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muffsy

1,106 orders since Mar 15, 2015

Malmö, Skåne County, Sweden

Ships from Sweden.

Custom Work Available

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The Muffsy store is closed between December 3rd and January 15th.

Overall Rating:

Review Breakdown

5
89 4
26 3
0 2
0 1
0

Average Ratings

Product: (4.94)

Documentation: (4.89)

Shipping: (4.86)

Communication: (4.93)

All Reviews

Brian | Jan. 17, 2016

The Muffsy is extremely satisfying and a great value

For Muffsy Phono Preamp - Kit

I have used commercial and DIY, integrated and separate phono preamps including Bottlehead Seduction, Boozehound phono pre, Music Hall mmf & Marantz 2230. So, not a huge experience level, but a good variety in the price range of the Muffsy and higher. I built the Muffsy in totally stock form. The Muffsy destroys them all, except for maybe the Seduction. The Seduction had some really magical moments, but it costs about 7X as much and it always seemed to lack bass, so overall, I would choose the Muffsy.

My system consists of a 5 watt KT88SE power amp, a Forewatt tube preamp and 3pi speakers. My TT are Pioneer PL-41 with a Denon DL-110 cart and a Garrard LAB 80 with a Shure M91E. The 3pi speakers are very revealing and sensitive, so I can really tell the difference between poor and good quality recordings. I just mention that to give some perspective to this review.

This preamp exceeded my expectations by far! I am using (2) 9V batteries. The background is black as night. It is so quiet, I didn't realize it was on. Even before I put it in an enclosure and just had it rigged up as a bench unit for testing.

It sounded great from the first listen. Just stunning. My test albums were Steely Dan Gold, George Benson Breezin' & The Carpenters (don't laugh, they are recorded extremely well).

I think for the first time, I can truly hear things that I have not heard on the recordings before. I can hear deeper into the music and can hear the fade out of songs for longer. Meaning, the most tiny of signals and detail is detectable. I can pick out individual vocal harmonies and instruments. I have to use a sub with my 3pi speakers, but the bass is just right. The sound stage is excellent. The locations of instruments and voices are very easily pinpointed. Sounds seem to come from mid air in the middle of the room, which is what I would consider "holographic" sound. The texture of the sound is liquid. Detailed, but very smooth. It sounds solid state, but in a good way. The bass line on "Hey Nineteen" is nice and rubbery.

I tried both op amps and I would say the OPA is worth the extra (if nothing else than the peace of mind and knowing that the OPA is newer and designed specifically for audio). However, I couldn't hear a huge difference.

Overall, I am very pleased and would highly recommend this preamp.

Oh, one word of caution, I would strongly advise you to face the inlets of the terminal blocks OUT. Facing them in makes it a major pain to get wires into the block.

I'm going to go and get on with listening to my whole vinyl collection. I'm so excited that finally, vinyl sounds better than streaming!

Joseph | Jan. 14, 2016

EXCELLENT

For Muffsy Phono Preamp - Kit

The kit was very easy to build. I ordered the pre amp with optional op amps, the power supply and back panel. Instructions on line were a plus for assembly. Sound is exceptional for the price. The parts are of very good quality and the boards are as good as you'll see. You would have to spend way more to get better sound and that would be dependent on your front end to even hear a better phono pre amp. I run mine directly into a Zen SE84C single ended triode 2 watt tube amp by Decware. Works exceptionally well with this amp. It would be nice if they offered the AC to AC 18 volt wall wart. Trying to find one was somewhat difficult. Powering mine with (2) 9 volt batteries until the wall wart arrives. Would I buy another??????..... in a heart beat. I may buy another one any way. On line support via email with the seller was EXCELLENT! Quick answers and precise instructions. This Phono pre amp is a WINNER at 5 times the price.

Mish | Jan. 8, 2016

Great sounding pre-amp and terrific beginner project in one!

For Muffsy Phono Preamp - Kit

I bought this as a project to get me back into dabbling with electronics after 3 decades of computing. To successfully complete a fully functional phono pre-amp was good fun, and it was satisfying to see my soldering improve as I went along. Even more fun, however, was the learning that came with the project, especially with power. One thing I didn't expect was having to wrangle with ground loops, which turned out to be dodgy RCA cables and a very noisy Raspberry Pi adapter, and NOTHING to do with the Muffsy preamp!

I did resort to seeking help from skrodahl, and the replies were very prompt, very patient and extremely detailed. I could not have asked for more.

I am very pleased with every aspect of this preamp, from the packaging (all present and correct, and impeccably marked) and the quality of the parts, to the instructions and, of course, the finished product.

Lastly, if anyone is concerned about this as a beginner, don't be. Watch the youtube clips if you are uncertain before starting, and then take it steady.

Thank you:)

Nicolas | Dec. 28, 2015

First DIY => Sounds good !!

For Muffsy Phono Preamp - Kit

OK, this is my first DIY Kit and... really amazing, shipping was fast, documentation was very clear with a lots of detail and mod.

Gregory | Dec. 17, 2015

Excellent solution for the recommended case

For Muffsy Phono Preamp Back Panel

If you are building the Muffsy phono preamp in the recommended case, you can't go wrong with this back panel kit. With everything included and the panel pre-drilled, it takes all of the hard work out of finding the right parts and cutting /drilling the correct holes.

I have built the Muffsy and it is quite a nice phono preamp. The boards are top quality and when using the Muffsy power supply, the preamp is very quiet. Lots of detail and very accurate sounding.

Scott | Nov. 9, 2015

Very happy with my Muffsy phono preamp

For Muffsy Phono Preamp - Kit

I got it in my head that I was going to build a DIY phono preamp for my turntable. I started looking around to see which plans were available. Although I had soldered simple connections in the past, I'm a beginner when it comes to audio components or printed circuit boards. First, the level of difficulty had to be within my capability. Secondly, the parts had to be easy to source. I chose the Muffsy kit because it had a track record with years of what appeared to be crowd-sourced collaborative development. Plus, the features and flexibility can't be beat for the price. If I move to a different cartridge that requires different gain or impedance, the Muffsy will still work. Ordering was easy and shipping was fast. I ordered the entire kit with power supply board and back panel. I sourced the power supply components from a local USA supplier, and found the enclosure on the big auction site. Assembly went pretty smoothly for a beginner. Whenever I had a question, the seller always got back to me within hours. Finally, it works and sounds good! How exciting it was to connect the cables, turn the power on, and out came nice, clean sound. I'm very pleased.

Marcell | Nov. 8, 2015

excellent pre-amp, clear instructions, fast shipment

For Muffsy Phono Preamp - PCB

Excellent product, very good/clear documentation and build instructions. The shipment was super fast. Great!

Stephen | Oct. 29, 2015

Great seller to deal with.

For Muffsy Phono Preamp - Kit

Had a slight issue and skrodahl was understanding and went above and beyond what was necessary to remedy the situation. Excellent service and a great little preamp with some of the best instructions/documentation I have seen for diyaudio yet.

Also grabbed the power supply board as well and like others have said would have liked a parts kit for this as well looking on the board build page gives a list of all components needed and sourcing these on Digi-key (for canadians) or Mouser (american) it was a breeze.
Avatar
Response from muffsy | Nov. 24, 2015
Hi Stephen,
You'll be pleased to see that the power supply now comes as a kit. The documentation has been updated based on feedback from yourself and others.

Hope you enjoy your phono stage.

-skrodahl

Daniel | Oct. 21, 2015

Excellent preamp

For Muffsy Phono Preamp - Kit

This is a quality kit that arrived very quickly.The online instructions were well explained and had detailed pictures.I am also building the power supply and wish it was also a kit with all the parts included.

For the price, I'm glad I bought it and hope to see more of your kits in the future.
Thanks
Da,
Avatar
Response from muffsy | Oct. 22, 2015
Thanks for the great review Daniel.

Mouser and Farnell component alternatives have now been added to the instructions, I hope that will improve the experience:
http://muffsy.com/build-the-muffsy-psu.html

Tom | Oct. 3, 2015

Good product, lightning shipping

For Muffsy Phono Preamp - PCB

I ordered this product during the weekends, and two days later I already got it. Shipped from Sweden to The Netherlands in just two days. What more could you wish for? The PCB itself is of good quality; no misaligned stuff here.

I'm currently building it and sourcing the parts along the way. It would be handy if it came with a bill of material needed, just to keep the overview. Then again, there is enough written about it on the internet - so it doesn't pose a problem at all. Just for the lazy ones under us. Overall, I would definitely recommend it to any enthousiastic DIY'er.

Thanks again!

James | Sept. 22, 2015

Excellent low cost DIY phono stage with lots of options

For Muffsy Phono Preamp - Kit

Even a complete novice can build this kit. The instructions and documentation are the best I've ever seen. The Muffsy web site even provides instructions to learn to solder. You can purchase a good quality temperature controller solder station at Amazon for less than $50. I built my phono stage using the recommended aluminum enclosure that can be found on Ebay. Note this is a phono stage for all moving magnet / moving iron cartridges as well as high output moving coil designs.

My build includes signal path Vishay nude resistors sourced from Texas Components and Vishay MKP film resistor sourced through Mouser. I decided to also use the Muffsy power supply with 18V wall wart. You can get crazy and try other IC's and even better capacitors. For those with moving coil cartridges you can purchase a larger enclosure and integrate some nice Lundahl transformers. as a step up stage.

I have not quite finished with my build but I anticipate the Muffsy will indeed sound very good.

Tamás | Sept. 10, 2015

Great product, sound superb !

For Muffsy Phono Preamp - PCB

I am a long time DIY-er, and I built many phono stages in the last 15 years. Let me tell you this one is one of the best RIAA what I ever had. Actually much better than many factory made it. I ordered the PCBs only because I have many parts at home. The work was simple joy with these PCBs. I tried it with few different opamps like NE5532, OPA2134, LM4562. All sounds great, just a matter of taste which one do you like the most. I highly recommend this phone stage for every beginner and professional DIY-ers ! Review Image

Yngve | June 22, 2015

The best Phono stage I ever had.

For Muffsy Phono Preamp - Kit

I ordered this kit with upgraded components and opamps because I wanted to build my own RIAA. I was using a Musical Fidelity V90 LPS and didn't expect this one to be any better. Boy was I wrong!
Powered by 2x9V batteries it sounds amazing. I never thought that a phono stage could make that big difference. The MF RIAA was sold immediately. With adjustable input impedance and low capacitance It's a perfect match for my Audio Technica AT150MLX

This kit is perfect for both beginners and novices. The PCB have great component location markings and also all resistors are properly marked with it's resistance value so It's quick and easy to populate the board. I double checked all resistors with a DMM and there was no errors in the marking. There's even soldering wire in the kit so all you need to build it is a soldering iron, a wire cutter and 60 min of spare time.

Skrodahl offers excellent customer service and very quick shipping. If you need a great phono stage, look nowhere else.

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