Good Preamps really do matter

I started by racking a pair of Yamaha pm1000 console modules…rather sloppily… with a lot of help. I burned one up and Dan Kennedy of Great River sent me some free transistors and guided me thru fixing it…what a class act! Wierd thing is alot of guys who own big name gear companies will take time to help you or advise you even when you aren’t a customer…I had great email converations with Dan, Dale at Old School Audio, Grizz Royer at Royer Mics, Joe Malone at JLM. Could be a reason why these guys are at the top of the heap :) (karma anyone?). Then a pair of Spectra Sonics 101 pres…got the cards for about 30$. Tough rack job in that these guys are very sensitive with grounding and power supply…learned alot about that and transformers doing this project.
Next up was an API 312 done on radio shack perfboard with a free discrete opamp built by a guy in South Africa…burned that up too :) but learned alot about the 312 circuit…
Have been absoluetly living at the forum at Prodigy Professional for the past two years(http://www.prodigy-pro.com/forum/). All kinds of projects going on there and tons of brilliant guys who will lend a hand…
My builds so far:
1 LA2a, 1 1176, 5 API 312’s of various configurations, 2 SpectraSonics 101’s, 1 “One Bottle” tube mic pre, 2 Yamaha pm1000’s (also recapped and new transistors), 1 4 band Forssell Eq with passive filters, 1 royer tube mic…I can send pics to anyone who drops me a pm but beware…I am a total function over form kinda guy…if it works and is hum free I let it be :D
So I am reminding myself I have to get some presentable face plates made!!!

Ray

PS…I would be willing to help anyone here with some DIY as best I can…I know just enough to be dangerous!..DIY can be a little dangerous if you don’t have a basic understanding of electricity but if you take your time and double check stuff it will work out fine…

I may pester you on the subject of the SS 101 cards you did Ray. I just got a pair myself, and am seriously looking forward to boxing them up. I’ve been saving all the info I can find here in interwebs world, but some one-on-one discussion with an experienced hand with those particular amps may be a big help. I’ll PM ya if I hit a wall.

I have a pair of SS 500 passive EQ’s that are wonderous. I really like that early '70’s discrete transistor stuff. You and I seem to have very similar taste in gear…

No prob clava…I seem to remember that the audio - and the power minus needed to be run thru seperate wires to a good star gound…I am in the process of making a rack for two 312’s (with John Hardy 990c opamps) and my two 101’s…So I will be refreshing my memory as well…Another thing about the 101’s is the transformers…600 ohm max so the best you can do on the input step up is 1:2 (150-600 ohms) and the output has to be a 600-600 balancing tranny…They do sound great running an unbalanced out and have a little more gain that way…If you use a 50k pot for the feddback/ gain loop make sure you put a dc blocking cap in or the pot will be noisey as all he!!..Those 500 series eq’s sound neat…I have a buddy that has the SS 601 comp that is pretty interesting…

Ray

ps did you get the card manual for the 101? If not I could scan mine and send it to you…it is about 6 pages…has the pinouts and some other info

thanks Ray. I have the 101 docs. I also have original input iron for them, and was planning on unbalanced outs. Unbalanced outs don’t bother me at all. I racked some Polish Techfilm amps (looked like a Polish version of the Telefunken 300 series amps) for a buddy that were unbalanced and they sure sounded great.

I’ll hit you with questions if I get stuck…

Speaking of racked preamps, did anyone notice the piece on ghetto recorders in detroit in the latest tapeop? Look very carefully in one of the pictures and you will see a pair of Ampex 601 pres. :)

Quote (TomS @ Jan. 27 2007,11:37)
Look very carefully in one of the pictures and you will see a pair of Ampex 601 pres. :)

And a Space Echo, and a pair of Valley People Dyna-mites, a dbx 162, at least 3 other old dbx comps I can't fully see or identify, some kinda Orban EQ, an MCI 2" machine like mine, a full Ampex 301...

personally, I couldn't get past that Electrodyne desk...it's a sickness, this gear thing...
Quote (clavastudio @ Jan. 27 2007,13:13)
...it's a sickness, this gear thing...

Yep, and I'm trying to stay healthy. I can't afford any more gear in the forseeable future.
If I ever get my mitts on a good pre for some experimentation, I'm afraid I'll join you guys on the dark side in a matter of seconds :)

Quote (clavastudio @ Jan. 27 2007,13:13)
Quote (TomS @ Jan. 27 2007,11:37)
Look very carefully in one of the pictures and you will see a pair of Ampex 601 pres. :)

And a Space Echo, and a pair of Valley People Dyna-mites, a dbx 162, at least 3 other old dbx comps I can’t fully see or identify, some kinda Orban EQ, an MCI 2" machine like mine, a full Ampex 301…

personally, I couldn’t get past that Electrodyne desk…it’s a sickness, this gear thing…

Yeah, but I don’t have those things. :)

edit: There’s an electrodyne sitting unused in the stax museum. I’m going down to memphis in a few weeks. Perhaps we could borrow it for a while?

I think you can see the corner of it in one of the picture in the “virtual museum tour” here:

http://www.soulsvilleusa.com/explore-museum/