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Cartridge, Preamp advice: Bottlehead Seduction?

Hi,

I've been having a ball upgrading my mid-1980's system for the first time in over 20 years!

I now have a pair of Totem Arro's, a Unison Unico hybrid, integrated amp that was a "steal" here on Audiogon, a Music Hall CD 25.2 CD player for digital, and my dear, old SOTA Sapphire will soon be back from SOTA with a new bearing, belt and suspension springs. I'll soon be back in analogue business! :-)

The Sapphire has a Linn Basik tonearm on it, along with a very ancient Audioquest cartridge that will obviously need to be replaced. The tonearm will have to stay for the foreseeable future... by the time I buy a phono stage and interconnects and a new cartridge, my budget will be thoroughly maxed out for awhile.

It turns out that you can buy the phono card for the Unico and install it retroactively, but a Unison dealer told me that it's only "okay," on the level of, say, a Pro-Ject Phono Box (SS), and that for the $250 they were asking I could do better.

I've been thinking seriously of buying and building a Bottlehead Seduction phono stage and pairing it with one of the better MM cartridges out there (maybe Shure or Ortofon) and I was wondering what people more knowledgeable then I (that would be all of you) think of that, along with how it might mesh with the rest of my system.

P.S. — I understand that the Seduction would limit me to MM cartridges, since it doesn't really have the gain for MC.
rebbi
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
If you're the least bit handy I think you'll pick up the soldering pretty quick. Here are four suggestions:

1) Get a GOOD soldering station. One with temp control. You can find Wellers on Ebay for pretty good prices. Expect to pay $150 or so. It is worth it. And, get a few sizes of tips for it. From very small to about 3/16.

2) Use good quality solder. I like the Cardas, which I bought from Michael Percy several years ago and I'm still using it.

3) Get a good 5x diopter so you can see what you're doing.

4) Get an anti-static mat.

Other than that, have fun!
mofimadness's avatar
mofimadness
5,064 posts
 
Rebbi,

It's a pretty basic and straightforward build. These do come up from time to time on Audiogon and would already be built. You can always mod them after the fact. The Bottlehead website has alot of info.
mingles
799 posts
 
Dan_ed, these are excellent suggestions for someone planning to build several DIY projects, but IMO, it's overkill for a single project. I completely agree that a good soldering iron *and good solder* makes the difference between struggling and having fun. However, I don't think a one-time builder needs a $150 Weller. I've been happy with a $20 Weller I bought at the local hardware store. Just my two cents.
rebbi OP
1,326 posts
 
Okay, this will fully reveal my ignorance: what precisely IS a soldering "station?"
rebbi OP
1,326 posts
 
Well,anyway, I took the plunge and ordered the Seduction kit today... spoke to Doc, who was very nice and very enthusiastic. I'll keep you posted! :-)
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