Yesterday I started with the build of a new 01a preamp Gen2. I made some component changes during the build process thanks to Andy Evans who reminded me of the Russian FT-2 teflon capacitors. I had a pair left of 220nF FT-3 caps in stock!
The circuit is the same as the original preamp but with some component changes:
- C1 is 100nF/630V ClarityCap polypropylene
- MOSFET is DN2540 and jFET is BF862
- Rmu is 330Ω Kiwame
- Filament resistors are NOS Russian wirewound 51Ω/20W. I use a pair of them in parallel. Bias is about 5V.
- Filament bias using Rod Coleman v7 regulators. Set starved to 200mA
- The output caps are Russian NOS teflon FT-3 220nF / 600V. You can use a pair of FT-2 100nF alternatively.
The bias point is changed slightly up to 5V so the anode voltage is increased to 115V to get the 3mA of anode current. This time I’m using the BF862 which can be soldered in the gyrator PCB instead of the 2SK170. I preferred the sound and higher bandwidth as well as lower output impedance. The BF862 is a real winner as lower FET.
Here is a view of the preamp inside:
The heavy FT-3 caps are mounted on top of the gyrator PCB boards. The top anodised plate is 4mm thick and anodised. The teflon UX-4 sockets from Luciano Bandozzi (Jakeband) are mounted with silent blocks and Rod’s regulators are bolted to the top plate. you don’t have to as they dissipate very little power in this case.
How does it sound? Well, just played it for a couple of hours and I’m amazed with the subtle differences that the Russian wirewound resistors and output cap + BF862 can bring to this preamp. We did some listening tests recently with Andy Evans comparing filament resistors and these ones were real winners for both of us.
I hope it improves with time after breaks in a bit more.
Very nice build Ale, I like the look of those resistors!
Those FT-3’s will take a long time to break in.
Hi Ale,
Just wondering…what you recommend for volume control for this build? At input or output, and resistive attenuator or Slagle AVC?
Best, Robert Chambers
Hi Robert,
I use the Slagle’s AVC at the input, but that is my personal preference. Having the volume control at the output of the preamp has its limitations and you need to ensure it can handle the signal level without introducing distortion. I wrote about this a bit on my ETF.18 lecture, which you can download.
Cheers
Ale