For me the best phono stages I have heard have been LCR designs
Inductor Cap Resistor form the RIAA curve instead of the usual RC networks that most phono preamps employ. Why do LCR's sound better?
Not exactly sure, some say you get a cap out of the way in the RIAA, some the fact that you get a big resistor out of the way. It has a lot to do with impedance I imagine.But not being an engineer, and not claiming to be< I can say as a person with ears that LCRs do sound wonderful.
Very open and textured, filled with subtle nuances and air, they tend to sound very refined and natural, and ultimately musical.
I have heard a few and they always sounded really good to great.
So I bought this:
http://www.diyhifisupply.com/opcart/index.php?route=product/product&path=178_193&product_id=61 (http://www.diyhifisupply.com/opcart/index.php?route=product/product&path=178_193&product_id=61)
Not sure how it will sound but I am hoping for some hint of the greatness I heard in the past.
Hopefully I will have a get together in the spring.
I have a lot of new stuff, all burning in now. Nothing exotic, just the approach.
Mike
That's cool! I never heard of such a thing...
Romy and the gang say :thumb:
http://www.goodsoundclub.com/Forums/ShowPost.aspx?PageIndex=1&postID=4732#4732 (http://www.goodsoundclub.com/Forums/ShowPost.aspx?PageIndex=1&postID=4732#4732)
I like the 10k input, 600R output.
The manual has some interesting info:
http://www.diyhifisupply.com/opcart/index.php?route=news/article&ncat=60&news_id=31 (http://www.diyhifisupply.com/opcart/index.php?route=news/article&ncat=60&news_id=31)
And a blurb specific to the RIAA filter:
"Appendix B : Silk LCR EQ Connections and Performance
Silk Transformers of Thailand have been manufacturing a wide range of conventional and uncommon magnetic components for many years.
The trend to use vacuum tube phono stage circuits has been back to the high-end scene for several years. Most designs based high impedance, high loss R/C networks in either feedback loop or passive, to provide RIAA compensation.
Even though this scheme has been implemented to most of available phono stage circuits, due to ease of design, implementation and low cost, for many audiophiles, those phono stages still do not provide enough sense of reality.
Recently the trend of alternative design called LCR RIAA phono stage circuit is now on rising and gain popularity among discerned audiophiles. This is only natural, as the pre-emhasis RIAA networks in many Cutting Lathes for cutting LP's also used LCR Circuits to shape the original equalization.
The LCR RIAA comprises of inductors, resistors and capacitors to form a low impedance constant impedance T-network that functions to compensate for RIAA playback standard. This low impedance characteristic yields exceptional signal transfer that usually lost from high impedance R/C RIAA network.
The Silk LCR RIAA is built based on the best Superpermalloy core inductor and performs within +/- 0.5dB from RIAA standard (from 20Hz-20KHz) and on average less than +0.15dB from the RIAA standard. The SILK LCR RIAA requires either 600 ohm source impedance or 600 Ohm load impedance."
Yes. LCR has many advantages over traditional RC type phono stages. Electrically and sonically.
The Silk RIAA modules cost $500 alone retail so it becomes expensive to build. The same can be had for like $50 in a typical RC network. So most manufacturers do not go the LCR route.
Another variation is an LR inductor resistor. This is supposed to be even better but requires a lot of tweaking to get the RIAA correct.
I never heard an LR but there has been talk of several people attempting to build one. And then their is the option for silver wound inductors!$!
LCR has been around for a while and may make a comeback sort of like tubes made a comeback after all those years of solid state.
The vinyl resurgence is still going strong, how much exploration and development for phono stages will depend on how long the resurgence lasts.
The longer it lasts the more new stuff will come to market, and we are always looking for an edge, so I believe you will see LCR becoming more popular and accesible financially.
This kit costs 1200 as a partial built kit, most LCR designs are in the tens of thousands of dollars, probably because they sound so good, because it does not cost that much more to build than a traditional phono stage. Yes it is more but not tens of thousands more, maybe a few hundred more.
But we know how the market works, and that being said the market will try to find new customers at different price levels to maintain demand and I believe we wil see more of these at better prices.
Mike,
Did you order with the Cinemags with it or are you perhaps using some of Dave Slagle's transformers?
Tom
What is the circuit for the LCR filter? Are there caps inside the Silk module?
edit: Nevermind, I found one:
(http://www.vt52.com/diy/myprojects/amps/lcr/tango_modified.gif)
with some decription about LCR from http://www.vt52.com/diy/myprojects/amps/lcr/lcr.htm (http://www.vt52.com/diy/myprojects/amps/lcr/lcr.htm)
Silk LCR homepage: http://www.sacthailand.com/ (http://www.sacthailand.com/)
With my current phono section Dave's stepups didn't work out too well,so I use something else that synergizes with my lyra titan.
I own cinemags red and blue and find them excellent.
with the new lcr i imagine I will have to see what the Lyra likes.
Best stepups I have heard were the ypsilon but expensive
Nice find Mike. 39db of gain without step up. Will you still need a step up ? Interesting concept.
charles
My Phono stage is based on a LCR design.