want to built tube mic preamp - suggestions?

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gusfinley

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I have had a hard time finding a good schematic to work from. I would definately want a schematic that was not set up as a straved current/plate circuit.

Anyone know any good source for these kinds of schematics?
 
My learning

I've had decent progress with OLD books about electronics. I have been reading one from about 1955 called 'The Basics of Electronics' and it has been very helpful.

I can bias & couple tube stages now... I'm starting the practical building stages now, and I'm wondering where the best suppliers for high wattage caps and resistors are...
 
right...

I'm looking for a set schematic, especially since I will need to provide phantom power to my condenser mics.
 
Another route might be a commercially-available hi fi tube preamp in kit form, so you'll have all the parts/instructions already, no need to fabricate a chassis (hassle!), no worry about earthing (notoriously difficult to get right and keep noise floor low) presuming it's a quiet design already.

A stereo line preamp with its two channels in series would typically give you 40db or so of gain - not a great deal but maybe usable, and could be increased with the addition of an input transformer (which would give you a better impedance match between mic and input), not to mention an iron mojo factor.

A phono preamp would have more gain, especially with the RIAA network removed (which you'll have to do anyway).

Phantom power would have to be supplied externally, but units for this purpose aren't expensive. Never built a phantom power supply myself, but I know high tolerance resistance matching is essential so a good meter would be required, plus the hassle of sqeezing it under the hood and possibly inducing noise if not implemented properly.

Sorry, long-winded post, but building from scratch with a schematic is a bit of a crap shoot at best, but it can be done. Nothing like the satisfaction of having built your own gear - 100% tube, hard-wired, just like the old school stuff.
 
I'm currently building one. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Preamp Schematic:
http://www.tubecad.com/october99/page15.html

Power Supply Schematic:
http://www.cgs.synth.net/tube/ps.html

I'm using the 12V version. Here's a list of modifications to the original design:

1. I had to modify the power supply to use a full wave bridge to provide both B+ and B- at 150VDC.
2. Because my main transformer is a stock 110V/12V with no center tap, I had to redo the 6V side. Instead of three caps and a diode, I'm using one 10000uF cap and a pair of 1A voltage regulators.
3. I'm adding a transformer on input and output just because I'm paranoid.
4. I'm wiring the 12V tubes for 6V filament operation by grounding the center tap and feeding 6V to each side.

The real PITA is that I'm using breadboard for everything and having to drill my own holes because they aren't anwhere near big enough for wires or tube socket contacts. I'm also running out of space in my enclosure for all this stuff.

Fun notes: both tubes in that schematic are dual-triode, so you only need two tubes per channel. Since I didn't know that when I bought them, I am now building a stereo tube preamp.... :D
 
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