Author: Ale Moglia
"A mistake is always forgivable, rarely excusable and always unacceptable. " (Robert Fripp)
LCR Phono: design notes (Part II)
Introduction
This is a continuation of my previous blog post. I will try to share my experience through the design process of this RIAA stage through these individual posts with an attempt to spark some interest in others and in return to get some valuable input from the experience and knowledge of others. Hope this works!
First stage
Here is the initial design version for analysis. I’m working through this step by step and refining the circuit in every iteration. The initial circuit is very simple. The first stage is key. We want to achieve as much amplification as possible from this stage before we hit the LCR network. The choice of the 6S17K-V valve may appear as a surprise to the ones not familiarised with this valve. Here are some notes from Wavebourn around this valve:
LCR Phono: design notes (Part I)
Introduction
A phono stage is probably one of the most challenging circuits to build in audio. Clearly not for beginners, many make the mistake in adventuring in building one. There are several designs which are simple, albeit many are poor ones. In addition to the challenges related to high-gain and very low noise design, audio enthusiasts really overlook the fact that you need to be able to measure and adjust the RIAA curve for a successful phono stage build. This means that you need an IRIAA signal source and also an accurate LCR bridge to adjust the network. I personally built a great IRIAA box and procured several LCR meters including this one as part of my learning journey of phono stages.
RIAA Preamp Power Supply
Introduction
I ran my JFET folded-cascode RIAA preamp for more than a year with batteries. Charging the batteries has been painful enough for me to decide to look for alternative supplies
A DC supply for an MC stage is not an easy task to accomplish. My battery pack ran out to a point that frequent recharging periods became a real nuisance, so decided to build a DC supply.
Situbes digital panel meter review
I’m a heavy user of fixed-bias output stages. Yes, I do prefer them despite the additional complexity. However, I’m not looking to open a can of worms around this subject. On the contrary, I wanted to report a fantastic product developed by Situbes.
SiDPM Digital “Panel” Meter
Here is the brief description from the website. I suggest you take a look at the datasheet as well:
The SiTubes DPM is a digital “panel” meter packaged in a standard octal tube envelope.
It measures a DC input voltage from 0 to 2V full-scale. Several selectable legends (V, mA, A, etc.) can be selected by an external programming resistor. It is particularly useful to measure supply voltages (such as plate voltage) and tube bias levels (normally plate current) in tube amplifiers.
The DPM can be powered from an AC or DC voltage. The power input is isolated from the measurement input, so floating measurements can be made up to 1500V above or below the power input. This allows high-side current measurements – for example, sensing plate current directly at the tube plate – or the ability to be powered from a supply that is not referred to ground.
My review
Looking at their construction you will realise instantly the high-quality of this product. Impressive finish and presentation. The tube is made of glass and fits very tightly to the 8-pin plastic base.
I did a simple and basic test on my work bench to test this device and its accuracy. In 5 minutes I wired it on my curve tracer to access the pins easily without soldering a test rig. With a 1Ω 1% resistor I configured the device to current mode and placed my 5½ digit bench meter in series for reference. The refresh cycle is very good, more than what you’d need in normal operation. Accuracy with the reference resistor was great. It’s calibrated as provided by the seller and error was below 1mA up about 200mA which is the planned use case for me. The OLED display has the right brightness for day operation. It’s just great.
You can use them easily to measure anode/cathode current, grid bias or supply voltages in multiple configurations.
They are pricey, but worth every penny. A top quality product which I’m keen to use shortly in one of my next builds.
Jump!
Vinyl cartoon by Alex Gregory
Alex Gregory came up with this fantastic cartoon. It doesn’t represent may of us DIY’ers but surely does on some of the folks out there who burn crazy money on hi-fi 🙂
813 triode SE with 4P1L Pentode
A monster DHT amp
Lately I haven’t had any time for audio work unfortunately. Changing nappies to a 4 week old baby whilst working long hours is tough. I can get the odd 30 minute here and there and every time I try to get upstairs to the workshop something pops up. Never mind, hopefully things will get easier in the near future.
I’ve been asked about the 4P1L pentode driver. It’s been a long time since I did those tests and never got around to listen to the driver sound. Tests were promising but never managed to include this driver on my amp.
Driving transmitting valves is a challenging task. Especially if we want to take them to A2-land (unless they operate in A2 whilst in zero grid bias). Driving big transmitting valves like 211, 805, 845, 813 or GM-70 require a large swing of volts for the driver which should do this linearly. The load is quite demanding in particular when we approach the grid to 0V (or biased positively) and using a triode as driver also puts a daunting task to the previous stage due to the Miller effect. It’s not easy to find triodes that can swing 300Vpp with very low distortion.
6P15P triode strapped models
I’ve been playing lately with the 6P15P. Also I have developed several spice models of these Russian clones which I will be publishing shortly when I get the time to do the proper write up.
I use Dmitry’s Paint_kit tool a lot. It’s very good and accurate once you learn how to use it. It’s not easy to match triodes first time as many variables are in play. After working with Derk Reefman on the pentode models, I noticed a slight divergence on his triode models. Derk suggested that the best was to use the triode-strapped pentode for this. Here is a simple comparison between Dmitry’s model and Derk’s:
C3D02060F Spice Model
As the model for the C3D02060F SiC diode is not available, I decided to venture myself and attempt to build a decent model for Spice. I researched a bit around in the web and found this interesting article about creating your own Spice models for diodes.
Luckily I have the Locky curve tracer and can get the most out of tracing sand devices. I did a quick trace on one of the SiC diodes to capture a good sample set of Vf and If points.
How did I go about to develop the model? Quite simple. I started with ploting the ideal diode response with the Schokley current model. Then I played around with N and Is to fit the curve. Note that this is an iterative manual process, which takes a bit of time but can be done without much difficulty. Finally I created the model in Spice and adjusted Rs by testing manually a pair of Vf/If points. Not perfect, but good enough for what I need:
The graph above has the actual tracer plot (“I”), and both the ideal model (“Schokley model”) as well as the output of LTSpice simulation (“Spice”).
This is a great diode for cathode bias when using drivers which need +15mA at least. If you are interested in the model it can be downloaded from here: C3D02060F model. Hope you find this useful.