Posted by KevinC (M) on July 30, 2004 at 13:58:50

It's finally ready! Here's a summary of the kit.

Every audio product can be improved. Since the SE Phono Preamp was developed I have auditioned modifications, some of which actually improved the sound. However, none of these changes really offered the sonic value that the price of the modifications would have suggested. These modifications do. They consist of parts manufacturer changes and parts value changes. The Cardas capacitors supplied with this kit are the most reasonably priced, transparent capacitors that I have listened through. They are excellent.

The value of the interstage coupling cap has been reduced substantially. This helps mitigate the effects of poor cartridge/tonearm matching that can result in large subsonic resonances. Even in the absence of resonances, the bass is rendered more harmonically correct with this change. Transparency and naturalness can be improved even more by reducing local feedback in the input stage. The replacement of a resistor there with a lower value and a different type (Audio Note Tantalum Nitride) results in more detail with "easier musical flow".

The local guys who have already installed these mods have discovered new musical details on their LPs and just spent more time listening to music as a result.

SE Phono Preamplifier Upgrade Kit $85

Kevin Carter
K&K Audio
www.kandkaudio.com