custom audio equipment fabrication

Altec 438A – Modified for modern music production use

As we discussed in previous posts, the Altec 438A is an audio compressor designed in the late 1950s primarily for…

13 years ago

Leslie Rotating-Speaker Interface Unit – UPDATED

The Leslie Model 51 is a single-speed, large Leslie unit with 2 amps, a 15" woofer, a rotating horn, and…

13 years ago

RCA OP-6/BA-2 Hybrid Mic Pre Amp: Listening Test/Shootout

Alright!  So earlier this week I described the successful completion of the RCA OP-6/BA-2 microphone preamp.  Check out this previous…

13 years ago

UPDATE: Vacuum Tube Program EQ project – Part 2

The vacuum-tube powered program EQ that I described in this previous post is nearly complete.  This thing has sat on…

13 years ago

Building an (almost) RCA OP6 Mic Preamp

(image source) The RCA OP-6 'Portable Amplifier' is one of a handful of truly visually-iconic vintage mic preamps.   The OP-6…

13 years ago

Altec 436 Compressor: Taming the output level: part 2

In a previous post, we looked at the Altec 436 vari-mu tube compressor.  I built one of these a few…

13 years ago

Altec 436 Compressor: Taming the Output Level

Ah the classic Altec 436C compressor (see here for previous coverage on PS dot com). Here's a fresh high-res scan…

14 years ago

Recent Custom-Build Stereo Amplifier (Home Use)

Above: a very minimal single-ended stereo amplifier with very low gain, designed to accept headphone-level input from an iPod or…

14 years ago