RCA BC-2B Preamp Kit??

http://hometown.aol.com/kevinc927/page1.html

Anyone tried this kit from K&K Audio ? Looks interesting.... and expensive of course.... :?

/Lindell

no pictures?

seems odd

That's the old website. Here's the new one:

http://kandkaudio.com/proaudio.html

There is indeed a picture of the kit there. :wink:

I believe Marik built one. He's out of town right now, but maybe when he gets around to checking in he'll post about it.

He didn't actually. He built a mic pre out of my phono pre circuit, but it's way different than a BC-2B. Adrianh has built one, though, and plans to build more for his studio. The adapted phono pre circuit sounds really nice, but the process of adding phantom, gain switching, etc., hasn't been completed. Marik did his own thing with a set of phono PC boards. Holler at me more and I will hurry more! :wink:

That's right, it was the phono pre circuit, and yes, it did turn out quite nice!

And now that you mention it, I do remember that it was Adrian who built the BC-2B. Haven't heard from him in a while. Wonder how his new studio is coming along?

Kevin,
Could you fill us in on the sound of the preamp? have you compared it to any other preamp?
(your DA converter with tube output looks awesome to).... damn, where´s all my $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ :shock:

That RCA kit looks muy cool....except that is doesn't have very much gain at all. You definitely need some pretty hot mics with it. I guess it's not a good choice for ribbons!

Shane

Doesn't the BC-2B preamp have 40dB gain from the 150-ohm tap to the output? That's plenty of gain for most dynamics and condensers. And don't forget, if the input transformer has a 50-ohm tap for ribbon mics, that will net more stepup from the input transformer. I'm not familiar with the clone kit; I'm basing these observations on the original.

Describing the sound of the preamp is not so easy! I don't own any commercial piece except for an Ampex MX-10 and the BC-2B is way more resolving than an MX-10. I would say that it certainly sounds like a tube device and nicely allows you to focus on the primary music source with just enough detail, but no edginess. By contrast, the adapted phono pre circuit has a very similar tone, but better attack definition and captures all of the details (without edginess), whether you want them or not. It also has nearly 70dB of gain, so the limitation of the BC-2B with regard to low output mics is not an issue.

The BC-2B replica kit also has an alternative input transformer selection that will allow 6 dB more gain.