henry4841 Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 Wayne Colburn of Pass Labs presented this project at this years Burning Amp Festival in California. https://burningampfestival.com/videos/ Worthy project for anyone seeking excellence in sound on a beer pocket book. Not a lot of electronic skill is needed to build a project like this mainly just stuffing circuit boards. Decent soldering skills and the ability to follow directions is all that is required. It will be a while before the kit is readily available but you may want to follow the thread at diyaudio.com and buy one when available. https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/pearl-3-burning-amp-2023.404054/ If you look at the price of a Pass Lab phono stage $12,075 for the XP-27 and $4,500 for the XP-17 you will understand the quality of sound you can expect from a phono stage designed by Wayne Colburn. I am almost certain the diy project will not sound exactly like the XP-27, I am sure there are some tricks left out, but if built correctly should be really close. The boards given out at the festival are being built mostly as the 2 chassis XP-27. Why not go for the best. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Nice looking project. Any update on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Warren Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 On 12/16/2023 at 9:45 AM, henry4841 said: If you look at the price of a Pass Lab phono stage $12,075 for the XP-27 and $4,500 for the XP-17 you will understand the quality of sound you can expect from a phono stage designed by Wayne Colburn. Texas Instruments published a 2-stage, phono preamplifier design based on the LM833. Flat RIAA response with noise floor lower than -100dBV. Can be fabricated for about 60 USD at the board level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry4841 Posted January 4 Author Share Posted January 4 10 hours ago, The Dude said: Nice looking project. Any update on this? The kit was offered in the diyaudio store but they sold out quickly. https://diyaudiostore.com/collections/kits/products/pearl-3-phono-preamplifier At the project thread at diyaudio they are saying more kits will be available soon. After a project like this appears at the Burning Amp Festival there are plenty that jump on the opportunity to build this kit. After a few months and the new wears off one should be able to buy the kit without a problem. Patience, I am sure it will be a worthy project for anyone desiring high end audio from one of the best in the industry. Wayne Colburn would not be working for Nelson unless he knows what he is doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry4841 Posted January 4 Author Share Posted January 4 1 hour ago, John Warren said: Texas Instruments published a 2-stage, phono preamplifier design based on the LM833. Flat RIAA response with noise floor lower than -100dBV. Can be fabricated for about 60 USD at the board level. I am sure it will sound as good as many of the retail offerings now available. I have quit chasing the rabbits tail myself. I am happy with my retail ifi Zen phono stage. I have built a few opamp phono stage preamps over the years and they all sound really good to me. The Wayne Colburn project is for those seeking the next level of perfection from one of the best audio designers in the industry. At my age I doubt that I would hear that much of a difference but there are those that can. It is hard for me to see anyone spending $12K for a phono preamp but there are people with the funds and desire to have the best. Nelson has said there is a large market for high end audio and he only desires to have 1 or 2% of the market and he will make a lot of money. The high end market is not the USA by the way, or so he says. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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