phase linear 400

[gene french]

just bought a phase linear 400 from ebay...
serial 443-123...i decipher as 123rd phase linear 400 built in april 1973...

thanks
gene french

 

[NeverSatisfied]

Congratulations and welcome aboard. Your first PL amp ?

 

[gene french]

i forgot to ask...will the white oak kit fit this model??

 

[gene french]

Congratulations and welcome aboard. Your first PL amp ?

no sir...my daily driver is a phase linear 200 also early series...in my early 20s i was salivating for the 400....a buddy had one...i was so envious...
now retired....i will do the things i could not in my early family days...lol
thanks for writing...
gene

 

[gene french]

any phase linear advice would be greatly appreciated....

 

[George S.]

Welcome! Post some photos of the back of the amp with the transistor covers (if any) removed.
If you haven't put the power to it yet, you'll want to bring the power up slowly using a variac and dim bulb tester.
If your going to WOPL it with all new parts, then there's no real reason to see if it works at this point.
The upgrade parts are available at White Oak Audio, owned by Joe "Gepetto" who frequents this forum.
There are several threads on building these with all new parts or just patching the old unit.
Lots of information here, read as much as you can. Our threads usually start on point, then meander before getting back to the subject matter. Closely look at the photos of the 400 and 700 builds and compare them to your amp. Lots of good stuff to learn here, and a great hobby.

 

[George S.]

https://www.whiteoakaudio.com/

 

[J!m]

“Meander” is the polite way to say we go completely off the rails…

 

[Vintage 700b]

Welcome aboard Gene!
You will find everything you need for your 400 at the link that George put up. (https://www.whiteoakaudio.com)
With the WOPL upgrades, your 400 will sound better, and be much safer on your speakers than ever before possible.
The speaker protection board comes from Watts Abundant. (http://wattsabundant.com/id24.html) Don is also a regular here.
There is a wealth of information here.....and yes, we are all meandering here! Enjoy!

 

[laatsch55]

Welcome to Phoenix Gene...like they said, need some pics..

 

[gene french]

Welcome to Phoenix Gene...like they said, need some pics..

all i have now are the pics from my purchase on ebay...the unit should be here monday or tuesday...
i will send the pics...thanks for the help!!!

 

[laatsch55]

Coolness..

 

[gene french]

here we go...unit is near pristine...listening to it now...
very happy with the purchase...
looks like the 400c board
clamp caps on power supply...
rectifier on the side too...
pl18 light board with 4 small lamps in the meters...
tell me what you think???
where to start??

 

[George S.]

Very nice! A classic, very clean. However, if it was mine, I'd immediately take it out of my system to save my speakers. Then order the WOAD parts and WOPL it.
At a minimum you need storage caps, control board, new outputs, DC protect board. May as well add the backplane kit, LED light board, and all new wiring while your at it.
Or, run it as it is with cheap speakers and never leave it unattended.

 

[62vauxhall]

Your 400 looks like it's got dark tinted meter lenses.

I too have a 4 fin, also from 1973 made in the month of March I believe. it's meters lenses are darkly tinted. So dark, that when I got it, illumnation was barely detectible. I had to view the bulbs direct on to see if they were actuall lit.

I put in a WO light board but it had blue LED's. Somewhat brighter than before but the lens tint gave the meters a kind of sickly purple/brown colour.
I swapped blue for bright white and the result was good.

 

[laatsch55]

here we go...unit is near pristine...listening to it now...
very happy with the purchase...
looks like the 400c board
clamp caps on power supply...
rectifier on the side too...
pl18 light board with 4 small lamps in the meters...
tell me what you think???
where to start??

Gene, did ya check Bias and Offset yet?

 

[gene french]

Your 400 looks like it's got dark tinted meter lenses.

I too have a 4 fin, also from 1973 made in the month of March I believe. it's meters lenses are darkly tinted. So dark, that when I got it, illumnation was barely detectible. I had to view the bulbs direct on to see if they were actuall lit.

I put in a WO light board but it had blue LED's. Somewhat brighter than before but the lens tint gave the meters a kind of sickly purple/brown colour.
I swapped blue for bright white and the result was good.

Gene, did ya check Bias and Offset yet?

not yet...i couldnt help myself...its hooked up and running....plays perfectly....
i think i will order the protect circuit and big caps first...
not sure if the white oak board will work in mine...they have not answered my email about that...
i have the 400c board according to the service manual layout...

 

[gene french]

Your 400 looks like it's got dark tinted meter lenses.

I too have a 4 fin, also from 1973 made in the month of March I believe. it's meters lenses are darkly tinted. So dark, that when I got it, illumnation was barely detectible. I had to view the bulbs direct on to see if they were actuall lit.

I put in a WO light board but it had blue LED's. Somewhat brighter than before but the lens tint gave the meters a kind of sickly purple/brown colour.
I swapped blue for bright white and the result was good.

thanks for the info...yes...mine are dark as my soul...
i think i will stay with soft white, 2700k set of leds...
i put a set of cool white leds in my pioneer sx1080 and it too is not as bright as i would like...will change the 3 to bulbs to soft white too...
our machines are a month apart...did you put the white oak board??
you should have the 400c board too...
does the wo kit work with that...
thanks

 

[laatsch55]

Yes the White Oak board will work. You have to drill a hole . The Pl14 has two 6-32 screws in the middle of the board, the 400C has 3 in a triangle pattern.

 

[gene french]

mine has the three mounting holes for the board...the c was throwing me off..the documentation at white oak says version e....the documentation also says their kits dont work with the early 400s...dont know which catagory mine falls into...
i have the clamp mounted caps on the side wall...
and it looks like i have the pl 18 light board which can be upgraded...
any thoughts on a speaker protect circuit aftermarket for these units??
i heard they are notorious for hurting speakers...
this unit is new to me...and i am a little scared of it...