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Has Jasmine come out with a new phono stage?

I was looking on ebay to purchase the Jasmine LP2.0MkII phono preamp, when I noticed that, for $100 more, there is listed the Jasmine LP2.5DU phono preamp.

Both the ebay listings and the Jasmine website confirm that there is now the LP2.5DU phono stage, with double sets of input terminals (for 2 tonearms). I don't much care about the double-terminals feature, but what caught my eye is the statement "High-precision components, to more effectively reduced the distortion and background noise." It also says "LP2.5DU further upgaded the components based on LP2.0MKII, the result is the more quiet background than LP2.0MKII" The Jasmine website page has a drawing of an erse capacitor, so I suspect they've upgraded caps, perhaps along with some other components. I could find nothing in a Google search.

Does anyone have more info on this new model?
128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xsmilemakr
smilemakr's avatar
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smilemakr OP
4 posts
 
Here's the interaction I just had with the ebay vendor, which sheds a bit more light on the changes in the new Jasmine phono stage:

Dear szeastsun,

Compared to your LP2.0MkII model, what components have been upgraded in the LP2.5DU model? Aside from the option of plugging in two tonearms, what benefit will the new model provide compared to the LP2.0MkII?

- smilemakr

Dear smilemakr,

Major improvment:
1. Warmer and thicker mid-frequency
2. better S/N rate, mean more quiet backgroud
3. used better accuracy components

Best regards,

Michael

- szeastsun

Well, there you have it. Maybe I won't have to open up the new model and change the caps, as some owners of the LP2.0MkII have done, to get a similar improvement! I still didn't get any clearer understanding of exactly what changes were made to the MkII model.
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 
The primary reason for a new model is the new price. But
I must confess to be very curious about this 'ticker mid
frequency'.
redglobe
223 posts
 
The capacitors look to be a material upgrade from the LP2.0 which had Solen caps. Below is an excerpt from a website that carries the new Erse C-caps. So, it should have the benefits of the upgraded output caps.

Premium metalized film C-Cap. Due to customer demand ERSE set out in 2007 to develop a new higher quality capacitor than the PulseX. The result was our C CAP line of polypropylene capacitors. The key difference is a much higher quality European film which utilizes extremely pure polypropylene with a 99.99% pure aluminum conductor. No Zinc is used on the conductor layer, only high purity aluminum. Dual stage heat curing methods are used to minimize microphonics as much as possible. A proprietary mixture of materials are used to connect the conductors with three separate layers of spray. This unique method has allowed for extremely low ESR levels and overall improvement in musical tonality and performance. The lead is curled in a large diameter allowing for a large surface area to make a perfect connection to the conductors. The lead is hand soldered by skilled craftsman utilizing audio grade silver solder.
The C CAP has been reviewed by many high end audio engineers and their conclusion is that the C CAP offers higher great musical performance at a cost half as much as our competitors.
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