- Item: La Boca
- Type: Mongrel Dog Audio
- Posted: 11 August 2012
- Builder: Retro
- Country: Australia
- Comments: 3
La Boca - Phono preamp
Over the last few years or so I have built about a dozen phono preamps. These are both SS and tube based with even a few hybrids. Most I have sold and a few have been commissioned from scratch.
One build was a "Chocolate Box" Booze Hound Labs (BHL) two stage jFet phono preamp with RIAA compensation. Since then build I was asked to build and review a genuine BHL kit and this has remained my main preamp for some time. To this I added a Jean Hiraga bipolar MC stage when I bought my Ortofon Rondo Blue MC cartridge.
An audio club member asked me to make a MC preamp for him. I took the Chocolate Box BHL cct. and added a Le Pacific MC stage and enclosed it in a 19" 1U rack mount. I called it La Boca. Two banks of batteries provide the power with a battery test point at the front of the unit.
I did not expect this build to out-perform my Hiraga/BHL build but it does. Comments have been made in the past about the musical flow of the Le Pacific MC stage (single jFet affair). Those comments were echoed by a different group who spent a Mahler vinyl afternoon with me and my system.
Switching between the two MC phono preamps revealed La Boca's razor sharp sound stage and greater musical flow. For a hobbled together, very inexpensive MC phono stage this baby punches way above it's weight.
One build was a "Chocolate Box" Booze Hound Labs (BHL) two stage jFet phono preamp with RIAA compensation. Since then build I was asked to build and review a genuine BHL kit and this has remained my main preamp for some time. To this I added a Jean Hiraga bipolar MC stage when I bought my Ortofon Rondo Blue MC cartridge.
An audio club member asked me to make a MC preamp for him. I took the Chocolate Box BHL cct. and added a Le Pacific MC stage and enclosed it in a 19" 1U rack mount. I called it La Boca. Two banks of batteries provide the power with a battery test point at the front of the unit.
I did not expect this build to out-perform my Hiraga/BHL build but it does. Comments have been made in the past about the musical flow of the Le Pacific MC stage (single jFet affair). Those comments were echoed by a different group who spent a Mahler vinyl afternoon with me and my system.
Switching between the two MC phono preamps revealed La Boca's razor sharp sound stage and greater musical flow. For a hobbled together, very inexpensive MC phono stage this baby punches way above it's weight.
Comments
- julienlebas
- 28 August 2012 at 03:27AM
- Nice work! Just one question: I am looking into building the BHL Audio JFET Phono Preamplifier kit and powering it with batteries is very attractive. However I was wondering if there is any way to integrate a way to recharge the batteries when not in use. Any idea? or do you think that this is necessary from your experience?
- Retro
- 4 September 2012 at 01:38AM
- To recharge batteries I would only use a smart charging system which will would engage when the amp is off. But because super cheapo batteries last over three months with lots of use - I wouldn't bother.
- julienlebas
- 6 September 2012 at 03:24AM
- This makes sense. Thank you. I just received the BHL kit. Cant wait to listen to it.