Wondered what’s inside a £25K phono stage?

[Tasebass]

 

[Mrkropotkin]

Love this guy.... I always enjoy the opening sequence to his videos. I know nothing about electronics but that black box looked awful. I would have liked to have seen inside the LPS as well.    

[DSharp]

I like watching this guy too. I've been impressed when he goes to his mechanical workshop and fabricates parts that you can't buy anymore.

[jeromelang]

I am considering between this phonostage as alternative against the all metallic chassis Pass Labs XP27

Edited November 14, 2024 by jeromelang

[audiofeline]

The repairman is quite a giggler. 

[SONDEKNZ]

What a great watch!
Not the tidiest artisan I've ever encountered, but he really knows his stuff.
Here's hoping he starts to do a bit more of the audiofool stuff...  

 

[SONDEKNZ]

4 hours ago, jeromelang said:

I am considering between this phonostage as alternative against the all metallic chassis Pass Labs XP27

 

I cannot comment on the design or sound quality of the phono units you are comparing, but Pass Labs build quality is in an entirely different (improved) universe to what we saw in this video.

IMHO, one should expect SOTA build quality for even £5,000 - let alone £25,000!

Edited November 14, 2024 by SONDEKNZ

[cafe67]

 

[aussievintage]

 

Sorry but I have to say it.     I am dismayed at that phono preamp's construction quality.  Looks like something  built by a hobbiest in many ways.   Not liking the design in many ways either, especially requiring hand picked high tolerance components (as in the way they keep the paralleled opamps all balanced) that will drift with age for sure.

 

... and they paid 25,000 pounds for it???  They were robbed.

[cafe67]

On 14/11/2024 at 8:01 PM, audiofeline said:

The repairman is quite a giggler. 

Pretty comprehensive repair , I was impressed by how much effort he went to, love to see the final repair bill 

Edited November 16, 2024 by cafe67

[Addicted to music]

14 hours ago, aussievintage said:

 

Sorry but I have to say it.     I am dismayed at that phono preamp's construction quality.  Looks like something  built by a hobbiest in many ways.   Not liking the design in many ways either, especially requiring hand picked high tolerance components (as in the way they keep the paralleled opamps all balanced) that will drift with age for sure.

 

... and they paid 25,000 pounds for it???  They were robbed.

plastic spacers and soldered wiring are a dead give away.   Phono stages should be housed in a metal container that’s grounded.   
Also you don’t need all that equipment to locate a short,   A simple MM with a continuity test function would locate that tantalum in minutes.   I’ve never used a fancy power supply to locate a short.  A difference between a field tech and one that works of a bench full of test gear. 

[aussievintage]

12 minutes ago, Addicted to music said:

plastic spacers and soldered wiring are a dead give away.

 

and crudely trimmed/fitted heat sink insulation,  and odd pieces of circuit board as shielding.

[SONDEKNZ]

I think it is fair to say that this TOM EVANS design intentionally rejects ferrous metals as much as possible, hence the nylon stand-offs and the resin enclosure - à la NVA and DNM. Brass stand-offs may have added too much weight for the lightweight enclosure.

Nothing wrong with that non-ferrous approach IMHO - in fact I do it on all the gear I work with, with every part strictly subjected to the magnet test.

 

Further, Evans has obviously provided plenty of shielding via the unpopulated, but grounded, copper PCB boards everywhere - which is smart.

So the design may well be superb. It could sound a treat and probably does!

It's just the prototype build revealed here, that utterly disappoints.

Oh well... At least there's no breadboards!  
 

[aussievintage]

27 minutes ago, SONDEKNZ said:

It's just the prototype build revealed here, that utterly disappoints.

 

I must have missed that this was a prototype.

 

28 minutes ago, SONDEKNZ said:

Oh well... At least there's no breadboards! 

 

True

[SONDEKNZ]

2 hours ago, aussievintage said:

I must have missed that this was a prototype.

 

Sorry I was not clear... I don't think this is a prototype at all. It just looks that way.

Sadly, this is the finished flagship product. 

Edited November 16, 2024 by SONDEKNZ

[sir sanders zingmore]

 

It seems to me that if you choose to hand build and hand match components in what seems to be complex design, it takes a lot of work. Maybe not GBP25k worth, but does he actually criticise the design at all (I didn't watch the entire video)

[Willco]

What a hoot Tasebass!--I watched enthralled with this tech's calmness and dedication to basically a nightmare box of tricks

 

Good as it may be --but I've not heard any great reports about the T E products--in fact some not so, from those that sent him funds--I'd not buy one.

 

Yes the quality of his approach and way in which he knew there was away to rectify--made me even more sad as here in Qld we  lost our only true Hi-End Technician last year -a superb gentleman and pleasure to deal with --Andy McLaren. I seriously doubt there would be no more than a handful of Techs still current in Oz with his capabilities--mores the worry .

 

Kudos to that Video Chap --long may he reign!

Willco

 

[sir sanders zingmore]

21 minutes ago, sir sanders zingmore said:

(I didn't watch the entire video)

did he take the opportunity to test the objectively testable claims about signal distortion and dynamic range?

[Willco]

Zinga--I just was glued to the Vid like a village idiot --it was fun to see--

 

The Answer to your Q's 1,2,3,

 No, no and no.

he just went about rectifying the problem he was told no one else can repair --ha!

It's a fun Vid --you should watch it all--I like the Thermal gun he has --I'd like one of those--ha!

 

Willco

Edited November 16, 2024 by Willco

[aussievintage]

2 hours ago, sir sanders zingmore said:

It seems to me that if you choose to hand build and hand match components in what seems to be complex design, it takes a lot of work. Maybe not GBP25k worth, but does he actually criticise the design at all (I didn't watch the entire video)

 

However, even if he didn't get into it, it's not that great a design anyway, partly BECAUSE he has to hand match components that will drift with age anyway.  It truly isn't necessary.  A bit of a brute force approach actually.

[Addicted to music]

On 16/11/2024 at 5:46 PM, aussievintage said:

 

However, even if he didn't get into it, it's not that great a design anyway, partly BECAUSE he has to hand match components that will drift with age anyway.  It truly isn't necessary.  A bit of a brute force approach actually.

 

And who uses tantalum capacitors?    Most intelligent designers stay away from them for this very reason:  when they fail they become a short,  shorts will stressed out other components that could lead to overheating and worst case fire.  There are too many of them in this product.  

[SONDEKNZ]

Well, I understand that tanties have a particular sound that some audio designers prefer.

 

AUDIO NOTE and NAIM still use them extensively....

Not a defence, as I'm not a NAIM fanboy - and have heard insufficient AN gear to form any sort of general opinion.

Edited November 17, 2024 by SONDEKNZ

[SonicArt]

loved the vid, don't often make it through the whole thing on utube...

 

I swear he does voice overs for Thomas the tank engine!!

[POV]

It's astonishing to see such amateurish design and build quality in a unit priced at 25,000 GBP. The high-end hi-fi market is really perplexing to me. If my company released a product of this poor quality for $1,000, we would become the laughingstock of the industry and our reputation would be ruined. It's baffling why such standards are still accepted.

[aussievintage]

2 minutes ago, POV said:

It's astonishing to see such amateurish design and build quality in a unit priced at 25,000 GBP. The high-end hi-fi market is really perplexing to me. If my company released a product of this poor quality for $1,000, we would become the laughingstock of the industry and our reputation would be ruined. It's baffling why such standards are still accepted.

 

This comes about, I believe, because the hifi market abounds with people who do not trust the people with the real knowledge, and operate using a built up mythology passed around by word of mouth (and the internet).

 

Yes, it really is  amateurish.  I held back in my first post