Jim Hagerman's Bugle2 Phono Preamp Kickstarter Project

What do you guys think of this? I don't know anything about how preamps are built and what makes them sound good, would love some insight by those who do. Would it be worth the $100 / $150? Would it be on par with higher end, more expensive, preamps?

http://www.analogplanet.com/content/jim-hagermans-bugle2-diy-mmmc-phono-preamp-kickstarter-project

 

I think it looks like a pretty good deal. I'll bet there will be no other phono preamps close to it for $150. I am keeping my eye on this. I would get mine built.

 

I don't know-figuring $10 for the single layer board, is there a hundred bucks worth of parts there? Even with a retail markup. We had a kit we had students build something with that looked more complicated-it was an AM-FM radio with all discrete parts, no ICs, probably fifteen transistors and the IF cans and the tuning cap-and it was maybe $35 with the case. But maybe those op amps and passives, especially the caps are more expensive than I'm guessing.

I've thought about putting out a kit and I'd probably give everyone two boards so if they screwed one up they could throw it out and start over with no one the wiser.

 

Definitely on par, if the original Bugle is anything to go by. The design is simple but effective.

 

Great pre-amp, dead quiet and with a design and specs. that many pre-amps don't match at twice or three times the cost.

 

That would be ridiculous....there is at least $50-$75 worth of engineering time. I was shocked when I looked inside my old Project Phono Box and then looked inside the older Music Hall Phone stage and found the same circuit board inside, and there is nothing wrong with re-badging in my mind. There are a couple of other preamps being sold where the case work looks the same, but a different color and is selling for $350. I am not sure what any of us have a right to expect for $100 or $150 assembled, but I'll bet no one will be disappointed in this unit. There are plenty of us who are not going to spend $1500 on a phono stage and still what to enjoy vinyl the best we can. Here is anyone's chance to do that. I always keep in mind that once we get to a certain point, small incremental improvements can cost serious money. You want to hear gnat farts at 50 feet you must ante up. Not that you would want to do THAT, but you get my point.

 

The Bugle really needs to have the power supply (that Hagerman offers). Unless you don't play vinyl that often, changing/charging batteries is a hassle.

 

If the $100 or $150 version includes the case (which it sounds like it does) that is a very good deal. If he were selling it through traditional distributor/dealer it would be at least $500.

The original Bugle with separate power supply was roughly $120 in parts (including transformer) with no case.

If I wasn't moving my Pass Labs Pearl into my lake house system I would certainly consider this.

 

The Bugle2 is AC powered.

 

I wish I didn’t hate batteries so much.

 

You can't really go wrong for $100.

Looks like there are about 40 small watt resistors in there that cost around $0.07 each. The filtering caps probably cost another $5 in total. The other parts might add to another $5. So you're looking at $13 to $15 in parts, plus the board and the case. Then the assembly. So paying $100 gets you at least $15 in parts, plus not having to come up with a schematic, do all the R&D, etc. Pretty good deal.

For $100 it's worth a shot if you're interested in trying it.

 

Signed up this morning for the built model. Haven't done any soldering since college in the 1970's when I built my Dynakit stereo 70. I'm hoping for an improvement over my Cambridge 640.

 

Hagerman makes some nice equipment at reasonable prices.

 

Thanks a lot for the input, everyone. I'm currently using an Audio Technica AT-PEQ3 (purchased for $50) and while it sounds fine, I was considering an upgrade to something a bit better. I'm interested in this b/c it sounds like an incredible value for the sound. I was considering the Cambridge Audio 540p ($100) and Pro-ject Phono Box MK2 ($120), I might just spring for this if it's really on par with a $500 preamp.

 

Time to get back at it.

 

As a finished working product it's a great deal at $100, in the case and tested. But I was under the idea this was a project to get people off their rear ends (so to speak) and building.

 

You're correct, it is a kit for $100; $150 fully assembled. I think the big cost savings is not having to come up with the design, determine parts, have them shipped, etc. The $100 for the kit saves the buyer many hours of pencil and paper time. It's a good starter project.

 

I built a Bugle Pro several years ago and I love it. One of the neat things about that model is the ability to change EQ settings for pre-RIAA 78s, via knobs on the front panel. It does make a difference when playing 78s. It doesn't appear that this new version supports that.

 

I have a Bugle kit; it's still in bags but I use the Bugle/digitizer combo sold as the Hagerman Ripper, and it is an excellent MM preamp for my computer system. It was $120 or so at the time. It's only 16bit but it's been my USB sound card for about five years now and it's seen off all the internal ones I have.

 

$100 to $150 for a built preamp seems pretty reasonable to me. I am in the middle of a Bugle 1 build with the Hagerman power supply and my Digikey parts order was $78 alone. Plus the boards, a case etc. Granted, the wall wart the Bugle 2 uses is a lot cheaper than the Hagerman PS but I'm sure it works fine.

 

Sweet - I'm on board for the kit!

As I sit here I'm listening to my new VPI traveler with AT150MLX playing through a Bugle (1) while I await delivery of a new, different phone preamp. That little Bugle sounds better than it has any right to when you feed it two 12 V batteries for power.

Thanks for pointing out the kickstarter project. I love stuff like this!

 

I'm in for the kit! Looking forward to practicing my soldering skills again.

 

14 days to go and it's really close to being funded. Should be OK.

 

Goal reached, woohoo!

 

Did anyone else here get the Bugle2 kit. and if so, have you built it yet?

I assembled it this evening. Took about 5 hours. Followed all the steps carefully. Did the power test and the led went on. So far so good. But when I hooked it up, all I got was buzzing in the left channel and nothing at all in the right. Tomorrow I'm going to double check the resistors against the picture on the hagtech site.