Whitby Abbey Analogue

RCA BN-2A Made in USA 1959 A Vacuum Tube Mixer/Amplifier Transformer Balanced Input & Output... The Audio Valves and Transformers are original genuine parts.. RCA (blacked out) Mil-Spec: 4 x 1620 and 2 x 6J7 The Rectifier Valve is a 6X5GT. The Input transformers are RCA 949000-1 all functions restored! The Vu Meter has been calibrated for 0Vu = +4dBu RMS.

ALTEC 1567A Vacuum Tube Mixer/Amplifier This has been "functionally" preserved (refurbished). It had some intermittent solder joints and broken solder joints, inconsistent channel levels due to worn out valves, broken AC fuse holder, corroded and contaminated mechanical controls and connectors, a handful of 'out of spec' passives, misaligned Vu metering etc etc...it is now ready to roll...

Restoration vs Preservation? Not everything old is ideal or suitable for a full blown restoration. In some cases, the corrosion and degradation of a piece makes it cost prohibitive for the owner.... Here we have a poor condition "Speech Input Equipment" 1567A Public Address (PA) mixer/amplifier from the ALTEC company. It will receive a functional "preservation" to ensure "safe" operation. A refurbishment of the power supply, a mulitple step process of chemical treatments on the connectors, mechanical contacts and controls. The replacement of faulty passives and valves will be based on original schematic "tolerances" The PEERLESS transformers are nice!

1986 HARRISON PRO7 restoration update: this is a long drawn out procedure as the console came in with no schematics, no pinouts, now wiring diagrams, no labelled connection points, no patch bays etc etc. I have installed banks of Neutrik XLR connectors on the back panel, and the channels have all been serviced and recapped (several hundred new electrolytics). The power supply has been refurbished. The restored channels are resting comforatable in the waiting room. The 'back... engineering' can now begin, tracing and probing a sine wave through the desk. There is no point in tracing signals prior to a full restoration of the channel under test and power supply, because a simple dirty switch or cold solder joint or faulty opamp or oxidised terminal can impede the process. I am now confident that the channels and power source are all back to factory or better (upgraded capacitors) Having installed a restored input channel and master control sections, my first step was to locate the balanced Mic "A" input point of the input channel MOLEX, using a simple continuity meter, starting at the PAD input switch, and tracing that back to the channel edge connector, then to the bank of 4 x 12 pin MOLEX connectors associated with the input module. I've wired up the Mic A input to the corresponding MOLEX pins with a temporary lead and an inline XLR connector. The next step is to inject a sine wave and trace the path through the channel, and over to the Master Section, by probing the motherboard backplane connectors..Then once the signal is traced through the Master Sections, it's off to the 12 pin MOLEX banks looking for connection points that will then be wired to the pre-installed rear panel XLR banks.... the last few pictures were taken of the power supply before the service regimen. I cannot stress enough that the power supply should always receive the utmost attention in the form of preventative maintenance, otherwise it will kill your console or burn your studio to the ground. doinkdedoink

a nice memory of 2009 before 'envelopeaudio' became 'whitbyabbeyanalogue'. I built some custom preamps that were rush delivered to the MTS centre in Winnipeg to be used on the New Kids On The Block tour...I am not a fan of the "new kids", but electrons dont care, the electrons did their job very well, and I appreciated the patronage of the NKOTB team.

A shootout to end the day. Today we have a recapped and serviced (as good as new) CHANDLER EMI Abbey Road Special Edition TG Channel vs. a genuine EMI channel strip from 1970. Although the EMI channel is not from ABBEY ROAD recording studio proper, it has the same lineage and design elements and was from an EMI transfer console that has had Beatles Masters run through them...

McCurdy ATS100 $300 cash local sale. one of the finest, most precise and versatile VU/PPM metering test sets. calibrated. I have too many for my needs these days.