which was not cheap. The Croft headamp by contrast is superb but I will look out for an HA 1000
marked as K184 (a BC184 perhaps?)
More likely a 2SK184 jfet.
More likely a 2SK184 jfet.
Thanks Nick. :)
Have had one of these for some time but never got round to trying it. So with the sony having a decent mm stage i decided to give it a whirl.
First i payed a side of the wallflower album on my mc section of the mani then connected up the bear .... 1st problem was a bit of hum and this unit doesnt have an earth post...hmmm. Managed to put tt earth under one of the rca s and that got rid of most of it and moving it around most of the rest to an acceptable level.
Replayed record and it sounded quite good. Not at the level of the mani by a bit but acceptably listenable to and for 20 quid a good option on a budget when running a mc cart. It was clean and lucid in its presentation although lacked a bit of drive and sparkle.
Could live with it if needed to but not on a par with the little man
Wakefield Turntables
25-10-2015, 18:11
I've just gone and bought one of these little phonostages, mainly for a little fun and also for experimental purposes.
I've just gone and bought one of these little phonostages, mainly for a little fun and also for experimental purposes.
I kinda fancy doing mine up and see how far I can take it without spending hundreds. Reckon just changing the caps and some resisters would be enough, although a complete external psu could be fed into it if one wanted to.
Wakefield Turntables
25-10-2015, 21:17
i have the same plans Grant, probably spend a little time getting to learn it's "house" sound and then start to modify. Any thoughts on how yours sounds?
Its pretty good tbh, but lacking maybe a little punch, but that could come up with better componets. although a simple design, It could be a winner. Still fancy an offboard psu would be good. just have to byepass the rectification section perhaps. some shielding, a earth post and maybe fit it in another box. a minimum of 30/40 first way, or maybe 120 the second but it may well raise it. would likely try the cheap way first and see if it did improve.
Wakefield Turntables
25-10-2015, 21:28
a minimum of 30/40 first way, or maybe 120 the second but it may well raise it. would likely try the cheap way first and see if it did improve.
? What :confused: ? You been on the single malt ;)? I've got the Ankaka PSU so may choose use that as a decent external PSU. Adding an additional earth should be easy do, probably something you could buy a couple of quid and then simply drill into the case?
Caps will cost a good few quid for decent ones...there are 8 in there.. thats why I said 30/40..... if you then wanted to go nuts you could go to next stage.
Wakefield Turntables
25-10-2015, 21:40
Ah I see. You could indeed spend lots of money, but for me its just a bit of fun. I'm not going to be spending loads on it. I also just ordered a little bear valve pre amp for <£30. :eyebrows:
Ordered some parts from RS.. less than a tenner all in, so well will see if it improves it any b4 I do anymore thinking.
Wakefield Turntables
26-10-2015, 08:35
Grant, that's great. I'm looking forward to hear your findings.
Replaced the 4. 470 uf caps. The ones i got were a tad big but went in on there sides just.. Worth trying to get smaller ones.. Re trying it id say i found no perceptible difference to my ears. Also made up an earth post connected internally to the outside of the rcs commons.
I left the post and refitted the old caps. Worth being careful as there are 2 print side caps fitted that can catch the body when sliding in and out. I managed to knock it off on 1 side where its just tacked on to the print.
Id just do the post personally. Worth a try though
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/27/7972d92cfd99bddf16e78965d42e028f.jpghttp://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/27/1df6da9007a380003aaa956c139c33ea.jpg
Wakefield Turntables
27-10-2015, 18:08
Grant,
Is it possible you could provide a close up pick of the area of the PCB where you connected the internal Earth, additionally which brand of caps did you buy?
Thanks
A
They were Panasonic fc Radial series Electrolytic's 50v....... The earth was just taken from one of the rca solder joints.... the row nearest the edge of the board. I just took a wire from there to a screw head bolt as There is little room to play with Andy. alas dont have a pic but its fairly obvious even without a meter which ones are the outer contacts.
The psu 220uf ones may be better targets to replace but I dont have any at moment
Wakefield Turntables
27-10-2015, 19:19
ok, thanks. :)
Wakefield Turntables
09-11-2015, 08:39
Mines finally arrived today. It's tiny! I'm at work now but I just powered it up and at least the LED comes up. I don't like the crappy Chinese converter that arrived with it today :stalks:. I'm going to have a few days playing around with it before I start to mod.
Wakefield Turntables
09-11-2015, 21:10
Ok, I got the little bear plumbed into my Valve reference system. So how does a £20 SUT sound against my usual £1100 Ortofon SUT. Well, pretty bloody good. I'm currently running my stock Denon 103R into the Little Bear SUT via my Croft MM stage. I let my EL34's warn up for 20 minutes before I decided to do any decent listening. Detail is good, soundstage is quite wide. Sade's Diamond life is sounding very good, saxophone sounds a little recessed in the soundstage. Sade's vocals sound a little less detailed than what I'm used to hearing through my big Tannoys, but bloody hell, what do you expect for £20. Next up, Led Zeppelin No Quater from Song Remains the Same album. OK, Bonzo's symbals lack detail and Jimmy Page's guitar lacks some of the attack that my Ortofon SUT can generate. This little SUT is fantastic value for money. I have to confess that listening levels have been quite low due to having a 13 month old daughter fast asleep across my landing! I've noticed that the biggest improvement so far is swapping the cheap power lead supplied and utilising my Anker 12V battery. I noticed things got slightly louder and developed a greater sense of clarity. I'm getting zero hum in my system, sound I don't think I need to modify the unit with an Earth post (altough it might still be worth doing). It appears that changing the 4 470 uf caps provide no advantages but this may not be the case if all caps and some of the resistors are replaced with tighter tolerances. I'm going to have another listen to the Little Bear tomorrow whilst browsing HihFi collective website whilst selecting may next round of mods. This is a Sub £90-100 SUT In it's stock presentation with the cheap power lead, add a decent external battery like the Anker and I'd say we'd be looking to pay >£150 for the performance. Stay Tooned folks.
Ali Tait
09-11-2015, 21:24
Not a SUT though, it's a head amp. Good your getting good results, still haven't got round to trying mine.
Pleased you agree with me it's a great little headamp for the money. Of course it's unlikely to beat your Ortofon SUT or my Linn LINNK, or Mark Levinson designs (costing between 5 - 100 time the cost of the Little Bear T8-1), but as a 'starter amp' it's fantastic value for money!
The obvious capacitors to replace are those in the signal path, the Elna 470uF electrolytics, and perhaps the input loading resistor be replaced with one of a better quality. The idea of improving the power supply is tempting, but since the existing one is not a smps, I doubt if much improvement can be made there - though I like the idea of a battery supply.
Wakefield Turntables
09-11-2015, 21:47
Pleased you agree with me it's a great little headamp for the money. Of course it's unlikely to beat your Ortofon SUT or my Linn LINNK, or Mark Levinson designs (costing between 5 - 100 time the cost of the Little Bear T8-1), but as a 'starter amp' it's fantastic value for money!
The obvious capacitors to replace are those in the signal path, the Elna 470uF electrolytics, and perhaps the input loading resistor be replaced with one of a better quality. The idea of improving the power supply is tempting, but since the existing one is not a smps, I doubt if much improvement can be made there - though I like the idea of a battery supply.
Just been looking at these 2 types of resistor http://www.hificollective.co.uk/components/holco_resistors.html 0.05% tolerance or http://www.hificollective.co.uk/components/takman_resistors_metal.html. I see 13 resistors and 8 caps, I'm setting myself a budget of £30. I think for <£50 we could have a head amp capable of beating devices >£200. I'm not decided on Caps yet, thats tomorrow homework. I still need to work out the various resistor values. It might also be worthwhile experimenting with the voltage. I started with 12V and could try 16V, it's worth a try for nothing.
Wakefield Turntables
10-11-2015, 21:33
Done a little measuring of the various resistors values. The left and right channels appear to be well matched but what's not so good is the 6.25-6.5% tolerance of said resistors, especially when you can buy much tighter tolerances of between 0.05 - 1.00% from HiFi collective. I've not bothered measuring the tolerance of the caps yet, that's another day. There appear to be 10 caps to replace, x2 Rubycon, x6 ELNA and x2 ThongX (??????)..... More tomorrow.
Resurrecting an old thread but did you manage to make the head amp sing and if so what did you end up doing?
Wakefield Turntables
15-11-2018, 17:24
Andy, no I didn't get much further. If memory serves a Lentek headamp came up for sale which had been hot-rodded, the money went on buying that rather than modding the "Little-Bear" headamp. I think I ended up selling the Little bear headamp, but I may revisit for a bit of fun at some point in the future. I still think the best way forward would be a cheap Linear PSU from China available for £30-40 delivered, and then replacement resistors and caps to better tolerance.
Andy, no I didn't get much further. If memory serves a Lentek headamp came up for sale which had been hot-rodded, the money went on buying that rather than modding the "Little-Bear" headamp. I think I ended up selling the Little bear headamp, but I may revisit for a bit of fun at some point in the future. I still think the best way forward would be a cheap Linear PSU from China available for £30-40 delivered, and then replacement resistors and caps to better tolerance.
I still have one for sale if you are interested Andrew.
https://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?51729-Little-Bear-T8-1-MC-step-up-preamplifier&highlight=Bear+T8-1+sale
Thanks Andrew for the info.
Cheers Barry - don't need one really and wasn't going to buy one but picking up a very old CD player at the weekend and I know he was selling one also - was planning on asking if he would chuck it in the deal........
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