No more 60 Hz hum in a PL2000 preamp.

George S.

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That's why I searched for suitable subs. Came up empty. But it's been a year since I last looked. Hopefully one of the smaller niche companies will fill the gap. Later, working.
 

Gepetto

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All have moved to SMT packages. I am sure a suitable sub is available. Do you have the circuit sketched out yet? The subs are all common source and open drain and gate. 5 pin packages.
 

George S.

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All have moved to SMT packages. I am sure a suitable sub is available. Do you have the circuit sketched out yet? The subs are all common source and open drain and gate. 5 pin packages.
Good to know and I'll research it. I'm nowhere close to resuming it now. Too many projects need completed first.
 

George S.

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Are they like the NEC mpa68h? I got some cheap replacements but we’ll see if they hold
Nope, they look different. Offset pins. I'll get back to it in the future. At least I have a L10 to examine now. Waited a little long time until a low priced unit popped up. Wasn't listed last night, was there early this morning. Thanks.
 

George S.

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Listening to digital files with the Acurus L10. First "line level preamp" I've heard. This will remain stock and be used for comparative testing with the PL2000. Then probably go into the garage system to replace a Marantz 3200 that's currently commanding ridiculous money on that auction site.
 

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grapplesaw

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Nice Work George

now my not so well thought out question is have you tried to remove those output caps completely

correct me if I’m wrong but they are there to prevent DC output. And as a result effects output signal

running DCP protection this can get stopped down stream Right

just asking , may be dumb idea or brilliant
 

George S.

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Glenn, that's a question I have thought about a lot.I really don't have a answer, but, I'm going to find out. I really don't understand how output capacitance affects frequency response. Did some reading, but it was too technical for me to understand.
Got four 50 ohm cables built. Was using 75 ohm Monoprice cables.
 

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Gepetto

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The interior, looks original and unmolested. Pulled a knob, heavy solid aluminum, two grub screws. The unit is very similar to the LS11, but no dual FET. Going to button her up, build some more cables, and try to get some testing time in on the QA400 today.
Looks like they just replaced them with the discrete version in TO-92 packages
 

Gepetto

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Nice Work George

now my not so well thought out question is have you tried to remove those output caps completely

correct me if I’m wrong but they are there to prevent DC output. And as a result effects output signal

running DCP protection this can get stopped down stream Right

just asking , may be dumb idea or brilliant
There is likely offset preceding the output capacitor that you do not wish to pass onto the power amp...
 

Hexis22

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There is likely offset preceding the output capacitor that you do not wish to pass onto the power amp...
Agree.

I have observed postings on other sites that people have placed a wire across the caps to A/B/A any subjective audio improvements before or after eliminating output caps. The benifit does not seam to outweigh the potential of the power amp amplifying DC offset.

But also may depend on if your amp has input caps as well...
 
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e30m3mon

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The interior, looks original and unmolested. Pulled a knob, heavy solid aluminum, two grub screws. The unit is very similar to the LS11, but no dual FET. Going to button her up, build some more cables, and try to get some testing time in on the QA400 today.
You realize there is a toroid transformer upgrade project posted in some historical L10 links...possibly Lee's L10. I think you've laid the groundwork for that project to be applied here.
 

George S.

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Got sidetracked today with a coolant leak on the wife's Buick Encore 1.4 Turbo. Plastic coolant manifold seeping and dripping coolant onto transmission. All fixed now.
Well, measuring the Acurus this morning was a eye opener before I got sidetracked. Now have the PL2000 on the right channel, and Acurus on the left channel of the QA400. Very easy to compare them. Going to run through the testing.
 

George S.

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You realize there is a toroid transformer upgrade project posted in some historical L10 links...possibly Lee's L10. I think you've laid the groundwork for that project to be applied here.
Al, good while back I think it was "Kevin" maybe who upgraded Lee's Acurus. Last year or two I copied all the photos from that thread. Lee got a next size larger Triad standard replacement transformer. Haven't seen anything about a toroid in a Acurus. But this one will get no changes. It'll stay stock as a piece of "test equipment".
 

e30m3mon

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Al, good while back I think it was "Kevin" maybe who upgraded Lee's Acurus. Last year or two I copied all the photos from that thread. Lee got a next size larger Triad standard replacement transformer. Haven't seen anything about a toroid in a Acurus. But this one will get no changes. It'll stay stock as a piece of "test equipment".
I might have gotten that transformer type wrong - I also saved the pics for one of those "maybe" projects. Maybe not.
The L10 I bought is working very nicely with the Acurus A250 I got from a friend several years ago. It was a new-in-box "spare" for a customer's home theater that was dismantled. People with big money amaze me when they decide to scrap things.
 

George S.

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O.K., progress. The Frequency Response issue is solved. I had "A Weighting" engaged. There is a flat spectrum response with it off.
But, the PL does have a noise issue. THD is very close between the two units. But THD+N is way high on the PL, and readily visible on the RTA. The Acurus does have a safety cap between chassis and cord ground. The PL has no connection to the IEC socket ground,
Mark L. recommended the Vishay X440 safety caps a while back, I do have some. these are rated X1 and Y2, pretty damn cool that one cap can do both. So I'll install one between Line and Neutral as the X cap, and another between Line and chassis ground as a Y cap. Then retest for noise.
If you look at the screenshots, FFT is at maximum resolution, the fundamental is balanced between the two units and as close to 0 dB as I can get it without clipping the QA400, and averaging is set at 10 to reduce jitter.
The Acurus is the Yellow trace, PL2000 the red trace. Lots of noise between the harmonics. Oh, and the PL is on the right channel of the QA400.
 

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