11 July 2011

Boozhound Labs JFET RIAA Phono Preamp Kit Review

After building a few diy versions of the Boozhound Labs / Le Pacific JFET RIAA phono preamps,  Mark decided to try the actual $79US Boozhound Laboratories (BHL) JFET RIAA phono preamplifier kit. In Mark's diy versions of the phono preamp he used polypropylene capacitors.

DIY JFET Phono Preamp on Stripboard
On the other hand, the BHL phono preamp kit comes with fabulous looking vintage new old stock (NOS) Russian military paper-in-oil (PIO) capacitors. PIO capacitors made in this fashion are quite respected and sought after for their sonic qualities.  The BHL phono preamp kit comes with a PCB, the circuit parts and detailed building instructions. The kit builder will need to supply a 24VDC power supply (linear, regulated or battery will work), a chassis to house the preamp and various miscellaneous hardware items like connectors and switches.

Finished JFET Phono Preamplifier Kit PCB with PIO Capacitors
For his kit build, Mark used AA cell batteries for a noise free power supply and he housed the preamplifier circuit and battery power supply in the 19-inch 1U chassis shown below.

Inside View - JFET Phono Preamp
Mark reports that this is his best phono preamplifier build so far.  For full details about this project, see Mark's review of the Boozhound Laboratories JFET RIAA phono preamplifier kit.

More Phono Projects

2 comments:

  1. Looks like a great kit. I agree with using battery power for a phono pre. Nice and quiet. I will give this a try.
    Thanks

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  2. Great blog, i certainly learnt something new

    ReplyDelete