Saturday, December 7, 2013

Inexpensive MM\MC phono preamp MKII



For a 1000th the price of some SS phono preamps on the market these days I'm very happy with the second Bruce (of Oddwatt's fame) deisgn named "Mimic" This can be built in an afternoon and even with batteries cost about $40. Mine runs on 3 X 9V batteries wich should give 50 to 100 hours play with no change. The sound stage is detailed and expansive and instruments have there own place. Over-all tone is flat and natural.

Some better caps were used in this build over the earlier one. WBT silver solder, a dampened enclosure (bitumanised with Al foil)  and wire wrap wire hookup used throughout. A simple off-the-shelf enclosure keeps this preamp cheap. But sound is rich.