Well, I decided not to build an Aikido phono yet. I got a different idea as a result of a conversation with Chris Boettcher, who is very happy with an Artemis Labs PH-1 phono preamp he is using.

I took a look at the Artemis Labs schematic which is available here.

The designer, John Atwood, has done a couple of things differently than I have ever done in a phono preamp and I decided to try a couple of his ideas. Specifically, I'm going to build a phono with 6N1P as the input tube, biased with a battery in series with the grid. This will be direct-coupled to an "all-in-one" RIAA network and the second stage will be a conventionally plate-loaded 6SL7 to get a bit of gain (6SL7 mu = 70.)

I've gotten this circuit partly wired up already and I should have something to listen to this week - provided I can find all the necessary parts values in my stash.

-j