Bigbottle Phonostage - MK3 Design, Pictures and More!

Ever bought something that turned out to be far higher quality than youd expected?


Just happened to me.

Bought these for a phonostage I am building for BigBird (AoS member)

I am so impressed by them that I have ordered a set for myself.

Purely on looks alone. I'm so superficial lol

For RCA input sockets, I use the Yarbo gold plated ones.

Brass or copper connectors?

These Elecaudio ones measured a nice and low 2.3pf

Are they the ones on Audiophonics, brass and 4.90 euros?

Almost all RCA sockets measure the same Oli and honestly, that level of capacitance make no difference at all to the signal.  I look more for the quality of the plating for electrical connection and solidity of the solder connection points.   By the same token, almost every RCA connector I've tested comes in (unsurprisingly as they all have the same conductor spacing) at 5pF give or take a maximum of 2pF. 

Yes, LoL, I did mean ECC83!

Also, the difference in conductivity between brass, nickle plating, gold plated brass or pure copper is the sum of sweet nothing over such a tiny length. The earthing contact has a magnitude of order larger contact area in any case so choices of the connector are just what people like to see in terms of quality rather than having much, if any and certainly no significant impact on signal.  This may be an area of contention to some but you can't argue with the outcome when you compare signal traces on the scope using any if these as a comparison.  The choice of RCA connector for the cable I do however think makes a much bigger difference.

Interesting that about the Capacitance of RCA plugs..seeing as I measured a 1m pair of Spotfire with AECO plugs at 127.3pf, yet a 1m pair with KLE absolute harmony came in at 168.9pf

If all plugs are 5pf max, explain that lol

you need new batteries oli lol.
out of interest paul,whats the specs on a 1 meter pair of your venus cables?

Ha, ye fair enough, you didnt, however, I am still stuck for an explanation as to why there was such a big difference

karma67

Mains powered matey

Out of interest, what prices are people paying for the Telefunken ECC83?
I think I am going to try a ‘60s Reflektor valve as well. Much cheaper, but maybe not quite as good.

There are some Télés as well.

Be careful with Ebay advertised Tele's...there's plenty of "aged" fakes on the market and plenty being sold as NOS which aren't.   Bearing in that there are so few calibrated pro valve testers around these days it's hard to know so you pays your money and makes your choice. To those who have loads of valves in their systems, it's almost worth looking for one of the newer valve testers available from around £500. It's lots of money I know but some people pay more for a mains lead  

My favourites are still Mullard short plates when you can get them and, rather surprisingly, some of the new ruggedised Harma STR ECC83/12ax7's sold by Watford Valves.  Phillips Miniwatts are also good.  CV4004's of any description I no longer think are worth the money as the prices have risen so much in recent years.....£150 for a nos CV4004?  I don't think so, thanks all the same.

Linky to Harma valve:  www.watfordvalves.com/product_detail.asp?id=1306

£150 for a CV4004, jesus I have 3 sitting in my EAR 834 clone, that means the valves are worth more than the Phonostage

Here's an example of a USED one...see what I mean about frankly quite ridiculous pricing?

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mullard-CV4004-ECC83-Box-Plates-Valve-Tube-Tested-Strong-V29/184254662443?hash=item2ae66f072b:g:kAYAAOSwCzJelyHn

and a NOS one:  www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CV4004-M8137-12AX7-ECC83-Mullard-Mitchum-82-22-B-New-Old-Stock-Valve-Tube-F19/372720266905?hash=item56c7dbee99:g:s10AAOSwo~dcZWDI
I think I'll stick with my NOS Mullard short plate (I pad £32 for that one).  I have a new JJ to try as well.

I think that £24 for a pair where the circuit might be (?) more in control of the sonics sounds like a much better deal Jamie (if that of course might be the case). NOS is likely to last as long as any new valve. I use NOS Mullards in my TRON phonostage but they were a lot cheaper than those advertised ones.

It's more sensible though, surely, to try some of the less expensive new manufacture ones than take as read that "ALL NOS valves MUST sound better" as that has not been my experience in the past? I, for one, will be buying a small handful of new make ones to try, including the Harma STRs, JJs and perhaps and EH one. I can then directly compare with a Phillips Miniwatt and a NOS Mullard. If there isn't a lot of difference then it suggests that the circuit design is more responsible for the influence on sonics, or it may be that one specific valve has lower microphinics so is a better bet, or it may indeed be that either of the NOS ones sound better. I won't know until I try but it's never wise to generalise on valves or jump straight to conclusions about NOS....especially when so may advertised as such simply are not...or at least if tested may leave the buyer red faced!

Point is, no-one (and this tends to be the greatest assumption made on all hifi forums) can surmise that just because something is NOS then it will be better in a piece of kit that may or may not respond differently to it. Alan would be the best person to ask about the sonics of the circuit design and if it is worth experimenting, then surely you owe it to your wallet and your ears to try newer ones too?

Looking at the Radford STA amps for a moment. As they use a lot of GNF, then valve reliability and matching is more important than the make, just as with the coupling caps in that circuit, changing one component on the output stage is unlikely to change the sonics due to the circuit design which is accurate and low distortion to begin with and less likely to be influenced by a change of component due to the feedback loop.