looking for Tonelux V Rack console service documentation

[zzzzz]

TL;DR: does anyone happen to have copies of 2000s era Tonelux V Rack Modular console manuals and/or service docs? Thank you!

Background:

Our studio has had a modular Tonelux V Rack console in our A Room since 2008ish. Despite the format being abandoned, it is a great sounding unit. Obviously Paul’s designs have evolved into Fix / Wolff Audio and are wonderful, so no surprised that his older Tonelux stuff holds up.

However, we have lost ALL documentation for the console. It was all hosted online many years ago and now that’s long gone. I have a couple of pages of back panel hookup I/O diagrams but that is all.

Over the past few years we’ve been having some issues develop with modules, routing, etc. I brute-force recapped an EQ and that brought it back to life, but obviously that’s not ideal (bipolar electros were way out of spec — 2000s capacitor plague victims?). It would be great to have actual schematics and documents for these modules to do proper repairs and diagnosis.

We have reached out to Paul directly and also PMI who currently own the Tonelux brand, of course.

 

[pucho812]

I am willing to bet they didn't hand any of that out...

 

[zzzzz]

I am willing to bet they didn't hand any of that out...

my thoughts as well but you never know what could show up

 

[paulcheeba]

I had invested quite early and it was a great sounding mixer and I wanted to expand but I hated the connection board on the back and then the PMI fiasco of turning it into a cheap 500 brand like all the rest. I sold it at a loss and regretted it. I had transformers on every input channel and loved the auxes and groups but it was faulty op amps that were a problem. So glad I didn't buy the full size one PMI were trying to shift cheap after a Music Messe. God only knows how that connected. I hope Paul Wolff helps you out but it was still experimental I feel.

 

[zzzzz]

I had invested quite early and it was a great sounding mixer and I wanted to expand but I hated the connection board on the back and then the PMI fiasco of turning it into a cheap 500 brand like all the rest. I sold it at a loss and regretted it. I had transformers on every input channel and loved the auxes and groups but it was faulty op amps that were a problem. So glad I didn't buy the full size one PMI were trying to shift cheap after a Music Messe. God only knows how that connected. I hope Paul Wolff helps you out but it was still experimental I feel.

It’s a great sounding board and has largely treated us very well. Hundreds of records mixed on it and in use every day.

As far as I know we haven’t had any known issues with opamps, but I did have a quiet MX2 line amp (transformerless) come back to life after blindly swapping a socketed DIP8 opamp (this was 5 years ago)

When you say faulty opamps, do you mean the potted discrete ones? Or ICs? Likewise, what issues did you run into?

 

[JohnRoberts]

Paul Wolff is still a member here (his handle is "fix") but I haven't seen him around lately.

JR

 

[paulcheeba]

It’s a great sounding board and has largely treated us very well. Hundreds of records mixed on it and in use every day

When you say faulty opamps, do you mean the potted discrete ones? Or ICs? Likewise, what issues did you run into?

It certainly is great sounding. I mixed and mastered possibly our best sounding CD album with 16 Calrec J series channels and 8 1061's into the Tonelux. I sold all of it as Tonelux died a sad death and the Calrec was replaced in a moment of madness. I plan to put the J series circuits on here and hopefully get a DIY project going, they are my favourite BBC channels of all. IAA built me a great sounding 500 prototype that even with Lundahl transformers, SMD components and a cinemag custom coil, it sounded 95% the same surprisingly.

Yes the potted op amp's were prone to burning out as I was sent a bunch of spares and heard reports from others but were great sounding and I hope the new Fix consoles sound as good. Paul is a great designer. Quite a leap from modern API's sound to Tonelux's vast soundstage.

I'm a total novice at this (electronics) so please bear with me.

 

[zzzzz]

It certainly is great sounding. I mixed and mastered possibly our best sounding CD album with 16 Calrec J series channels and 8 1061's into the Tonelux. I sold all of it as Tonelux died a sad death and the Calrec was replaced in a moment of madness. I plan to put the J series circuits on here and hopefully get a DIY project going, they are my favourite BBC channels of all. IAA built me a great sounding 500 prototype that even with Lundahl transformers, SMD components and a cinemag custom coil, it sounded 95% the same surprisingly.

Yes the potted op amp's were prone to burning out as I was sent a bunch of spares and heard reports from others but were great sounding and I hope the new Fix consoles sound as good. Paul is a great designer. Quite a leap from modern API's sound to Tonelux's vast soundstage.

I'm a total novice at this (electronics) so please bear with me.

Good to know. I’ve also been curious about the small little potted / gooped SIP style modules on the boards. I assume those are dead in the water if they ever go bad.

Some friends have a Fix / Wolff Audio board and have nothing but great things to say about it. Paul is a very nice dude and always happy to use his products.

 

[alanhyatt]

I had invested quite early and it was a great sounding mixer and I wanted to expand but I hated the connection board on the back and then the PMI fiasco of turning it into a cheap 500 brand like all the rest. I sold it at a loss and regretted it. I had transformers on every input channel and loved the auxes and groups but it was faulty op amps that were a problem. So glad I didn't buy the full size one PMI were trying to shift cheap after a Music Messe. God only knows how that connected. I hope Paul Wolff helps you out but it was still experimental I feel.

Actually, Paul Wolff designed the 500 Series products. The reason we moved away from the V Series was it was not an accepted format vs the 500 Series. Sales were low, and we could not continue to manufacture the V-Series or the 28 Series Consoles based on sales being low. The configuration to interface and hook up everything was very confusing to the novice user. So Paul and myself decided to terminate the V-Series, and Paul designed the 500 Tonelux modules....which he still buys from us! I did try to sell the Console in Germany cheap because it was $1,200.00 to ship it back to the USA. We still have the Tonelux 500 Series and are introducing some new 19" rack products by mid to end of this year. I don't consider turning the V-Series to the 500 Series format a fiasco. It was sound business sense, and we have sold a lot of them. I do have some schematics and other documents. I don't have manuals or service manuals as Paul never did them. I am happy to supply you with what I have, or you can sill contact Paul at Wolf Audio. While Paul and I no longer work together, we remain good friends. Email me at [email protected] for any documents you are looking for.