Hagerman Piccolo User manual

HAGERMAN
T E C H N O L O G Y
Piccolo
Moving Coil Headamp
Kit Manual

Piccolo MC Headamp Kit Manual
2
Warnings
This product does not use any dangerous voltages. Power is supplied by a 12V wall-
wart. The instructions in this manual are a suggested guide only and no liability is
assumed by Hagerman Technology LLC.
Copyrights & Trademarks
©Copyright Hagerman Technology LLC 2007 - 2013. All rights reserved. No part of
this document may be photocopied, reproduced, or translated to another language without
the prior written consent of Hagerman Technology LLC.
Disclaimer
The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice.
Hagerman Technology LLC shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for
consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this
material. See Chapter 6 for warranty information.

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1 Before You Begin
Description
Congratulations! You have just purchased one of the highest performance-per-dollar
audiophile products available. The Piccolo MC headamp fits between your MC cartridge
and your MM phonostage providing the necessary increase in gain. The world-class
circuit design employs low noise discrete matched JFET pairs for a very neutral and
linear gain stage. No feedback is used. Both gain and input loading are independently
adjustable. This flexibility allows perfect matching for any cartridge.
The half-kit contains a circuit board with the surface mount JFETs pre-installed and a few
nuts and bolts. All remaining components can be purchased from DigiKey.
Features
• Discrete JFET zero-feedback circuit design
• Adjustable loading
• Adjustable gain
• Super low noise operation
• Internal battery or AC power operation
Tools
You will need a few basic shop tools (screwdriver, pliers, wire cutters, etc.) and a fine-tip
soldering iron to build this kit. The delicate and difficult to install surface mount
components have been pre-installed for your convenience.

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2 Parts to Buy
Parts List
Parts can be ordered directly from www.digikey.com. A few screws, nuts, and
miscellaneous have been included in the half-kit for your convenience.
Component Qty DigiKey Reference Designators
100uF 25V 13 P12924 C20, C21, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7, C8, C9, C12,
C13, C14, C15
100nF polyprop 6 P12092 C10, C11, C16, C17, C1
BAT47(3) 3 497-2492-1 D4, D2, D3
LM2941 1 LM2941CT U2
ICL7660S 1 TC7660SCPA U1
LED 1 67-1116 D1
Switch, 4 pos 1 CKC7005 S2
Switch 6 pos 1 CKC7003 S1
RCA jack 4 CP-1424 J1x, J2x
DC jack 1 SC1047 J3
10R0 1/4W 1% 5 10.0XBK R12, R13, R14, R15, L1
22R1 10* 22.1XBK R3x, R4x, R2x
47R5 5* 47.5XBK R1x
100 10* 100XBK R17, R18, R19, R20, R1x
221 10* 221XBK R1x, R2x, R11x
232 5* 232XBK R10x
475 10* 475XBK R1x, R7x, R8x
1k00 5* 1.00KXBK R1x, R2x, R22
3k32 5* 3.32KXBK R21
4k75 10* 4.75KXBK R2x, R5x, R6x, R16x
47k5 5* 47.5KXBK R1x
221k 5* 221KXBK R9x
Battery Holder 1 2477K
Knob 2 226-4126
Box 1 HM366
Power Supply 1** 750-00008
* Minimum order quantity.
** Use T974-P5P for 240Vac.

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3 Assembly
Circuit Board
Assemble in the specified order, soldering and clipping leads before continuing. The
surface mount JFETS have been pre-installed for your convenience. Beware of
component polarity! Not all diodes or electrolytics are lined up the same way. The
square hole is the positive lead.
 Install all resistors. Use the guide in the back of this manual. For dc offset reduction,
change R10 to 232 ohms. Use a 10 ohm resistor for L1.
 Install diodes.
 Install ICL7660S (add jumper from pins 1 to 8).
 Install terminal shields (wings facing outwards).
 Install LED.
 Install LM2941 regulator
 Install RCA jacks.
 Install electrolytics.
 Install remaining capacitors.

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If you want the Piccolo to be permanently on (not recommended for battery operation),
then you can add a jumper as shown to S2. This converts the originally “off” position to
a 0dB gain setting.
 Install rotary switches with the alignment stub toward the bottom. Cut stub off.
Remove the nuts from the rotary switches and line up circuit board onto top panel. Insert
the dc jack such that it fits onto circuit board and into panel hole. Add nut. This sets the
proper mounting height of jack. Solder in place. Remove panel. Put nuts back onto
switches to make sure the lock rings do not fall off.
 Add battery holder on backside with two #6 screws and washer standoffs. The
screws form threads in the plastic. Do not over tighten. Solder leads.
 Add the #6 x 1” screw in the central ground hole (near loading switch) facing
upwards. Secure in place with a nut. Add another nut loosely about ½” up.
Testing
The circuit board is now complete and ready to mount in the chassis. But first, plug it in
and turn it on. The LED should light. If you have test equipment, apply a small input
signal (below 0.1V) and measure the output.
Final Assembly
Mount the LED dome to top panel. Secure with plastic ring. Remove nuts from rotary
switches and mount circuit board onto top plate. Secure in place with switch and dc jack
nuts. Underneath, rotate the #6 nut so that it touches the plate. Add #6 knurled knob on

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topside. This forms the turntable ground lug. Add knobs. Insert batteries and mount
cover plate to box with four #6 screws.

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4 Installation and Use
Testing
First do a visual check to insure all components have been installed and in the proper
orientation. With batteries installed, turning the gain knob away from the off position
will turn the amplifier on. LED should light up.
Installation
Connect the Piccolo between your turntable and MM phonostage. Connect the turntable
ground wire to the knurled ground lug. Set the gain to accommodate your cartridge’s
output level. Adjust resistive loading to taste.
Cartridge Gain
<0.2mV 26dB
0.2mV – 0.6mV 20dB
0.6mV – 2mV 12dB
Hum
The Piccolo is very quiet on it’s own. However, in rare cases an installation environment
might be noisy with stray fields. If you are experiencing hum, check for broken grounds,
unshielded interconnects, nearby power transformers, etc.
Pops and Thumps
Sorry about this, but turn the volume down on your audio system when changing gain.
Turning the gain switch can add a loud noise as it changes contacts. This also happens
with loading, but not as noticeable.

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5 Specifications
The following specifications are subject to change without notice.
Item Specification
Gain 12dB, 20dB, 26dB
Input Impedance 47, 100, 220, 470, 1k, 47k ohm
Output Impedance <300 ohms
Bandwidth (-3dB) 10Hz to 1MHz
Distortion <0.01% @1kHz
SNR (phono) 85dB ref 5mV A-weighted
Overload 140mV @ 1kHz @ 26dB
Size 3” x 5” x 2”
Power 6Vdc to 24Vdc @ 15mA
Battery Life 4 alkaline AA, 200 hours

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6 Warranty & Service
Warranty
Hagerman Technology LLC warrants this product free of defects in materials and
workmanship for 10 years. If you discover a defect, Hagerman Technology LLC will, at
its option, repair or replace the product at no charge to you provided you return it during
the warranty period, transportation charges prepaid to Hagerman Technology LLC. This
warranty does not apply if the product has been damaged by negligence, accident, abuse
or misuse or misapplication, has been damaged because it has been improperly connected
to other equipment or has been modified without the express written permission of
Hagerman Technology LLC. This warranty is limited to the replacement or repair of this
product and not to damage to equipment of other manufacturers.
Any applicable implied warranties, including warranty of merchantability, are limited in
duration to a period of the express warranty as provided herein beginning with the
original date of purchase and no warranties, whether express or implied shall apply to the
product thereafter. Under no circumstances shall Hagerman Technology LLC be liable
for any loss, direct, indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damage arising out of or
in connection with the use of this product.
Service
Refer to Chapter 4 for troubleshooting information. If the problem persists, contact
Hagerman Technology for service at http://www.hagtech.com.
Hagerman Technology LLC
PO Box 61911
Honolulu, HI 96839 USA
808-383-2704 (voice)