Expat Audio Cavendish board & Serpent Audio SB4000

Hello!

I`d like to build an SSL-clone this year, and I have been drawn to the SB4000 by Serpent Audio, as it seems to me as the most updated PCB for the SSL bus compressor. I am also intruiged by the idea of using API output transformers with the Expat Audio Cavendish board. But are the two compatible?

I belive the cavendish replaces a pair of ne5534's on the ssl, so most likely. There's a build guide on expats site for the cavendish that shows where it goes in the circuit. See if the sb4000 schem includes the same opamps performing the same function as the gssl.

I don't have technical prowess beyond that.

Well it does use 5532/5534`s in there (I find them in the BOM), but anything else is beyond me. Can`t really find a schematic, nor would I know what to look for if I did.

If it uses 5534's on the input, and 5532s on the output, with pins 1 and 7 connecting through to the output pins of the XLR (via a capacitor and a resistor on each leg) then it sounds like it should work just fine.

Since Serpent are not sharing the schematic, you should possibly pose the question to them and report back with your answer.

I anticipate that they really just copied the GSSL and added the Expat-type 'upgrades' like the Turbo, and PSU improvement, and then added an LED meter (I can't stand the resolution  limitations of LED meters in this application myself, but that's a personal preference!), but it would be better if you were to confirm that, rather than basing a conclusion on my assumption.

Keith

The SB4000 schematic is shared elsewhere on the forum so I presume there's no harm in sharing it here.

Looking at the diagram, yes, it'll work exactly as the GSSL does.

It is in fact a pin-for-pin copy of the GSSL, with options built in.

Great, thanks for the info guys!