Stephens Phase Linear 400--In for the works.

Northwinds

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The PL light boards also contained the meter drives. And this is Joe's latest LED light board release, nere's the release notes.....

Unfortunately, I can't open those attachments. When Debbie reinstalled Windows, something do not go right and I am missing a bunch of drivers. I don't even have sound on this PC now. Everytime it boots up, it says found new hardware but there is no way to install it, it asks for a cd for the audio card when it never needed it before. Hopefully she will redo this because frankly, I am ready to toss this PC out in the road. I will try to get on my laptop later to read it
 

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BubbaH

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Unfortunately, I can't open those attachments. When Debbie reinstalled Windows, something do not go right and I am missing a bunch of drivers. I don't even have sound on this PC now. Everytime it boots up, it says found new hardware but there is no way to install it, it asks for a cd for the audio card when it never needed it before. Hopefully she will redo this because frankly, I am ready to toss this PC out in the road. I will try to get on my laptop later to read it
Sounds like you need some drivers for a few things inside. Depending on how old it is, sometimes the only way to find drivers is to look at the make and serial number directly on the card. If you have onboard sound, you need to find the motherboard drivers, also will need to look at the mobo make and serial find which you need.
 

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Here Ron, this is what is in the PDF.


1. Created meter model to allow consistent and unified physical placement of LEDs associated with each meter. Added silkscreen tick mark to allow accurate centering of the LED assembly jig.
2. Added notch below each meter round to provide extra clearance for some of the earlier meter types that had larger rounds.
3. Added slotted meter mounting holes in 4 places to allow for slight side to side dimensional tolerance in the mounting of the meters which is quite common with the PL400 meter mounting method.
4. Added full wave rectifier circuit to the meter drive circuit to provide more accurate reflection the music output in the resulting meter current
5. Changed rectifiers to Schottky rectifier types (BAT46) to minimize dead spot due to diode forward voltage at lower amplifier output levels. The Schottky diodes exhibit ~0.1V forward voltage drop vs 0.65V for the standard silicon diodes.
6. Added user jumper option on each meter to provide for classic half wave rectification meter operation or full wave rectification modes.
7. Full wave rectification provides a 6dB meter sensitivity increase. Provides more responsive meter movements at lower listening levels. Similar to the -20dB switch on the PL700B amplifier.
8. With shunt in jumper positions 1-2, the meters work in full wave rectification mode. Meter sensitivity is 6dB higher (2x) than stock PL400. Boards are shipped in this jumper position.
9. With shunt in jumper positions 2-3, the meters work in classic half wave rectification mode. Meter sensitivity = stock PL400.
10. Added high frequency boost circuit option to allow greater sensitivity to higher frequency signals. Recommended (and installed) values are 3.3K in series with 0.047uF. The 3dB point of this meter boost circuit is ~1KHz. These values can be tailored by the user, it is a preference item. With the recommended values, a boost of approximately 12dB is provide for signals with frequencies of 2KHz and above. To disable this boost circuit, simply remove R10 and R13 (the only vertically oriented resistors on the board).
11. Added plus and minus symbols on the silkscreen artwork for each meter lead connection.
12. Added red and black test points (V+ and Ground respectively) for the rectified and filtered DC voltage that supplies the LED power.
13. Normalized the pads that connect to the amplifier in EXACT same order as the stock PL400 PL18A light board. The L and R meter connections are reversed from the Revision A board. Re-ordered the pad numbering to PAD 1-5 from lower left to upper right to make wiring more intuitive.
14. Overall, improved upon the already high quality of the RevA board in the creation of the RevB artwork by making small moves of components to improve assembly clearances, shorten and widen traces, increase trace clearances, improve signal integrity and minimize vias.
15. Wiring from amplifier to Light Board RevB is as follows:
a. PAD1 = RED, right channel output
b. PAD2 = WHITE, left channel output
c. PAD3 = BLACK, amplifier star point ground
d. PAD4 = GRAY, AC1 from the main transformer (sometimes these leads are green or some other color)
e. PAD5 = GRAY, AC2 from the main transformer (sometimes these leads are green or some other color)
f. The last 2 AC wires are interchangeable, no polarity involved.
 

Northwinds

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Sounds like you need some drivers for a few things inside. Depending on how old it is, sometimes the only way to find drivers is to look at the make and serial number directly on the card. If you have onboard sound, you need to find the motherboard drivers, also will need to look at the mobo make and serial find which you need.
It's a Soundblaster Platinum Live 24 bit. Found the driver but the computer won't let me download it (stops when it's almost loaded) so it's missing a integral driver that allows drivers to be installed LOL. Debbie will probably F disc and reload Windows today. Last time she used the Express install which I think is the main issue

Thanks for posting the attachment Ben!
 

Northwinds

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7. Full wave rectification provides a 6dB meter sensitivity increase. Provides more responsive meter movements at lower listening levels. Similar to the -20dB switch on the PL700B amplifier

This is a great idea.... my meters don't even move until I get up to over conversation levels. I had SS amp years ago (Toshiba SC335) with that -20db switch, I liked the option. Especially of you want to wake up the neighbors by switching to the 0db setting with the preamp cranked LMAO. IMO, that Toshiba amp was a little monster that would benefit from the WO touch. Great platform and it has the huge VU meters also. For a 40w per channel amp, it was LOUD and proud



 
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laatsch55

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I hink when Joe decided to do something audio, he picked something with the most potential to improve, and he has a ways to go yet, he says...
 

Northwinds

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I hink when Joe decided to do something audio, he picked something with the most potential to improve, and he has a ways to go yet, he says...
I only mentioned the Toshiba because it was already a good amp, very dynamic and one that flies under the radar because of it 40w per channel rating. It was a really loud bastard, especially driving a pair of Realistic Mach 1's back in the day. Someday I would love to have that system again just for the memories. It would be tough because I used a huge Sharp GF-777Z ghetto blaster for the preamp and the Sharp is now a $500-1000+ to find a clean working one so unless I find one cheap at the fleamarket, that system will have to remain a memory LOL
 

Northwinds

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I passed on a pair of Mach 1's not too long ago. For a very reasonable price too. I just dont need another pair of speakers. Not to mention my power section might be a bit big for those. And I already have a big pair of Cerwins in the garage that need some attention.

http://forums.phxaudiotape.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=8559&d=1367105971
The Mach 1's handle an awful lot of power Ben, I don't think you have to worry on that account. I had a really beatup pair about 8 years ago and the Mark Levinson 333 could not hurt them
 

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Ever since my old man fried his Altec's with the 1801, I been cautious of which speakers I use. The Altecs and the 1801 are the reason he bought the Yorkville speakers 20 years ago. Only thing that has cooked these was the 1801 dc offset.
 

Northwinds

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Yorkvilles.... that rings a bell. I seem to remember them as PA speakers long ago. Didn't Traynor make that line???? They are more then adequate indeed. The Mach 1's only handle around 250-300w at 8 ohms. The Yorkvilles are 4ohm though right?
 

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laatsch55

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A plus one here! 12 gauge power cable - talk about a stiffy. :tongue10:

And I have to personally thank the Larrt for the power cables, another one off things I would not have bought with my money, but would now.....Thanks Larrt....
 

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Waiting on a review......
This is really exciting Lee. I can't wait to hear what the other audiophiles have to say about the amp. I know that Yesterday went quite well as the White Oaked PL kicked ass on the 15 grand mono block high end amp.

It's hard to imagine that a 35 year old amp or so - with Joe's very improved controller board (input stage and AP stage), the back plane upgrade, modern BJTs for the output stage, an improved grounding method, larger power supply reservoir caps, added filtering caps in strategic places and rerouting of wire, can perform to such high levels in todays electronic world. Some of what you've been alluding to in other threads is beginning to make sense.
 
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This is really exciting Lee. I can't wait to hear what the other audiophiles have to say about the amp. I know that Yesterday went quite well as the White Oaked PL kicked ass on the 15 grand mono block high end amp.

It's hard to imagine that a 35 year old amp or so - with Joe's very improved controller board (input stage and AP stage), the back plane upgrade, modern BJTs for the output stage, an improved grounding method, larger power supply reservoir caps, added filtering caps in strategic places and rerouting of wire, can perform to such high levels in todays electronic world. Some of what you've been alluding to in other threads is beginning to make sense.
I'd say at that point you are not looking at neary a 35 year old amp. Maybe a 35 year old PT and chassis but the rest is a very new, modern amp....that kicks ass over older and newer amps from my understanding....
 
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