Channel D Lino C vs. Sutherland Little Loco

I have become very interested in the Lino C phono pre after reading through this thread. I see from the Lino website that they do not incorporate DC blocking caps in their designs. Is that standard practice for phono pre's not to use blocking caps or could that be an area for potential problems?

No it’s not “standard”. If there’s DC offset, it is generally blocked with a capacitor, but it’s possible to design especially a solid state preamp so there is no dc offset. Another method is to use a servo to cancel DC at the output. It’s always considered good practice to eliminate DC at the output one way or another.

@lewm 

I appreciate the response.

On the Channel D website they have photos of the Seta L transimpedance/voltage mode phono preamp circuit boards and a list of the shown circuits, and one of the circuits listed is a DC servo circuit, which I am assuming is the circuit that cancels the DC offset. I am also assuming that same or similar circuit is used in their Lino C line of phono preamps.

Do you mind me asking what you use for a phono pre? 

I forgot to mention that a transformer in lieu of a capacitor can also be used to block DC at the output or at the input of an amplifier.

i have two complete systems. In one I alternate between an Atmasphere MP1 and an Essential 3160 Phonolinepreamp. In that system I also use a Silvaweld 550 phono stage, for high output cartridges. The MP1 and 3160 are balanced designs. I owned a BMC MCCI “trans impedance” phono but I sold it because it was not quite as good sounding as any of the other three phono sections, in the cases of MP1 and 3160 or the Silvaweld phono stage. I’ve modified the circuits of both the MP1 and Silvaweld. In the 3160 I’ve only upgraded the attenuators. My second system is single-ended, and I drive it with a Manley Steelhead. I upgraded the output capacitors in the Steelhead.