Bottlehead phono preamp project during Coronavirus boredom?
I recently received word from the school district that I work for, that I would be home providing online education to my students. So I plan to have plenty of "home time" in my future and was thinking of building a kit. My question to all Audiogoners is:
Is building a new Bottlehead Reduction 1.1 phono preamp a worthwhile project? What is the quality of sound? Is it only for MM cartridges or will low output MC cartridges work?
Thanks Gentlemen!
Is building a new Bottlehead Reduction 1.1 phono preamp a worthwhile project? What is the quality of sound? Is it only for MM cartridges or will low output MC cartridges work?
Thanks Gentlemen!
6 responses Add your response
Didn't really see any answers that I really felt like I could trust on that forum. My real intent was to figure out whether I could build a Bottlehead preamp that would sound good enough to use. I have recently acquired a Pass x-25, Supratek pre, Mytek Brooklyn, Musical Surroundings Nova Phonomena pre, Marantz tt-15. I was curious whether it (Bottlehead) would hold its own in that combination of equipment. I probably should have elaborated more. However, I have really read a lot of dumb stuff on here and didn't think this was out of line or belonged somewhere else. Certainly someone on this forum has built a Bottlehead phono preamp and can speak to sound quality, comparitively speaking. |
If I were inspired, I would build one. Looks straight forward. The website indicates 50 dbs. Good for HOMC. You can either integrate or have a separate step up. https://bottlehead.com/product/eros-2-phono-preamplifier-kit/ This looks interesting as well. Tube rectified. Either one likely sounds great. http://www.tubes4hifi.com/PH16.htm |
I built a Bottlehead Seduction phono amp in 2008 for $279. I added their $75 upgrade kit and later purchased upgraded tubes. I thoroughly enjoyed the build and learned a bit about electronics. Glad I did it, especially at such a low cost. I am still using it in a third system located in my record storage room. Bottleheads current offerings should be better. Go for it. |