orban 111b spring reverb power

Hi, I just got me a 111b reverb shipped from the US.

The sticker on the back says it wants 115/230 V 50/60 Hz

but that seems to defy logic since it sure doesn't have a switched power supply and there is no switch to switch between voltages..

Anyone know what to do?

Thanks,
hejsan

ftp://orban.com/111B/

The short story is, you have to rewire the primaries of the power transformer from parallel to series.

Thought so.
I was hoping there would be a well hidden switch somewhere inside, it looks a bit tight around the power transformer.

Thanks :thumb:

Is that the 'parasound' one with the floating threshold (switchable) input limiter? -If so, good going!

The floating threshold (IIRC) was there to "eat" into sudden transients, softening the attack, no matter what the signal level. It did a good job of cuting down on the "splashiness" of percussive attacks, though on VERY percussive stuff, it couldn't do much of course...

Nice unit though... I have a particular affection for the Orban parasound spring reverb.

Keith

I don't know about "parasound" but yes it does have a switchable floating/fixed limiter.

Good to know it is well liked :thumb:

Would you only have it switched to floating if the material is percussive?

The light-blue color of the orban units is so sweet, it's gives the rack a very quality-ish look :green:

[quote author="SSLtech"]
Nice unit though... I have a particular affection for the Orban parasound spring reverb.[/quote]

Me too. That's why I own two of them. I've been a proud user of the 111B since the '80s... Even back then, digital reverb grated on my nerves, but the Orban was smooth.

That "floating threshold" limiter is the mutt's nuts, for sure. I always had it switched on.

Did you just win that on eBay? I had my eye on that one.

Cheers,
Zach

[quote author="NewYorkDave"]That "floating threshold" limiter is the mutt's nuts, for sure. I always had it switched on.[/quote]
Yep. Like a transient designer before it's time... set into the spring send.

Very clever.

Springs can sound supremely large in stereo, specially 'wide' at the bottom end... but not keen on sudden shocks. ...Kinda like an ex of mine, in fact...

Keith

[quote author="usekgb"]Did you just win that on eBay? I had my eye on that one.

Cheers,
Zach[/quote]
It is some weeks ago now, anyhow I've found out there's almost always one on ebay so it shouldn't be hard to get one. Expect to pay between 150 and 300 depending on how "AS-IS" it looks, although 300 is on the high side.

I powered it up.
All voltages read fine, but the power neon bulb is intermittent.

What could cause this? The voltage it is getting is about 113V and the bulb body says 125V, Could undervoltage be the reason?

Thanks,
hejsan

neons have a turn-on threshold ('strike' voltage) which usually increases with age in my experience. There's nothing significant in flickery neons, they just get that way with age.

-And if the Neon was made to light at either 120V OR 240V (in other words if it gets the full raw voltage in either primary configuration) then I would EXPECT it to flicker in 115V mode, since that's right at the bottom of its acceptance window.

Keith

Ok, thanks :guinness:

Wierdest thing was that one time it came on in a bit of warm up time, but when I put my finger close to it, without touching the bulb, it went out but came back when I took my finger away :?:

Someone care to explain? Quantum physics? Rocket science?

I've known flourescent lights do something basically very similar.

Nothing to worry about though. It rarely happens with 240V gear since the neon strike voltage is usualy rated at 90V or under. However, in 110Volt-land, by the time you've added a current limiting resistor, old neons can get cranky and flickery, so in the US I see flickery neons all the time, whereas in the UK I basically never did.

Odd thing is that a lady once brought me a Hafler amsp with a flickery power neon and told me that her old tech said that it was an indication that the amp needed a complete service. Every 4 or 5 years he used to "replace all the output transistors, because that's what the flickering neon was indicating was bad". She used to pay a couple of hundred bucks for this. On investigation inside the amp, the transistors and their soldering looked to be original, but the neon had been replaced at least one time (and I'm betting probably more!)

I reckon he was ripping her off, but people will believe that sort of crap.

Keith

wow, that's evil.

I'm just gonna keep the flickering neon and look at it as a sign of true vintage mojo :thumb: :green:

Thanks for your answers.

I have two 111B's that I modified pretty extensively.
I find the stock electronics are high-passed too aggressivly and the top is harsh. I don't like the limiter, but it is kind of cool. I suggest hard wireing the limiter for "floating" and reusing the switch to implement a true bypass to the limiter. there is no way to bypass it as stock, I gaurantee you won't be using it often onece you hear what it is like without. I use an 1178LN as a dedicated pre-limiter to reduce splashiness and increase density. any fast limiter will work. ashly cl-52 is good for this on the cheap. or plugin limiters if you roll like that.

the mechanical spring assembly is very cool, but the box needs damping added. I have converted my units to mono, using both channel's springs. I put the drive coils in parallel and the pickups in series. flipping the relative polarity between the returns yeilds 2 different sounds. I added a switch to short one set of pickup coils, to get the stock 6-spring sound.

the output transformers in these things are a joke. the headroom is much better once they are removed. they are using balanced opamp drive, so just remove the transformers and replce with good el-caps. there are ceramic coupling caps that need to go, and IMO the input stage needs to be rebuilt. thats where I want a transformer, not the output. 10k:10k loaded with a pot, wiper to the drive amp. OP275 works in the stock drive amp circuit nicely.

once the low end is restored by upping a few of the coupling caps it starts to sound more like a plate.

EDIT: and neither of my neon buls are working

Ok, thanks for the info.
I won't be doing any modding right away though, I'll see how I like it first.

Thanks,
hejsan

It's funny, one guy (or in this case, two guys) love it as-is, another says it sucks in its stock form.

That pretty much says it all when it comes to forming an opinion based on what people say on the Internet. Trust your own ears above all!