Elekit Anyone?
 

Any other DIYers here?
I've been listening to an Elekit TU-8500 tube preamp since January. Pair of tubes (1-per channel) for the preamp function and opamps for the phono - preamp section.
The NA importer is https://www.vkmusic.ca/ (Victor Kung) and he sells direct as well distributing thru various other mail-order websites. Victor offers several upgrades, including resistors, caps & opamps. I ordered mine with the best of everything and it was <$700, delivered.
For tubes I rolled in a pair of JAN Philips, which were a significant upgrade from the Chinese tubes it came with. Then I rolled in a pair of Gold Lions and even better.
From the get-go there was some noise (hiss/hum) between tracks on the high-gain MC portion of the phono stage with the upgraded 2227 opamps. However, after a couple of hundred hours of break-in I must place my ear within an inch of the speaker driver to hear anything between tracks. Not sure if it was the tubes, opamps or caps needed time to 'clean up'.
Still have another set of recommended opamps to drop into the phono section, but am quite pleased with the 2227s for the moment.
The biggest drawback to the TU-8500 (for me) is the lack of a remote. However, a friend just installed an electronic (no motor) volume control/remote in his Pass Pearl preamp and is very pleased with the result. Once this virus thing has run its course will install the same in my Elekit.
Also, will be adding Sparkos Labs VRegulators (about the cost of nice pair of NOS tubes) and Lundahl SUTs for the MC section of the phono-stage. Will be turning my sub-$700 preamp into a $1500 preamp.
Thus far am very pleased with the TU-8500. Very quiet and especially like the small size. Good things do come in small packages.
Am also thinking a Sun Valley (part of the Toyota koretsu) SV-EQ1616D tube phono-stage.
More later.
https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...1&d=1587225897
https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...1&d=1587225897

I’ve never actually built a kit or component, but have refurbished turntables and done a lot of minor repairs and basic soldering over the years. Recently I’ve been looking at Bottlehead phono stages and thinking about whether I’m up to a diy kit like that.

If you decide to pick up your soldering iron then this phono-preamp may interest you. I'm giving it some serious thought for the next cold spell (next fall). Optional Lundahl SUTs and Mundorf caps.
https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/elek...phono-amp.html

The Bottlehead manuals are very good with clear instructions and lots of pictures. Every one of their kits that I have built (6 or 7) has sounded at least as good, and often better, than a finished product costing 3-5 times more.

They are also easy to build IF you are reasonably good at soldering circuit boards. I’m good at point-to-point soldering, but find soldering the parts on circuit boards to be challenging. But I’ve always been able to get their kits to work, too. I bet you would be extremely happy with their phono kit. I built the earlier version and thought it was outstanding.

Have never built a Bottlehead piece as I find them ugly, ungainly and not well thought out from an industrial design stand-point. Simply a plate with everything stuck on top and then mounted in a piece of wood. This includes inputs & outputs & controls. Even if they just bent the front & back of the plate 90 degrees and poked holes for the inputs, outputs & controls that would be enough with wood side plates. Obviously, beauty being in the eye of the beholder, YMMV.

Also, VKMusic is offering the K&K SUT (either the excellent standard or up-graded premium) in the SV-EQ1616D phono preamp. If I had not just purchased the premium SUT from K&K I would be going that route for a tube phono-preamp.

Several years ago we built a lower-end Elekit amp from Victor. Boss-girl really enjoyed it (she's an ME by training), and as a non-engineer, I learned a lot, including how little I know :scratch2:. Would highly recommend a first-timer maybe trying on a less-expensive model to see if you have the aptitude and patience. We also built a higher-end Triode brand integrated that Victor sold at the time, with 2 KT88s, and enjoyed it a lot. DIY kits are very cool.

Great post YB-2. Thanks for the information on Sun Valley and please let us know how it goes.

I just finished an Elekit TU-8200 DX this past weekend. I bought it along with a TU-8600R (after reading Herb Herb Reichert's review in Stereophile) and they just sat on a shelf for a year.

This latest Covid madness gave me some extra time to tinker, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I was really surprised how fast it was to build. I had postponed the project thinking it would take me weeks, not hours. Elekit does a phenomenal job explaining every last detail and the instructions were quite easy to follow. I should've considered kits years ago.

The end product sounds extraordinary for a sub $1,000 integrated stereo and the fit and finish is also quite impressive for a DIY. I still have quite a few tweaks I'd like to make to see how good I can get it to sound, but for now I'm just enjoying it...just as much as I enjoyed building it.

That's great. But, as life happens, I was offered the proverbial 'almost too good to be true' deal on a Cary SLP-98P and the TU-8500 is in a new home in AZ. It was truly a sweet piece for $650 (with all upgrades, no less). But, the 98P has the tube phono-stage I prefer, plus a remote (sad) and matches my amp, which is something of a bonus. Could not agree more on the design & build of Elekit gear. Was looking forward to the possibility of the SV tube phono-preamp but I had all ready made the deal on the 98P when Victor announced his tie-in with K&K. Am not displeased, but will always wonder.............