WTB Philips NE5534AN opamps

[kunlun121]

For some projects I am looking to buy a couple of pairs (whatever anyone has and wants to part with, really) of genuine, vintage Philips NE5534 opamps. Doesn't have to be NOS - no problem if pulled from something equally vintage. Signetics would work too, but preferably Philips production.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

What do you expect to learn? I suspect you would make comparisons with current production.

 

[kunlun121]

Indeed. And how it chimes with the TDA1541A in my DAC. I have heard good things about it.

 

[moamps]

Indeed. And how it chimes with the TDA1541A in my DAC. I have heard good things about it.

Is 1541 "two crown" version ? I can send you four pcs of Signetic AN variants from early eighties just for shipping costs.

 

[kunlun121]

Thank you, I'll gladly take your four Signetics. I'll send you a message.

The 1541 chips in these players aren't dual crown. Inside one machine (a DAC) is a 'regular' TDA1541A. My Philips CD player has an older TDA1541 chip, without the "A". I'll be looking for a 1541A for that one though (no crown, single or dual crown - all good but would depend on price). Another DAC I own has a single crown 1541 mounted on a socket for easy swapping. I'm looking forward to find out if it is in fact any better than the regular 1541A.

 

[radiance]

Might have some Philips / Signetics 5532's, if that's of any help...

 

[kunlun121]

Thanks for the offer. I'm looking for the singles tho.

 

[mjrippe]

Can you define "vintage"? If you mean anything over 25 years old, then I have some '95/'96 Philips 5534N, made in Thailand. Also a lot of '80s Signetics. Not sure it is worth shipping them overseas though.

 

[kunlun121]

Thanks for responding. I'd consider that vintage yes - as long as they're made by Philips or Signetics and not in some counterfeit producing shop in China. moamps has kindly sent me some 80s Signetics, so I'm covered for now. Maybe I'm interested in the Signetics as backup. Are they AN or N? I would have taken the Philips off your hands if they were AN rather than N suffix. I'll try and see if the platform lets me change the thread title to reflect that.

 

[kunlun121]

Thread title changed

 

[13engrsapper]

For some projects I am looking to buy a couple of pairs (whatever anyone has and wants to part with, really) of genuine, vintage Philips NE5534 opamps. Doesn't have to be NOS - no problem if pulled from something equally vintage. Signetics would work too, but preferably Philips production.

I have some - let me dig around. I think our Studer 963 was full of them (mid eighties production)

 

[kunlun121]

Thanks. Let me know if you find them.

 

[mjrippe]

I had to double-check, the 4 on the Philips looks like an "A"!
Philips are 5534N
Signetics are 5534AN

 

[13engrsapper]

it would take awhile to figure out how many we have - ours look like 89-93 production mostly.

 

[clintrubber]

Thanks for the offer. I'm looking for the singles tho.

Understood you've already found enough 5534's,

but veryFWIW, in case you're not socket-restricted and you're looking for the 5534 because of the available compensation pins (which the 5532 doesn't have),
the 5533 is then also a candidate. Pretty likely though that you find thousands of the right 5534 before you find one 5533

 

[13engrsapper]

This is just from one Studer 963 console - we did three consoles worth of channels. I should probably list some of these as for sale items.

 

[kunlun121]

I sent you a pm

 

[ricardo]

circa 1979/1980, there was a shortage of Mullard/Philips NE5534AN. At Calrec, we set up a test jig to select plain 5534s which met the stricter 5534AN noise specs for Mike Preamps & Virtual Earth Mixers.
We found EVERY SINGLE Mullard 5534 we tested (including the dual 5532s) easily met the 5534AN standard. I must have personally tested more than a 100.
At that time, all 5534s/5532s came from the Mullard Southampton factory. The 5534 was invented by Mullard (Philips, UK) as the TDA1034 and we were Beta testers.
In the 1990s, I did a another commercial design, after more than a decade away from electronic design. Alas, by that time, the Southampton factory was no more.
The 5534/2s I could buy were all from Thailand (TI & Signetics if IIRC) and (at least for noise) weren't a patch on the originals.

Vintage 5534/2s, hand crafted by Southampton virgins from solid BS, have much better clarity & definition bla bla than lesser devices but I only have hard evidence on noise performance.

 

[moamps]

........
the 5533 is then also a candidate. Pretty likely though that you find thousands of the right 5534 before you find one 5533 ....

I have 5533 in only N version...and no footprint and symbol in Eagle..

 

[clintrubber]

Vintage 5534/2s, hand crafted by Southampton virgins from solid BS, have much better clarity & definition bla bla than lesser devices but I only have hard evidence on noise performance.

No idea about all places where the 5534/2 have been produced by Philips over the years. FWIW, at least there has been one additional European location, as concluded from the stopping of the production at Caen (the known plant fire).

Possibly Caen virgins are more soft-spoken than those from Southampton, who knows that also translates to noise performance