TS build - resistor questions

m-theory · February 01, 2007, 02:03:10 PM

Why are the 510k resistors specified as "metal film," and where would one get hold of these?

ubersam · February 01, 2007, 03:53:19 PM

There has been a number of posts about metal film resistors, in general. From recollection, metal film resistors supposedly contribute less noise to a circuit, compared to their carbon film/comp counterparts. In my TS builds, all resistors are metal film. You can get metal film resistors from most electronic supply places, like smallbearelec.com, mouser.com, etc.

m-theory · February 01, 2007, 04:06:35 PM

I figured it had something to do with noise issues. I've searched all online stores that I could think of, including smallbear and mouser, and couldn't find this particular size (510k 1/4W). Well, I should say that mouser has them, but I'd have to order at least 100 of them, which isn't terribly practical for me. Smallbear doesn't even list them, except as a bias resistor for Rangemaster projects. I'm looking for "etc." at this point, I guess.

Barcode80 · February 01, 2007, 04:07:34 PM

FYI, i built my Ts with all carbon film and it sounds great and is super quiet.

Seljer · February 01, 2007, 04:15:46 PM

just use the next commonly available larger or smaller value (470k or 560k I believe)
there should be barely any difference in the sound

m-theory · February 01, 2007, 05:19:37 PM

Thanks for the replies. I think I'm going to opt for the carbon film route to start with, and see how that pans out. I'm not going to be using this for studio work, so a potential slight bit more noise than metal film really isn't going to matter.

ubersam · February 01, 2007, 06:41:39 PM

I just checked Xicon, Koa-Speer and Vishay, it seems that the closest value in metal film is 511K. I do not know why that is. Anyway, on the input buffer, you can swap out the 510k for a higher value, like 620K (as in Keeley's mod: http://www.robertkeeley.com/product.php?id=4).

Barcode80 · February 01, 2007, 07:24:03 PM

to be clear though, one carbon film resistor in place of a metal one will yield NO noticable difference, IMHO. even all carbon film has such a minute difference in noise floor that the extra cost if you don't have the values you need on hand is nowhere near worth it.

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TS build - resistor questions