Line level preamp from 2003.
Edited 2011.

This page include:-
Fig 1,2 & 3, pictures of line level preamp supplied in 2003.
Fig 4 is the schematic for the input and output stages.
Full explanations are included.
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Fig 1


This preamp was custom built in about 2003 for a customer who wanted to try
something with tubes to see if it made his music any better. He was delighted.
Pardon the mug of coffee and apple but it was morning tea time when I took the
photo and you can seen the compact size.
It features remote control, 12AU7 twin triodes for the gain and buffer stages,
on/off switch, gain control and source select switch.
The remote control has only two buttons, one for volume up, one for volume down.

The infrared sender electronics and battery is within the small wood block.
The IR reciever in the amp drives an Alps pot for volume control.

I made the hand crafted anodized aluminium cases for the body and top mounted
power transformer case. In 2003 there was a local man who had a small business
anodizing specialist parts for many people including Halcro amplifiers.
He has since closed down and such other local crafts people are hard to locate,
so my preamps made after 2008 have used larger steel chassis with matt black
powder coating finish.
The the use of anodized aluminium is not an easy process because the slightest
blemish in the metal may easily be seen, and it is difficult to ensure that one-off
custom made amps are as perfect as customers expect.

Fig 2

There are 5 inputs, plus a record output for L&R channels at the rear.
The cables used to no 5 input above are some hand made cables using
two 4.5mm wide copper foils between clear adhesive tape.
I don't believe they improved the warm, detailed and accurate sound
from this preamp, but any customer is free to try any cable they wish.
Fig 3

It is fairly crammed within this amp but a compact circuit style does
not spoil the sound.
Critical signal cabling is short and input and output cabling is well shielded.
Fig 4


Here is one channel of the line level amp. No balance control was included
because the customer agreed there was no need for one.
Gain is set for less than 2 times because the only source the owner has
was CD, or other fairly high input sources.
There are Constant Current Sources anode or cathode loads to convey Idc
to 12AU7 so that Ia = about 4.0mAdc for idle current for each 1/2 of the 12AU7.

The CCS use means the dc carrying load element to the tube acts as a resistance
with R > 2Mohms, so that there is no ac loading by a resistor from B+ to anode
or from B- to cathode which would have values of about 30k, and with other
AC coupled loads such as the Volume pot of 50k after V1 anode, plus NFB
resistance of 120k, the total load = 16k.

The result of using the CCS dc supply transistors as passive high ac impedance
dc elements much reduces the distortion by approximately -10dB, ie, the CCS
use reduces THD by a factor = 1/3, a welcome amount which probably
translates to a much larger subjectively percieved betterment in sonic performance.

The THD is somewhat determined by the level of signal before the volume pot.
Let us assume the CD maximum level is 1.4Vrms, then maximum V1 anode
signal would be aproximately 16Vrms, and THD = 2% if there was zero shunt
NFB, ie, R3 and R8 were omitted.
The use of the volume control at the 12 o'clock position would give V0 1.6V, and
the output cathode follower would slightly reduce this to 1.4Vrms, and thus
create far to much volume level in most power amps which need only 1Vrms
to cause clipping.

Therefore the use of a shunt NFB network using R3 and R8 is needed to reduce
overall gain at maximum volume setting = 1.7 times. With maximum CD input
= 1.4Vrms, Output = 1.7 x 1.4 Vrms = 2.4Vrms, and THD < 0.1%, because
the NFB is reducing the THD by factor = 1/4, and much less signal exists at the
V1 anode.

The average level from a CD player may be only 0.2Vrms, and the preamp
THD is approximately proportional to output voltage, so it will be found that
THD under normal operating conditions = < 0.03%, and quite negligible.

The maximum average signal levels ever wanted by most people is 0.25Vrms
and the low gain of the preamp provides this easily.
This suits people with normal 50 watt power amps which require a maximum
1Vrms of input for the maximum 50 watts at clipping.

The sound from this type of circuit has the natural warmth of the music, excellent
detail and dynamics, a sense of smoothness and spaciousness and precise imaging.
This type of preamp is the very essense of what captures the soul of the music and
warms hearts of anyone listening.  It will seem to smooth out the harshness that
may otherwise accompany the efforts of some of the more raucous singers like
Celine Dion; it will make an old italian violin or cello have you in tears, and
piano will never sound so good, massed strings will sizzle with warmth without
the searing harshness of solid state. Brass will have sparkle without edge.

During the years I've made such preamps, people have found that replacing their
solid state preamp with a tube pre such as the one above has done wonders
for the sound even if they have a solid state power amp.
One fellow had a listen to this type of preamp and asked if I'd accept a
well known brand of solid state preamp as a trade in for a preamp like the 2003
model and I could only politely refuse him because how would I ever sell an SS
preamp after anyone with good ears had a listen to a well done tube preamp?

After many years the 2003 preamp above is still working perfectly and the owner
has tried a few different 12AU7 from the suppliers around the world since different
brands can have a slightly different timbral quality, or voice.
The measurements would all be nearly equal. Why some tubes sound different has
never been fully explained.
One may find many fine wines from different wineries to be all very drinkable,
and enjoyable, and nobody worries whether they have the same chemical makeup.
So it is with many tubes from different makers. I supplied the best 4 selected 12AU7
twin triodes from my collection of about 40 12AU7 at the time so my customer had
a pair of spares.
I rigourously test tubes for low noise and low microphony and try where possible to
carefully match them for brand and gain. Usually with 12AU7 the gain is within a
dB between samples and there is no need for a balance control.
The 12AU7 is an old fashioned choice of tube because these days the premier makers
like to use 6922 / 6DJ8 / ECC88 or the russian 6H30. I usually prefer 12AU7, or 6CG7,
or 6SN7 and I don't think more modern type numbers such as 6922 can sing as well
as the best of the NOS 12AU7 where they test well for noise and microphony.
Some more recently made Russian tubes and selected NOS do not have low noise
and low microphony. Usually I find the tubes that pass the quality test for low noise
invariably sound glorious, probably because the tube is as perfect a sample of
manufacturing as possible, with tight fitting electrodes and a hard vacuum and a
well made cathode.
These aspects of a tube cannot be judged by the appearance or just by testing
with a tube tester. The electronic testing I perform reveals the real condition of
a tube beyond the cabability of a "tube tester" which only tells anyone if the
tube works or not, ie, if it has the rated correct emission.

The other fabulous triodes such as the 6SN7 and 6CG7 have slightly more gain
than the 12AU7 but they will work almost identically as the 12AU7. But
the 12AU7 needs a 9 pin mini socket, and uses 12.6V at 0.15A across pins 4 to 5
for heating but 6CG7 needs 6.3V at 0.6V. 6SN7 needs an octal base, so such tubes
are not interchangeable. 12AT7 or 12AX7 may be used instead of 12AU7, with
alterations to cathode R and CCS current setting R. All have been tried, and the
12AU7 or 6CG7 are probably best. Usually, if 6CG7 is used, then 6922/6DJ8
may be used without any circuit alteration.

I don't make a lot of preamps, and I doubt I will attempt to make a similar small
sized preamp such as the one pictured which delighted the owner who didn't
actually know exactly what he would be getting when he ordered it.
But when he did get it the appearance matched his expectations and it blended in
well with the rest of his gear. I now prefer to make a line stage preamp slightly larger.

In October 2011, I have begun to make a line level preamp using sub-miniature
triodes which are single unit triodes only 35mm long, dia = 8mm, so size is quite
a lot smaller than a normal 9 pin mini tube.
These tubes do not use a plug in socket and have leads which solder directly
to a circuit board, thus allowing considerable saving in circuit size. Such tubes
may be clamped to a chassis with copper or alumimium U straps to aid cooling.
The sub-mini tubes were originally produced to suit wearable hearing aids used
with battery supplies but later were used wherever compact size was required
especially in military gear for aircraft where reliability was imperative.
Their production has long ceased, but stocks remain. Their production
ceased because of the change to solid state in about 1960 for 99% of most
applications. I'm planning to use a similar circuit for the next preamp
as in the 2003 model, but instead of using MJE340 for CCS, it is just as easy
and effective to use a sub mini triode. So a total of 8 individual tubes will be
used and they will fit easily to a chassis about 350mm long x 150 deep, x 55mm high
with a PSU box encasing PT and diodes at one end and heatsink and triodes
at the other, and with plenty of room for the remote volume control using a
stepper motor to drive a DACT switched attenuator.

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