"Say Hello! to my new little friend"

Really? It's that simple? Don't need to install jumpers or anything?
Good golly I hate those LED's

An easier way to dispense with the annoying LED is to buy the Yuan Jing 3 tube version.

I see one of the 3 tube versions in my future for sure, though it may have to wait a bit: I may have been talked into spending quite a bit more than I was planning on OPT's for the Get Set Go amp I'm building....

Poultrygeist said:

Why would you want to? It's hardly visible on mine. Not at all like those retina piercing blue lights we so often see with Chinese gear.

One thing I've learned with this preamp is how badly it needs a large volume knob. The small knob that comes attached is way too difficult to adjust accurately. Since I couldn't remove it for fear I'd break the control I fashioned a large knob that fits over it. Not ideal.

Has anyone been able to remove the stock knob?

Rat Shack has some very nice silver knobs that would work great if the stock knob can be removed.

Click to expand...

To remove the knob just pull! It really is as simple as that (well it was on mine anyway)

Joseph

Hi,
I am located in Australia (240v mains). I would like to see if i can obtain a reputable transformer locally. Can anyone confirm exactly the power requirements, volts/amps etc the 3 tube YJ board requires?
From ebay i have:
High Voltage: AC150V-0-AC150V (current 10MA)
filament voltage: AC6.3V (4A above)

I read that 6.3 is the optimum voltage for the tubes? However the high voltage can be 150-200?
Thoughts?

Clarification

Poultrygeist said:

That would make this simple plug and play preamp much more complex.

If it were me I'd take the easy route with the addition of a Niles AXP-1 input selector within the same enclosure. Even with the Niles it would still be smaller than most preamps.

Click to expand...

Can someone please clarify or better yet, explain these comments. My plan with this preamp, actually the Little Bear 3 tube version, was to add a row of RCA inputs along with a rotary switch, basically turn it into a full on preamp. I have done a lot of modding but I am still learning. Am I missing something here that makes this complicated? My ultimate plan is to combine this preamp with a Les Modded Yaquin ms-22(f&$?ing fantastic by the way) along with the passive gain of a SUT(for my low output moving coils), and combine it all into one unit. Right now I have my record player plugged into a SUT, plugged into a phono preamp, plugged into a preamp, and quite honestly I am tired of all the clutter. Any explanation in this matter would be much appreciated.

nbriles2000 said:

Just bought the 3 tube version from pokerelectronic last night! It should apparently be here right before christmas. That gives me just enough time to plan out an enclosure with multiple inputs. I wanna do it all within the same box with a rotary selector switch.
Has anybody done anything like this or have any ideas pertaining to this subject that hasn't already been posted in this thread? I'd love some examples/ food for thought! Pics are the best!

Click to expand...

This will give more background to my previous post.

indosmokejon said:

Can someone please clarify or better yet, explain these comments. My plan with this preamp, actually the Little Bear 3 tube version, was to add a row of RCA inputs along with a rotary switch, basically turn it into a full on preamp. I have done a lot of modding but I am still learning. Am I missing something here that makes this complicated? My ultimate plan is to combine this preamp with a Les Modded Yaquin ms-22(f&$?ing fantastic by the way) along with the passive gain of a SUT(for my low output moving coils), and combine it all into one unit. Right now I have my record player plugged into a SUT, plugged into a phono preamp, plugged into a preamp, and quite honestly I am tired of all the clutter. Any explanation in this matter would be much appreciated.

Click to expand...

The small black box to the right of the 3 tube preamp is a Niles input switch box. It allows the preamp to switch between four sources.

Did I wore my transformer wrong?

So my transformer is stamped 110v

It has the following wires attached

Two sets of red and black wires
And a set of blue and a set of white wires

I have a 110 3 prong plug.

I separated ever wire into a separate terminal block so they didn't touch.

I wires the two red together and attached them to the whit wire and wires the two black wires together and wires that to the black wore on the plug leaving the green ground unattached.

I plugged it in and I started to hear a sizzle and quickly removed the plug. It smelled like burning electronics.

Theoretically this setup should have done nothing as the transformer shouldn't have drawn any current.

When I measure the resistance between a single set of red/black wires it's 6ohm same with the other single set. But when I tie the Reds together and the blacks together it reads 2 ohm

Any help here?

so is it the consensus of this thread that the 2 tube guanzo is in fact a preamp and not just a buffer?

Here is a picture of how my Guanzo is wired for 110 volts, if that's how your unit is wired then something could
be defective and you should contact the person who sold it to you and explain what happened and see if they will help.

Good Luck.

BrokenHill said:

Here is a picture of how my Guanzo is wired for 110 volts, if that's how your unit is wired then something could
be defective and you should contact the person who sold it to you and explain what happened and see if they will help.

Good Luck.

Click to expand...

Thanks,

That is how mine is wired. I thought there might be a coating on some of the transformer that was "burning off" but it shouldn't be hearing up since it isn't drawing current. Maybe I'll plug it in and see if it stabilizes. If not I'll contact the seller and explain my case.

Using it as a DAC output stage

I was thinking of this or the 3 tube version as an output stage for a DSD DAC which is passively filtered.
XMOS (or Amanero) usB receiver card with clock(s)> I2S DSD output > first order filter> transformer (serves as brick wall filter at 40khz) > tube output stage.

The transformer can be used as either 1:1, 6db step up or step down - whichever ends up making the volume control redundant so I can remove it. If the little pre does actually do 9+ db of gain then I can use the stepdown from about 0.5V I2S down about 6db and then up 9+ db for a 3db net gain and a sufficient near 1V output. With the 1:1 transformer, the output would be a "normal" 1.5V and with a step up it would be a rather high output near 3V.

Is the preamp really doing 9 db gain?

Any thoughts about this implementation?

After finally figuring out what to do with mine and how to add multiple inputs, I just went and broke mine when removing the stock volume pot >.<

RIP Guanzo

Please excuse if I've already posted this but here's the wiring key for my 3 tube 6n3 ( 4 blue and 1 black wire from transformer - bird's eye view )

Blue #1 to #5 port ( AC6.3 )
Blue #2 to #4 port ( AC6.3 )
Blue #3 to #3 port ( AC160v )
Black #4 to #2 GND port
Blue #5 to #1 port ( AC160v )

my super Guanzo modded

Hey y'all,

Here is a pic of my now finished modded Guanzo buffer which I use between my preamp to amp. The volume potentiometer has been taken off and contacts bridged/soldered with Mundorf silver solder; and all connections resoldered with Mundorf. The rca plugs were taken out and silver plated balanced mic cable soldered directly to the Guanzo, in/out and just plugged into pre/amp.

All are earthed to 'source' ie: shield, so source shield soldered to preamp rca & floating sheild to Guanzo input connection hard wired; and then shield output soldered to source guanzo and other end of shield floating to rca plugs output to amp. Entire case is shielded to earth via powerpoint plug and the wires to switch on front panel are shielded to earth via the part of the mic cable I used for the connection from back plug to switch; and fits just nicely (but tightly) in this Hammond case.

I put some ventilation holes in the transformer cover; with aluminium mesh silicone glued inside them to prevent bugs from going in there.

If you are focused and its done in well thought out steps it will work...when fitting everything into this compact model Hammond case...

Works beautifully and the sonics are super, so much more improved and the background is silent. Nice, neat, compact and effective ...

Here's my take on this preamp, paired with the Sure TPA3116 amp.

crossrh said:

Here's my take on this preamp, paired with the Sure TPA3116 amp.

Click to expand...

Very nice.

Like the personalized logo.

Tweaking my Little Bear P-3 setup

Hi folks,
I read oh so many posts about TPA3116 and 6N3 preamps, that now thanks to You all I ordered one Little Bear P-3 and I'm still looking to get Sure TPA3116 for my Raspberry Pi + DAC / Rune Audio setup.
I will put everything into one enclosure, as well as one input selector, a better pot, and so on

I have a question to ask.
I need a tone control for this setup (bass/middle/treble maybe with loudness) on a separate board, so I can bypass it if i need to.
Can You recommend me something for that matter...?

Also I'll get JAN GE 5670 tubes with my Little Bear P-3 and maybe I will replace them with 6N3P-EV tubes latter on.
P-3 comes with red Audiophiler MKP pro audio coupling capacitors and I'm looking for a cheap and good quality replacement for them on eBay. Any advice?
Is there anything else to tweak on P-3, PSU caps maybe?

Thanks again for all the knowledge I acquired reading all that stuff...

I posted here my listening comparaison:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=8512725&postcount=278