Amp/CDP Builders + Modifiers: LM833 opamp results

[aphex944]

Believe it or not, we've come across a jewel.

My brother has a Marantz CD-67SE, and up till now has had a Burr Brown opamp in place of the JRC(yuck). It has always had a "glarey" sound to it, very sharp. We received some free samples from AD and a few more from BB, tested each one. The AD chips sounded great, except they were still sharp. Vocals seemed a little too polished, but at the least the upper mids weren't boosted like with the BBs.

We looked around, and the only other opamp we had around was a National LM833. Checked out the schematic for it, very simple design. These are generic, cheap-o opamps. We plugged it in, and the results are pretty unbelievable. The sound took on a new level of detail, and no frequency range is in bias. Everything is balanced just right, the sound has taken on a full, fat, and lively sound. Amazing!

I highly recommend everyone try out this opamp, I'm curious to see how it reacts in different applications. Besides, they're dirt cheap!

 

[sidewinder]

May be worth to bump this thread.

My portable amp uses 2 LM833 (dual audio opa) and 2 LM675 (power opa). It takes 2 9V 500 mA batteries, and they last about 10-11 hours. Don't really know what to say about the soundquality, cause it's the only (portable) recently build amp I own. But it has like a holographic sound to it, lots of air/dynamics and drives my KSC75 to insanity. The amp in parts cost me about $120 with home made charger but without batteries (so add an extra $30).

 

[00940]

Honnestly, the LM833 sounds nothing special to me. Those opamps were used a lot in old cheap philips cdp. They're just a bit better than the TL072 imo.