Hi
Don Sachs here. I normally stay out of threads, but I just want to clear up the misconception stated above. Yes, my preamp starts with the bare sp14 board. That is it. The circuit is a very good SRPP with an Akido buffer and the first time I heard it I knew it was very special sounding. Over the past 4 or 5 years I have developed my version, and I have gotten Roy to make major modifications to the board that have improved it considerably. This has resulted in a much better preamp kit for all of the kit builders. That said, my preamp is not just an sp14 board in a pretty case. I run the tubes at a different operating point, I have modified the regulated filament supplies to lower noise, I have modified the preamp to use a much better rectifier tube, I choose every single part for a certain sound based on my experience restoring 500+ pieces of vintage tube gear, and building 200+ pieces of custom tube gear of my own. I have shortened the signal path considerably. I use some very special signal path wire and output caps I love. I have experimented extensively to hear which parts have the most sonic effect. There are a number of other things I have done that I won’t go into.
So, if you build one of Roy’s SP14 kits, you will have probably the best preamp you have ever heard for peanuts, and yes, you will have the joy of building it yourself. Please go for it if you are so inclined as they are wonderful! That said, mine is 20-25% better because of the above. I am sure many of the other preamps mentioned in this thread are wonderful as well. There are many paths to Audio Nirvana....
cheers,
Don
Don Sachs here. I normally stay out of threads, but I just want to clear up the misconception stated above. Yes, my preamp starts with the bare sp14 board. That is it. The circuit is a very good SRPP with an Akido buffer and the first time I heard it I knew it was very special sounding. Over the past 4 or 5 years I have developed my version, and I have gotten Roy to make major modifications to the board that have improved it considerably. This has resulted in a much better preamp kit for all of the kit builders. That said, my preamp is not just an sp14 board in a pretty case. I run the tubes at a different operating point, I have modified the regulated filament supplies to lower noise, I have modified the preamp to use a much better rectifier tube, I choose every single part for a certain sound based on my experience restoring 500+ pieces of vintage tube gear, and building 200+ pieces of custom tube gear of my own. I have shortened the signal path considerably. I use some very special signal path wire and output caps I love. I have experimented extensively to hear which parts have the most sonic effect. There are a number of other things I have done that I won’t go into.
So, if you build one of Roy’s SP14 kits, you will have probably the best preamp you have ever heard for peanuts, and yes, you will have the joy of building it yourself. Please go for it if you are so inclined as they are wonderful! That said, mine is 20-25% better because of the above. I am sure many of the other preamps mentioned in this thread are wonderful as well. There are many paths to Audio Nirvana....
cheers,
Don