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I completed my new phono stage kit...

I got sidetracked for a week with a very bad cold and sore throat, but I finally finished assembling my Vacuum Tube Audio PH16 phono stage kit on Saturday. I checked and double checked everything throughout the assembly process and it worked perfectly the first time. Wow! What a relief!

I've played only a few records so far but it sounds very good. It really sounds good! I'm completely satisfied.

I'm using it with a Bob's Devices CineMag 1131 SUT and an Audio Technica ART7 ultra low-output moving coil in my Technics SL-1200 Mk2 turntable. The SUT is set for at turns-ratio of 1:40 and the rated output of the cartridge is 0.12-mV with 12-ohm internal coil resistance. The PH16 phono stage has dip-switch settings for various load configurations and I decided to use a phono input load that would exactly match the cartridge's impedance of 12-ohms when reflected to the SUT primary. For this I placed a 33k-ohm resistor in parallel with the normal 47k-ohm phono input resistor yielding about 19.4k-ohms. It sounds very good this way but I will experiment with higher resistance loads in the future. Anyway, I'm enjoying how it sounds.

Below are some pictures of the construction process. I think the key to doing a good job on electronic kits is having the best soldering iron you can find. I just bought a new Weller with controlled tip temperature and a variety of different size tips. I used some old solder I bought about 30 years ago called Wonder Solder. It seems to flow perfectly with a tip temperature of 700-degrees F. All solder joints are very shiny.



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Topic - I completed my new phono stage kit... - John Elison 17:58:56 07/04/16 (76)

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