PL 400 II, 4000 II upgrade

M

master

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#1
Hello everybody, first day and first time here for me. MarkWComer videos made me discover this forum. I own also a PL 4000II, both have not been modified, but need definetively a WOPL upgrade. They are my backup stereo but lately I am more fascinated by them than my first one.
Can anyone tell me why the lettering is reddish and if there is a way to recover it (WOA sells only faceplate for 400) ?
Since both PL's will play togheter, what upgrade would you suggest in order to avoid inbalance in terms of performance? Reason for asking is that I see that the PL400 II can become a Ferrari but the PL 4000 II cannot be improved that much...

Any suggestion on good techs doing maintenance in Italy like you guys in the States are welcome...,



PL 400 Lettering.JPG
 
MarkWComer

MarkWComer

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#2
Why they're brown is anyone's guess...
Here's my gripe: What font is it? Commercial Script comes close, but doesn't bullseye...

The 400 is a worthy upgrade- if you plan to keep it. People go nuts over the 700s, but not as much as the 400s, so upgrade for your pleasure but not necessarily for future profit. It just won't sell for much even though a full WOPL upgrade makes it one of the most excellent amps out there. Pity, though- I absolutely love mine.

The 4000 suffers from design flaws, there's a "plane and daughtercard" architecture to them that's prone to solder joint cracks. I like the Autocorrelator and peak unlimiter features, they do have an effect that I like. HOWEVER- the Autocorrelator on mine has bitten the dust a while ago. I know I should have, but I never did go over it for the solder joints or even the caps. Yeah, smack my fingers for that... I think that overall, the 4000s are just a big pain in the ass despite being a once-was good pre. (Thinking about shopping for a Carver C1 next.)

I haven't opened my 4000 to look yet, but I also wonder about how many obsolete / unobtainable replacement parts I'd find...

Oh- you asked if there would be an "imbalance" in performance. Any preamp will have their own characteristics, those characteristics are then passed to the amp, for the most part they're minor. High level inputs (Tape / CD) are less noisy than phono inputs, and phono preamps differ more widely from one to the other as far as characteristics go (RIAA Eq accuracy, quality of OPAMPS, etc.). So much depends on what you're using as source for your music, whether LPs, tapes, CD, or D/A.

To be absolutely truthful, though, just about any preamp will work with any amp.
 
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WOPL Sniffer

WOPL Sniffer

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Mark, I agree with you 100%

I won't even take in a PL 4000 anymore for work. PITA all the way. I got a guy right now wants me to solder in his boards since one channel keeps cutting out and we know it's a connector. Junk Cheap plastic connectors, they don't hold the metal contacts tight after 40 years and the contact material is cheap too. The bean counters ruined another preamp. I second the C-1/C-11. Easy to upgrade. I'm running one right now and it is excellent. I'm going to upgrade to the new RCA connectors with the custom plate made just for the C-1. They respond super duper (technical term), to the published upgrades (along with the ones I do).

Yep, PL had their own font. My laser dude found it somewhere online.
 
WOPL Sniffer

WOPL Sniffer

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Master, in response to "I own also a PL 4000II, both have not been modified, but need definetively a WOPL upgrade", The WOPL Upgrade is for the 400/700 amp only and does not address the preamps.
 
WOPL Sniffer

WOPL Sniffer

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Well DAMN..... Guess I'm looking for PL T-shirts. Any Ideas??? Maybe a Nice lit up 700B With maybe Phase Linear above it, and WOPL 1000 under it??? MAYBE???
 
WOPL Sniffer

WOPL Sniffer

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Yup, that vintage shirt is cool. If I do it, I'll have something cool designed, If Mark does it, We'll see what he comes up with (providing he WANT's to ).
 
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