tk-don wrote:
Hi all,
I am strongly considering building the boozhoundlabs phono pre-amplifier and eventually some of the mods discussed in this thread. However, what I'm wondering is - what class of "boutique" phono pre-amps does this compare to? I have been thinking in the ranges of the Lehmann Black Cube SE, which does seem to get excellent reviews, but would this DIY pre-amp be in the same range regarding sound quality, SNR, crosstalk, THD and such? I read all pages of the threads, and remember one user said it rivals more expensive pre-amps costing hundreds of dollars (or something along those lines). But has anyone performed any kind of objective measurement of the performance?
Reading phono pre-amps reviews and comparisons is a nightmare. There are never one clear winner that wins every prize. In fact, the Black Cube also are rated badly by other reviewers touting some Graham Slee products higher, and the same is the case for a dozen of other products. Boutique phono pre-amps quickly become costly, so this is qhy in consider DIY.
After building a boozhoud labs knock-off (copied the scheamatic with my own components and wiiring method) and then building a genuine BHLs kit, I can say, you wont be disappointed. They do sound very good. All of mine have run on batteries with no hum or noise at all. A friend did prefer his Cambridge 640P over the BHL. I have recently built Bruce's "Mimic" which may even perform better then BHL. For an MC stage and using the BHL, I would recomends the Le Pacific. Again I run mine on batteries.