One
of over 30 stereo mike preamps I made for Tape-Op customers
Preamps
have Tamuri transformers, phantom, pad, and Di in jacks
60Db
gain max, over 22DB levels into 600 ohms
The PM1000
board is center, one gain stage per side, In and out transformers are back right
and left sides
There is a
diode coming from the DC in jack, (middle back), to prevent reverse polarity
I used
camera tape to “stick” all the wires down, as Cam tape not gooey
The level
control, (upper right front) a 600 ohm pot, is feeding the 600/600 ohm line out
transformer through a two watt, 10 ohm, carbon resistor. The slowness of the
carbon resistor adds some warmth.
The gain stages have a push-pull output
stage, that can drive approx 22 volts into 67 ohms RMS, so the 300 ohm load not
a problem. The shiny TO-5 transistors are the new ECG NPN/PNP outputs. I used
good audio quality Xicon “Reds”, aluminum electroylitics in the signal path.
They were the best a few years ago, now the ELNA Silmic and Cerafine caps are
way above any of these for audio quality
This is a old Altec transister PA amp being turned into a Mike Preamp and power supply for five other mike preamps. I had the engraved labels made to get a 'Pultec look' for the panel.
Here is the
new inside, the PM1000 board with two gain stages mounted to the front.
The
yellow inter-stage transformer is in the center front, the in transformer is at
upper left on the back of the front panel. This transformer adds 'smooth' to the sound and more gain without noise.
Power supply, feeding to the barrier strip, is upper
middle, on the back, and right.
The power supply in the Altec provided +44 for the preamps, and +48 for the phantom power
Here you can see the VU at "O" VU which is set for "O" VU = +4 level out
I test every preamp at +12DB levels out to see that the line out stage
has headroom over +12db into 600 ohms.
Here are some pics of some basic steps to 'racking' two Yamaha PM1000
or any mixing console 'channel strips'
Step one is getting everything lined up and where doe it go? questions answered
Making sure the front and back panels are perfect most important
If a hole is just a bit to far off on the front, it can not be fixed
A trick way to mark the holes on the front side
One channel ready to be mounted
The one pot will be replaced with a EQ - In/Out switch
Punching holes with a chassis punch once pilot holes are drilled
Two channels mounted with fresh screws from the back
Now that all the holes have been drilled or punched, all the parts can be mounted
with no worries as to proper placement
I built a whole series of thee 19" by 3-1/2" rack mount
chassis stereo preamps with the talkback yam boards. These boards
have two 'Gain Stages' on each board, so you just need a input transformer
gain, level, phantom power controls, DI input and a output transformer
This is one of a series of 19" by 1-3/4" single - space rack mount stereo preamps
I built with a new board I designed that has a Modded PM1000 'Gain Stage'.
This board has the basic setup with, Left to Right
Mike balanced in, Pad-off, -12, -20db, DI-input, Level, Phantom power on/off
Gain, and a sweet vintage SONY 600 ohm line out transformer
The board has a +48 volt power supply filter, phantom power feed,
Balanced input stage on the top left, phantom and pad on the lower right
and the 'Line Gain Stage' on the lower left.
The four transistor 'Gain Stage' has been modded by;
a. changing the two output transistors to lower gain/higher power versions
that increases the big warm tight sound, raises the maximum output level,
and lowers the noise. b. using metal film resistors for lower noise, c. the board
has pads for radial electrolytic caps or metallized polyester caps.
The metallized polyester caps have a clearer, 'Tube Amp" sound
A board under test, the VU is set for "O" VU +4 level out
This new board can drive down to 56 ohms and can drive a
step-up line out transformer for +28DB out levels, and tons
of NEVE sounding headroom.
The two round 'metal - can' transistors are NTE great big and warm
sounding transistors. They are idling at almost one-half watt each.
This gives the 'Gain Stage' a big tight bass and a strong clean sound.
The 'Gain Stage' is also noiseless.
This is the true - balanced in stage that is super quiet
It has a unbalanced out to the level control, or line in
selector switch, and about 20DB gain.
The phantom power, two stage pad, and click filter is shown
here on the lower left corner. The balanced mike in goes through
the pad/phantom circuit, and then to a mike in transformer, or the
transformerless balanced in preamp
This stereo preamp has a switch, Pr/Mix on the lower right,
that selects the mike/Di inputs, or two RCA jacks on the back that
allow you to hear your mix on your headphones.
The 'Gain Stages' make great headphone amps for higher
impedance headphones
There is a +4 red LED for each channel
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The preamp below is one of a series of "Classic 3-stage tube mike preamps
I built using all vintage parts including vintage tubes.
This classic circuit is given more headroom by using two #76 triodes
in parallel to drive the 15k/600 ohm Altec 'Red' line out transformer
This gave these preamps a comfortable +15DB out without clipping
One
of a pair of custom tube mike preamps built for a customer
Unit
has Vintage or NOS preamp tubes, wide range gain control
Russian
paper-oil caps, all vintage parts including the knobs
These preamps (above/below)
have a vintage 39/44 tube or a rare EF40 tube
which is equal to a EF86, as the pre
stage
You can switch tubes without clicks while the preamp is
active
One 6sn7 as a Class-A driver is coupled to
a large Philips line out transformer
on the right side of the chassis. The gray box is the line out transformer
The big 1930's 39/44 tube is by the Altec 'green' input transformer on the left
This
preamp has all paper-oil caps, and three gain controls that give a
great range
of gain and overall sound of the preamp