What a stunning pre-amp!!! Using it to drive my DIY Wolverine amp and what a combination, warmth, clarity, tight bass….absolutely amazing!!!
2 sets were completely populated and tested. Listened for weeks. Fully balanced. Sound great! And they are being housed in a better box.
very good pcb with all parts you need. peparing and soldering easy going because of the gold surfaces.
then starting it with one power adapter per channel. ( +-18v / 140 mA , two pair of LM337/ BD140 ). the two led awaked.
Then making the right adjustments. connecting the preamp into the complete audio system. now the best moment for diyaudio
builders - the first music ! Thank you Mr. Wayne Colburn for this Burning Amp.......regards and have always a nice time for you and the team of diyaudio !
After reading several reviews, I took a bit of a chance and went with Waynes linestage as the core for my "Copper Watt" HPA project. All I can say is it has greatly exceeded all of my expectations. The sound is accurate and clean with no audible noise floor even with my most revealing headphones. I did some lengthy A/B testing with an extremely clean THX 888 HPA and I cannot hear any audible difference between the two. Very impressive for a DIY unit.
Everything about the build went smoothly. All of the supplied parts are of the highest quality especially for the price. Also, the fact that this can be used in many custom applications makes it an even bigger win. Highly recommended!
A beautiful sounding machine. Paired with an Aleph J, the sound is detailed, precise, delicate, not bright or harsh. A straightforward build, apart from some SMD shenanigans (gremlins were blamed, but it was all me). Easily sorted with the excellent guidance from forum members. Thanks to all.
There are so many amps and preamps to try, but this one has a origin story and credibility well deserved. It exceeded my expectations which were high! It also got me to finally learn to work with surface mount parts, a good thing 😁
If you are all about learning to build, build with this one and enjoy both the process and the result.
Thank you for sending, the preamp works very well, I'm still working on the power supply, I have a modified salas + 18-18V. Sounds better than DCB1. Powered by F5.
Fabulous ....but those pesky SMD's...Had to buy another board as I was not happy with my slobber job....I got better but wanted to start over....cant wait to fire it up....Thanks Wayne & all folks involved bringing these great products to market for us DIY'ers!
Even for an oldish geezer such as myself, Wayne Colburn's BA2018 linestage was a breeze to assemble. It performs like a champ: a broad and deep soundstage, excellent detail and a delight to listen to. Many thanks to Wayne and the diyAudio store for making this available!
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This is a preamp for us DIYers offered from the mastermind of the PassLabs preamps - Wayne Colburn.
It sounds very detailed combined with a clarity and without harshness. Bass is solid and controlled. I used
TOSHIBA TTA/TTC004B for the outputstage. Drives all my Poweramps (F-5T, BA-3, BA-1, M2X, 50W-SE-Schade)with ease.
Absolutely no noise audible in my combinations. Can also drive headphones (with big BJTs in the outputstage).
PCB is of excellent quality and was delivered very fast. Thanks to the DIYAUDIOSTORE-team!
Build it - enjoy it!
been looking for a linestage that fits my M25 (Babelfish) better than BA3FE or other chippy preamps i tried.
this is it! clear sound - not mumpfy, not sharp.
till now i've just made the standard model running on 20VDC. no bigger semis in Q8/10 position.
still looking for a nice housing.
Thank you Wayne!
Love this preamp—I was lucky enough to get a pre release to build (my images are NOT of the final PCB). Clean, clear and detailed—with Aleph J—nice combo I think. Headphones out with a switching jack—YES—and it's great! Check the thread on the DIYAudio forum for build ideas. There's some good info. BUILD THIS PREAMP!
In my system the sound of this preamp is pleasant with brass instruments, but not so pleasant with violins. Poorly articulated bass. it is at its best in the mid range. Still a good product.
It really is a great preamp. Easy to assemble. Very clean sound, no hum and very stable. It dramatically improved the sound in all three of my power amps. For me it is one of the best. Last but not least, I haven't spent days looking for unobtainable components. Many thanks to Waine for sharing this beautiful project.
have not started my pre amp yet
This is a great preamp. The imaging and detail is the most unique of the pass preamps that I have built so far. (BOSOZ XCCS, BA-3, Korg Nutube and the BA2018). Also, there are Surface Mount Device (SMD) JFETs so do your diligence and be prepared with a flux pen, temperature controlled soldering gun etc. They are extremely small.
The parts kit is very complete. No issues there. If you are able, purchase extra SMD JFETS if it is your first time working with them. I have fairly good dexterity and soldering skills and I had to redo one side. The PCBs are terrific as usual. Sound is superb.
I have not started my pre amp yet,but I am enjoying my ACA and ACP very much.Thank you very much for your note, the store and your products! Later, Grover
A while back Jason mentioned instituting Delivered Duty Paid shipping services and it worked perfectly in this case. Ordered two kits and thought the charges very reasonable. Thought the delivery more than reasonable when DHL handed the well-packed box to me six days later in Barbados. No hassles with customs, brokers and paperwork.
Used the little Muses kit with remote and display from Lenny - seemed to be a slight improvement over the previous Seiden-switched shunt attenuator. Now to put it into something resembling a chassis. Great kit, thanks Wayne, Jason and all involved.
Fast shipping. Excellent quality PCBs, easy to assemble.
housed in a beautiful wooden box for spirits this linestage gives me a detailed and warm performance at the same time. Thanks to the DIY staff for the quick and complete delivery. Thanks also to my friend Giampiero D.L. for having reported and built it to me. Now the Wayne LS 2018 drive my First Watt F4 with enough gain and authority. You know what the F4 is like: very very poli (gh) t (e) ..
I originally bought this amp to build a pre amp. After I built it I first tried it with head phones and I liked it so much that I thought I would get a second one to use as a head phone amp. After all I was building a dual voltage power supply for two is as easy as building power supply for one.
A great line level project. Discrete Direct coupled, jfet input, high current option for headphones. A great project for a beginner, especially buying the DIY audio parts kit.
I built the BA-3 and I built the Wayne, both are exceptional. The Wayne has some softer nuances than the BA-3 but both exceptional !!!
One more point to the Wayne for the extreme ease of adjustment ....
It took a two or three weeks for some brightness to settle out, then the BAF 2018 became a great sounding preamp. Absolutely silent regarding noise, deep and punchy bass, body in the lower midrange, crisp and clear highs, and great stereo separation. I am mating it Aleph J mono-blocks. I liked the preamp so much I bought another board and parts kit to build one for a friend.