Pearl2 Phono

[svaze]

Completed assembling Pearl2 phono clone a few days back. Here are some pics:


(One PCB per channel. Neutrik RCA, Belden 2 core shielded wire for input/output)






(22-0-22 RCore with unregulated power supply PCB housed in a separate box)

The phono circuit is designed by Wayne Colburn. Details about the design are available at passdiy.com.

The phono and power supply PCBs are designed by omishra :clapping:. Parts procured from element14, ebay and local electronic shops.

Listening impressions: (Technics SLD 303/Shure M55E and Jico Stylus/DL103)
The vocals are a bit forward and it brings out a lot of details. It's a tad bit bright with 68pf capacitance. Will be trying out higher value capacitors. The phono has a lot of gain when using MM cart, way more than the CNC. The high gain makes it a bit difficult to compare the Pearl2 and CNC head to head, but hope to do that someday. With the DL-103 though I have to turn the volume beyond 12 oclock position to get decent sound level.
More impressions to follow as and when I get some free time to listen to more music.

A bit more on DL-103
=============================
I had a listening session with FM omishra and sann on omishra's Technics 1200 TT. Omishra uses the Pass B1 pre with Pass F5 power amp. The carts tried out were Shure M97XE, Shure M55E with Jico stylus and Denon DL-103. M55E sounded way too bright on omishra's TT. M97XE was like an allrounder but had lesser details compared to M55E+Jico. The star of the evening though was the Denon DL-103. I had bought this cart last December but could never listen to it because the hyphotoad MC phono I borrowed from omishra had some issue with the right channel. When we tried it with the Pearl2 at omishra's place, we were left spellbound. It not only brought out the details, but also presented them with a lot of grace. I am used to hearing some sibilance from the M55E, but there was not even a hint of it in the DL103. All three of us unanimously agreed that we haven't heard anything of this sort before. The DL103 is in a different league altogether. Thanks Sachu888 for recommending this cart to me.

I still need to get the placement of the two cabs right. There is a slight hiss if I place the power supply on top of the phono. No such issues if I swap their positions.

~Swapnil

 

[jls001]

Congrats on the Pearl 2 build.

The 103 is a wonderful cartridge given that it costs so less (relatively). For those who are used to the sound of the Shure M97xE or even the Shure V15, it is a worthy upgrade, PROVIDED one has the arm that can work with it, and an MC phono stage to go with it.

PS: I'm kicking off my build of the latest Hypnotoad which is for low output MCs, based on the low noise AD797 opamp. I'm hoping that my LOMCs will take an upward leap with this new phono stage.

PS2: @omishra- any plans for a Pearl 2 GB?

 

[omishra]

Congrats! Yes DL-103 is winner among our carts. Additionally you forgot to mention, we compared DL-110 too. That was also lesser in presentation compared to DL-103.

any plans for a Pearl 2 GB?

For own economical purpose I made 8 sets of PCB, 4 got names assigned - me , svaze, sann and bhaskar. Remaining are available FCFS. I will provide links to parts, but GB is difficult for me as office work is keeping busy till midnight.

 

[sachu888]

Swapnil nice build,any plans for Nashik visit Pune guys are having fun.

PS: I can arrange parts for this GB.

Regards,
Sachin

 

[jetlag]

@Omishra
1 set
@Omishra
Pl. reserve one for me. PM the cost will deposit the amt.
@Sachin
I am in for the GB.

Peace
Jetlag

 

[omishra]

@Omishra
1 set
@Omishra
Pl. reserve one for me. PM the cost will deposit the amt.

Sure, no problem.

Swapnil nice build,any plans for Nashik visit Pune guys are having fun.

PS: I can arrange parts for this GB.

Regards,
Sachin

That's good, sachin.

 

[greenhorn]

just curious, where did you source the chassis/knobs ?

 

[jls001]

One for me too. Thanks.

@Sachin: please organise parts GB since you know the best parts and souces.

 

[svaze]

just curious, where did you source the chassis/knobs ?

Chassis, switch, binding post from a local electronic store. Neutrik RCAs from Kiran Sales, Mumbai.

 

[greenhorn]

The blank front looks rather boring. I heard water slide decal sheets can be used to print/transfer print onto metal

 

[sachu888]

The blank front looks rather boring. I heard water slide decal sheets can be used to print/transfer print onto metal

What about this cab,still not finished http://www.hifivision.com/diy/21036-pass-b1-140.html

Regards,
Sachin

 

[greenhorn]

What about this cab,still not finished http://www.hifivision.com/diy/21036-pass-b1-140.html

Regards,
Sachin

if you are asking me if they will work on wood, they should
if you are asking me about if the wood one looks boring... I prefer some sort of marking on equipment

 

[sann]

Congrats Swapnil, for another clean and nice build.

I had a listening session with FM omishra and sann on omishra's Technics 1200 TT.

I was lucky to be a part of that session, it was one of those rare days, when we say that we heard day and night difference between products which are widely respected.

With Pearl 2 in the chain we tried following carts:

1. M97xE - Vocals forward sounding, little rounded high freq, warm tone.
2. M55E + Jico Stylus - Though it sounded a bit bright, it definitely was digging out lot more details than M97xE.

The session was going on as usual, we had a nice phono based on an excellent design, is fully discrete, without any opamps giving you piece of mind that there is no devil inside the box coloring things for you, we had great pre and power amps doing their duty, a very good pair of bookshelf throwing out the sound, we were spinning records, using all the audiophile vocab to comment on the sound.

But we were not listening to the music, we were listening to the audio, and what made us realize that - it was the Denon DL-103 cart.

3. DL-103 - The only comment we made apart from smiling throughout the session was - 'this is musical'

4. DL-110 - This sits between M55E-Jico and DL-103, close to the former than latter.

DL-103 defines musicality without compromising on details, with all other carts, it sounded like the pieces of music are thrown out of speakers, and those pieces are not forming the music which can be enjoyed hours together.

I would like to point out that the other equipments in Omishra's audio chain are neutral, which helped us hearing minute differences.

What I lost: Piece of mind, now I want DL-103 / 103R, and Pearl2 (which anyway I had to build, but now I am in a hurry)
Thanks, sann'

 

[sachu888]

if you are asking me if they will work on wood, they should
if you are asking me about if the wood one looks boring... I prefer some sort of marking on equipment

Thank you,
That was just a sample Faceplate Raghunath made at home.Final cab will be Black in colour with Wooden /Aluminium front Panel engraved.

Regards,
Sachin

 

[Hiten]

Excellent and nice DIY work Swapnil. :clapping:

I may be wrong but the insulated/shielded signal cables may not be twisted inside so see if it can be replaced/twisted. Liked the separate power supply cabinet idea :thumbsup:. Also see if you can avoid signal wires running parallel to supply wires.
Regards.

 

[captrajesh]

Great to hear about your experiences. I'm in for one PCB.

@Sachin, I'm for component GB too.

 

[anilva]

Om,

Sent a pm. I am interested in a stereo PCB set.

Thanks.

 

[omishra]

Thanks!
Remaining 4 sets too got names assigned, anilva, captrajesh, jetlag, jls001.

I will sent part numbers of dale resistors and pp caps to sachin.

Our last purchase of electronics parts was approx 9500/- which excluded pcb, transformer chassis, connectors and wires. It included resistors, caps including riaa & power caps, transistors from rs & e14 and JFets from alweit. But you may get it in little less as some parts are bought for trial r&D are already discarded. So final list will cost less. I will update later here.

PS: Please note these PCBs are on sale at passdiy.com and we need to protect designers interest. These are minimum leftover from last batch for DIY with no commercial interest.

 

[omishra]

My build completed:

Pearl 2 boxed -

Dual unregulated 33V Power Supply -

PS connected with umbilical 3 core shielded cord with chassis ground (mains earth ground) connected through shield of the cord. 3 cores carry +v, 0, and -ve of PS. PS Cord length is 3 Ft. Somehow I misplaced Ferrite bid to be placed on mains power cord.

Waiting for face plates.

Impression - Very similar to FM svaze's build - silent, clean and rich. Gain is very much, output is near to CDP level.

Two things amazed me.
1. How there are lesser clicks and pops compared to another phono? This is simple class A, there is no filter apart from passive RIAA network. I think somehow other phono circuits make it to resonate and amplify where these are here to the actual quantity.
2. Subsonic roll-off. Some records used to move speaker cone with 1-2 time /sec. That was inaudible subsonic waves. I was forced to use damping brush of my Shure M97xe cart. Now they are reduced and I can play without damper brush of my MM phono cart.

 

[svaze]

:clapping: As usual a clean and nice build Om.

Are those shielded wires you are using for the power supply in the phono box?