How did it take me so long to find this Forum? Hi everyone!

[HeavyD]

Wow, who would have thought I'd be so late to the party(Forum)!

I'll stop there before embarrassing myself anymore but so Happy to have found this valuable asset in regards to Phase Linear products.
Without further ado, I am the original owner of (2) PL 400 Series 1 along with a PL4000 pre -amp, (1973-74 vintage). Since its been many years since I've actually had everything hooked up and going, I'm some what hesitant to do so now without some caution. I think the last piece of equipment I added was a Yamaha DSP1( must be 25-30 years ago).

Other equipment of similar vintage besides the PL400's and 4000, are (2) Carver 500 t amps and three pair of Bose 901's (series I, II and IV, if my memory serves me correctly). Im not as concerned about possible issues with the 500 t's as I am with the PL400's....

Anyways, since being retired now, I have some time on my hands and figure I might know enough to try my hand at some upgrades with plenty of guidance from all of you find folks here???
Thank you for the add to this Forum!

 

[marcok]

Ciao from Italy !
Be careful with PL 4000 . It has some design issues , but
I can help you to fix it , since I restored two units .
Marco

 

[Lazarus Short]

WELCOME!

 

[e30m3mon]

Welcome to the best PL forum on the web! I also retired and have slowly been rebuilding my old audio equipment, started with the 400 II and been going through the rest as I have time.
If you’re considering to rebuild your PL amps, I recommend you visit the White Oak Audio Design website and start shopping! https://www.whiteoakaudio.com/ …and then start a thread in the WOPL section. Good luck!
Not affiliated with them, but I am a very satisfied customer.

 

[J!m]

Welcome to the dark side.

The techs, geeks and engineers here will get you sorted. Or drive you insane.

 

[MarkWComer]

Welcome!

Be careful when starting those old amp heads up after such a long time. Old leaky filter capacitors, and PL didn’t put any speaker protection relays into them.

 

[MarkWComer]

Welcome to the best PL forum on the web! I also retired and have slowly been rebuilding my old audio equipment, started with the 400 II and been going through the rest as I have time.
If you’re considering to rebuild your PL amps, I recommend you visit the White Oak Audio Design website and start shopping! https://www.whiteoakaudio.com/ …and then start a thread in the WOPL section. Good luck!
Not affiliated with them, but I am a very satisfied customer.

And don’t forget Don’s protection relays…
www.wattsabundant.com

 

[e30m3mon]

And don’t forget Don’s protection relays…
www.wattsabundant.com

yes…my bad. Thank you.

 

[HeavyD]

Could be my memory is shot but it's been a looong time since anything has been on line. My equip hasn't been put away but it's more of a conversation piece for many years.....I guess in a word, it all still "looks" good...lol
I'll get a few pictures up as time goes by.

Although my Bose speakers have remained hung from the ceiling, I'm sure they could use some work on the driver's also....(ie...recone) which looks fairly time consuming when multiplied by 6....6x9= 54, yikes! Just something else to open up and look into.

Thank you for the offer on the 4000....I know I was having issues with the Joystick for the right channel and some additional switch issues, so yes, I'll take any and all info on that.

Funny when I think about first starting out, how the big deal back then was 4 channel audio( Discreet and Matrix)...still have a 4 channel reel to reel....so it would be nice to get my 4000 back up to speed.

Once again.....Thank you for the Welcome

 

[J!m]

what 4-track do you have?

I had a Teac A-3340s years ago (long gone now) but I used it for tracking, not as a 4-channel playback system.

 

[MarkWComer]

Off the beaten path, but my curiosity is leading me to a quadraphonic 8-track player…

 

[marcok]

Could be my memory is shot but it's been a looong time since anything has been on line. My equip hasn't been put away but it's more of a conversation piece for many years.....I guess in a word, it all still "looks" good...lol
I'll get a few pictures up as time goes by.

Although my Bose speakers have remained hung from the ceiling, I'm sure they could use some work on the driver's also....(ie...recone) which looks fairly time consuming when multiplied by 6....6x9= 54, yikes! Just something else to open up and look into.

Thank you for the offer on the 4000....I know I was having issues with the Joystick for the right channel and some additional switch issues, so yes, I'll take any and all info on that.

Funny when I think about first starting out, how the big deal back then was 4 channel audio( Discreet and Matrix)...still have a 4 channel reel to reel....so it would be nice to get my 4000 back up to speed.

Once again.....Thank you for the Welcome

No discrete input on PL 4000 ; only matrix + logic ( ambience ) function .
It's a stereo preamp with 4 output , but volume control is stereo .
It works also with normal stereo programs .
Ciao
Marco

 

[Wheel-right]

Off the beaten path, but my curiosity is leading me to a quadraphonic 8-track player…

Came across this a while back Mark,

Quadraphonic 8-track Tape & Players - 8-Track Heaven (8trackheaven.com)

 

[MarkWComer]

Came across this a while back Mark,

Quadraphonic 8-track Tape & Players - 8-Track Heaven (8trackheaven.com)

Yeah, I found that, too. 8-track (and open reel) seems to be the best medium for quad, and for 8-track, no cutting songs in half.

 

[HeavyD]

Thinking back, I used the 4000 as my preamp back in my "Quad" days but it was used via the different add ons( I remember the Matrix processor, Sony SQD2020 but the Discreet processor slips my mind now).

And yes, I did have a Quad 8 tract tape deck, a Pioneer( it still might be in the attic someplace along with those quad processors). The open feel is a Pioneer QT 74.....still looks cool with the 4 vu meters on the front panel!
Back when I got that Yamaha DSP1, I used it to its full capacity, 8 channels altogether( main L/R, front Surrround L/R and rear L/R. It has a Sub out and Center channel out which I used a couple mono amps for). I only mention this to lead into another blast from the past.....my Bose were used as my main speakers but I had some, are you ready for this, Roger Sound Labs mini monitors as the surround speakers and a RSL sub woofer. Most everything else was purchased via Pacific Stereo and Federated(Fred Rated, as they use to say).
The good old days....I

PS......I know for sure I still have some old Quad 8 tract tapes, the Doors sounded pretty darn good in quad....I had quad deck in my '74 Camaro too!

 

[62vauxhall]

Off the beaten path, but my curiosity is leading me to a quadraphonic 8-track player…

Hearing a quad 8 track was good - rigging up a 4 channel system for playback was not. Second amp, second pair of speakers and necessary wires and cables strung out across the room.

I had a Zenith Quadraphonic 8 track player for a time to experiment with then sold it for $25. Also had a half dozen Q8 tapes. Sold five of them for over $100US on ebay. Primarily for the Q8 Black Sabbath - Paranoid album.

I still have a Q8 tape of Henry Mancini and Doc Severensen that nobody wanted.

 

[Gepetto]

Hearing a quad 8 track was good - rigging up a 4 channel system for playback was not. Second amp, second pair of speakers and necessary wires and cables strung out across the room.

I had a Zenith Quadraphonic 8 track player for a time to experiment with then sold it for $25. Also had a half dozen Q8 tapes. Sold five of them for over $100US on ebay. Primarily for the Q8 Black Sabbath - Paranoid album.

I still have a Q8 tape of Henry Mancini and Doc Severensen that nobody wanted.

View attachment 69928 View attachment 69929

Who could not want that??

 

[HeavyD]

I have the theme from "Shaft" on a quad open reel.....that too sounded pretty wild in 4 channel! Surprised to hear those old Quad 8 tracts are still wanted....mmmmm!
Just as an after thought, I have some pretty fond memories of traveling down to Tower Records( down on Sunset Blvd) almost every Payday to see their latest Quad offerings.

 

[Vintage 700b]

Welcome Heavy D,
Great people here, and lots of knowledge and talent!

 

[MarkWComer]

Apologies to @HeavyD for hijacking his post…

You can empty your IRA for a quad 8-track of “Dark Side of the Moon” if you can find one. Rare and highly collectible!

Yeah… I’ve been searching…