This is going to be a rambling missive with (I guess) two purposes; one to inform folks what I?ve been doing since the beginning of the summer, the other to reinforce my opinion about what I refer to as the ?ultimate? audio accessory- an equalizer.
Let?s start with the recent past: I had a GREAT time at VSAC 2008 - was also disappointed by the low attendance and the lack of what I will call a ?DIY turnout?. It seemed like everyone was there to sell something. I?d opine that the DIY wave may have crested with VSAC 2003. Enjoyed seeing the Bottlehead and Tape Project entourage along with a few of you Project participants.
In the tape deck world - Had an opportunity to finish up my ASC 6002 deck (at the moment I can?t find or don?t have a picture of it all back together again):
The 6000 is a direct descendant of the Braun TG1000 (a VERY NICE sounding machine) and was one of a few neat HiFi products produced by a group of personnel who left to form Audio System Componeten in the late ?70?s when Braun decided to discontinue that consumer product line. Whereas the 1000 could only go to 7 1/2ips and hold a max 8 ?? reel (some kind of European standard), the 6000 could play 15 ips and hold a 10 ?? reel. It has very nice tape handling; what I?ll call ?quasi ? constant tension? via the use of a mechanical/electronic feedback mechanism ? if you look closely, you can see that the outer tape idlers are mounted on swing arms which are coupled to a photo-optical assembly. This then produces a variable DC component which when when added to the AC feed to the Papst reel motors varies their speed proportional to tension (pressure on the rollers). The heavy, machined capstan assembly is belt driven from a DC motor with speed feedback via an integral tachometer. The 6000, while "common" in Europe was never imported into the US and this must be one of a very few here ? a friend actually carried it over from Germany on a trip. It did require a little work (shorted electrolytics) and tweaking of the playback EQ but was worth it as its audio quality is exceptional ? due in large part to the Bogen heads. Next related project is to modify my Tandberg infrared remote control to operate it.
Current tape machine fav is the Lyrec Frieda (never heard of it ? too bad - neither did I till a few years back ? veerrry rare) which blows away most other decks I?ve heard and nudges the Stella.
Over the summer a friend stumbled across the remaining inventory of Cello Inc. in a Bridgeport, CT warehouse. I?m not going to bore you with a long story of that (currently) defunct brand, beyond saying that they produced some of the world?s most highly respected audio components. Chief among them was the Audio Palette, a six-band equalizer and sibling, the Palette Preamplifier.
Among the discovered parts were a set of populated printed circuit boards for the Preamplifier along with enough documentation to allow me to get it going. There was no cabinetry, so I proceeded to have the sheet metal and front panels fabricated to my own specifications. The front panel engravings are identical to the original with the exception that no mention of ?Cello? appears, to keep away from any potential copyright problems (and Front Panel Express wouldn?t reproduce it anyway without written permission from the trademark owner).
What I did differently from the original product was to separate the equalizer portion of the Palette from the preamplifier section and fabricated a 10 meter umbilical cable to connect both units. This allows the equalizer to be placed right at my listening position to make adjustments in ?real time? without moving from my seat. The controls on the equalizer are identical in function to the original and it is mounted on an original accessory Lucite stand with 4 casters (wheels) on the bottom so it can be easily moved.
The (separate) preamplifier has 5 inputs with the other level and balance controls identical to the original Preamplifier, with one exception. In the original Audio Palette, the ?Equalizer In-Out? switch offered the ability to reverse the absolute phase of the outputs (180 degrees) whether the equalizer is in or out of the circuit. This feature was eliminated on the Palette Preamplifier but I added back to this version. The preamplifier is also self-powered (the original Preamplifier required a separate power supply) and supplies power to the equalizer over the umbilical cable.
Now in previous posts I?ve extolled the virtues of having some kind of frequency contouring ability in your HiFi system. With a tape deck, high frequency adjustment can be easily? accomplished by making the ?R? in the high-frequency equalization network variable (and accessible). An equalizer adds even more capability to all sources BUT I?d opine that the problem with most all equalizers (and the reason that they have been categorically trashed) is that they introduce a sound of their own. The Palette seems to be about as neutral as it gets ? aided by the fact that the equalizer section can be bypassed via a front panel switch on the preamp. I've used it mostly in a "subtractive" mode to help take the edge from female vocalists on a few CD - actually allows me to listen through the program rather than having to eject after 2 songs. Next plan to go back through my tape collection and probably use it in an "additive" mode - mid bass and the like.
Finally, a few words about my current system ? speakers are Quad 63?s driven by a tweaked Lazarus Class A hybrid 50 watt amplifier. Homebrew, center channel, Quad woofer with self contained combiner / amplifier / 4th order low pass filter from 100 hz down. System goes down into the 20?s. CD is a Norh CD-1 and Tape includes the Stellavox; (borrowed) Lyrec; ASC and a MCI JH110 deck with modified electronics. FM is a SUMO Charlie (of course) with a tubed output. FM in Oneonta NY sucks ? that?s why I added an SONY XM radio tuner (not half bad).
The device on the rug in front of the center speaker is the best antidote to bad sound that I've found.
Nuff for now - Keep your heads clean and your tails out!
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Charles
O yeah, THANKS Steve for the info on how to use Imageshack to upload and attach photos.