"Ken Winokur" wrote in message
oups.com...
Your Bellari, for example, has a godawful IC in its
output circuit, the source of much of the harshness, and a cruddy
transformer to boot. Clean those things up and you'll have the nucleus of
a
good preamp.

Do you actually recommend this, as opposed to simply buying a better
one (RNP for instance)? If you do recommend it, who would you
recommend to do the work?

Well, it's a philosophical question: do you want to write off the money you
put into the Bellari, or at least the difference between what you put into
it and what you could get out of it on e-bay? And how much time you got? I
wouldn't recommend hiring somebody to do it; I think it'd be more
cost-effective to buy an RNP or a Sytek or a used Peavey VMP2. But if you're
handy with a soldering iron you can make the Bellari decent by replacing the
transformers (Jensen JT-115K-E) and loading resistors, and the output ICs
(NE-5532s). Cost you about 175 bucks including shipping costs.

Peace,
Paul