weird electronics idea for desecrating legacy gear

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andyfromdenver

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
Messages
359
Location
Athens, GA
I don't know why it just struck me. 

*and this may cause some members to spin around violently swinging their arms like a human tornado destroying all in their path.*
 
Would it be cool/has anyone done an LA2A with led meters? I suppose you would need two rows for GR and Output?  Suppose you made a cool recreation of the original, with some kind of 80s punk rock electronics-ish looking front panel?  done in a cool style.  yet have the guts of the classic.

I think I would like that for my own personal diy thing, if the rest of the front panel suited the look.  crazy??

maybe I will try and draw something... :eek:
 
if this elicits even a single lol, it will make up for the 2,000 eyerolls.  ;D

mostly, i think it would be a good learning electronics project for me to inc led meters, though i'll probably go old-school.
 
I had 10 years of LOL for a project. It didn't stop me.  That's exactly the point of DIY. Make it the way you want it.
 
I asked this once, years ago.

Our esteemed forum member SSLtech provided an excellent response about what made it very tricky to implement.  It was partly to do with losing the galvanic isloation provided by the transformers if I recall correctly.

I had a quick search but couldn't find the thread.  It should be in here somewhere though.
 
like, like, like.  hahaha!  Thanks guys. 

Rob, if SSLtech finds it tricky, I know it is way out of my depth at this time.  Thanks! I'll search for that.

edit it: found the thread, thank you.
https://groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=45007.msg563370#msg563370
 
I think in the original design the VU meter was unbuffered and would add distortion to the signal if left in VU mode while in use (should be in GR mode). With modern meters than have high impedance buffers this isn't an issue.
 
How accurate is the VU meter in displaying GR on an LA 2A?  I have Tubetech LCA 2B and the LED is peak accurate.  I like the display better than  a slowed down VU.  But if u sell your DIY  LA 2 , u will have trouble if it doesn't look original.


 
andyfromdenver said:
Would it be cool/has anyone done an LA2A with led meters? I suppose you would need two rows for GR and Output?  Suppose you made a cool recreation of the original, with some kind of 80s punk rock electronics-ish looking front panel?  done in a cool style.  yet have the guts of the classic.
It would not be more sacrilegious than replacing a vacuum valve with silicon rectifiers, IMO.
The consequence of such modifications do not alter the sonic signature in a significant manner - one may argue it does, but in a positive manner.
I hate seeing gear being made today using those ugly round Weston-type meters.
 
abbey road d enfer said:
I hate seeing gear being made today using those ugly round Weston-type meters.

I don't like cheap DC meters masquerading as VU meters but I would argue a VU meter is a better way to meter an LA2A than a PPM meter.
 
abbey road d enfer said:
IMO, for a compressor,  nothings beats the dbx160 non-VU, with its dual row of Led's; the GR display has instant response and the level is PPM-like.

Well. Don't speak so soon. Something with dual row of LED is just going through subjective testing now.

Stay tuned.
 
I've had a few different ideas concerning new ways to rehash legacy stuff.

For example an 1176 with variable ratio. We could also gang tn input control to a reverse output control  effectively giving it a Variable threshold.  Sure lets get rid of the VU in favor of an led string for GR and Level.

Nothing wrong with taking existing building blocks everyone is using and adding a new twist to them.
 
pucho812 said:
I've had a few different ideas concerning new ways to rehash legacy stuff.

For example an 1176 with variable ratio.
Like the LA Audio Classic Comp?
http://www.barryrudolph.com/mix/laaudio.html
Incidentally, I noticed there is a lot of confudsion about the LA Audio products; very often people think they are directly related to UREI, because of the LA2/3 names.
The name LA comes from Larkin Audio, a brand created by Don Larkin for a line of signal processing gear designed by a man named Guy Martin. The brand petered out and was purchased by SCV International, and integrated in the portfolio of SCV London.
 
abbey road d enfer said:
Like the LA Audio Classic Comp?
http://www.barryrudolph.com/mix/laaudio.html
Incidentally, I noticed there is a lot of confudsion about the LA Audio products; very often people think they are directly related to UREI, because of the LA2/3 names.
The name LA comes from Larkin Audio, a brand created by Don Larkin for a line of signal processing gear designed by a man named Guy Martin. The brand petered out and was purchased by SCV International, and integrated in the portfolio of SCV London.

I knew of la audio but not of that specific unit.
 
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Feast your eyes upon  something you have never seen before. The bearded lady
The Leveling Amplifier
  Model KI-TT

I did it!
I hope you like it, no negative remarks, I'm very proud of it.

*bows*
Thank you very much!
8) ;D

Andy
 

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Well done Andy! I've been following your journey on this one since the start, really glad to hear you were able to crack it. Do you have any video of it in action?
 

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