Peavey VC/L-2 frequency response

[jkurzweg]

So I've owned a few tube comps over the years including CL1bs etc -- I've always liked the sound of the Peavey VCL2 , at least when gain reduction is hovering around 2 to 4db----Anyway -- While mine doesn't sound thin, Ive noticed a bit lacking in the subs sometimes (sometimes a good thing!) and finally took a look in plugindoctor, and low and behold it's rolling off starting above 500 hz - about 5 db down at 100 hz and about 10 db down at 50hz. Is this normal for this unit , or do I need to recap etc?
Appreciate any owners looking at theirs with a scope or software etc and letting me know if this is ok or something I should get looked at --
- Thanks in advance!

 

[Khron]

do I need to recap etc?

Well, the thing seems to be in its third decade of life/use, so a recap wouldn't be at all undue, indeed... Especially since I'm pretty sure it's NOT exactly chock-full of Japanese electrolytics...

 

[JohnRoberts]

Capacitors losing electrolyte and capacitance are obvious suspects for loss of LF response in aging SKUs. I am not aware of anything magical about Japanese electrolytic capacitors delivering longer life, while we used capacitors from multiple different vendors and truckloads of sundry Japanese components that often delivered above average performance.

When reviewing capacitor health an obvious metric is capacitance and path frequency response (especially at LF). If you identify a weak lossy capacitor replace all the same value capacitors in the entire product as they are likely from the same batch and in similar marginal shape, so suspect.

JR