On 6DJ8/6922/6N1P vs 5670/2C51/6N3P/396A vs 6SN7/5692/VT-251 tube families for phono preamp design, and how to deliberately raise prices (Pleeeeeze notice 12AX7 family is absent - except for comment below):
So here we go - elimination. Unless you have a nostalgia for noise, distortion, and a desire for old bad analog, we can throw out the 12Ax7 family. There – wasn't that easy. Much as I love the 6SN7 family for it's linearity, I have to let it go for phono because of its noise. Nowhere near as bad as the stuck toilet noise of 12AX7 family stuff, but over the limit nonetheless. So that leaves us with the 6DJ8 and 5670 families. Way back in 1976, when the world was listening to 12AX7s, I stuck 6DJ8s in the first audio preamp - way less noise and distortion. Now, almost 40 years later, there are new ones being built from increasingly tired tooling in limited quantities at higher and higher prices. Most of the old stock is selling at sky high prices. It turns out that the 5670 family is every bit as good as the 6DJ8 family. Funny thing is that no big audio maker has ever used them. They have a completely different pin-out, and there are a lot of them out there for cheap. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
So if I use these tubes, I can save a phuc-ton of $$$ and pass it on. I said the 6DJ8 and 5670 families are equivalent – on average, the same. Rollers looking for the cloacal gush sprayed glass version of 6N3P of the scrotal gettered 2C51 will be relieved. This results in a huge price savings when I design with this family, making a price difference on our site of low hundreds of bucks.
My designs are also minimal. Few parts lets me get better ones equals better sound. I can then spend something more on regulation. More better sound for less. Oh, and if I am going to roll the dice on the success of this product I build a thousand and production engineer it. None of this hand made bullschiit for a lot more money and no difference in sound. Add the same functional Schiit packaging and we end up with a several hundred, not several thousand buck phono preamp. No jewelry, I am afraid. We could spend on the jewelry, but it would be to our taste. We suck at jewelry.
You want jewelry, hide our phono preamp which doesn't exist behind something else which doesn't either. After all, no knobs or switches on the thing. Better yet, if you want to spend $8K, get one of our non exixtent several hundred buck phono preamps, a bomb-ass turntable and cartridge, and the $8K leftovers on jewelry for your wife or SO. Happy, happy, happy.
A happy wife is a happy life.
My best design think.
