where to get good VU meters from? and lundahl vs oep?

[harry]

Hello everybody,

just doing a group diy (1176's) in the next few weeks and i was wondering if anybody knows where to get decent (and hopefully not too $) VU meters from?

just out of curiosity Rick, what do Sifam's go for?,

and.... do any other diy people have any prefrence between the lundahl and oep transformers that are used in these projects?

thanks for the knowledge.

p.s tony mite - let me know when i can help u solder those giant looms for the mpx? -

[rick]

the basic shop price of the high quality version of a sifam vu is $200
they have a few cheaper versions ($150)

i have a bunch of sifams that i sell off to needy types. at half that.

altronics in perth sell a useable cheapie style for about $30 bucks that would suit if your strapped.

i have a bunch of 2 unit mci cases with vu meters in them that i salvaged out of tape machines, these a very very high quailty units that would suit two 1176 projects in one stereo case for anybody that whats something that looks cool
i have been saving them to do just that but somehow i dont think i will ever find the time

$250 each - including the case and the meters and even onboard 2 input and 2 output transformers (jensen & MCI ) which will suit a 1176 well
all you have to add is the circuit board , some pots and some imagination.

[mfdu]

hi harry,
i've got my two 1176 boards from mnats and am just building psu's to check voltages before i continue.

planning on building one with lundahl pair (i/o) and the other with OEP i/o, so i can sample both flavours. been waiting to hear back from rick to see if he has the units before i go hunting elsewhere.

in terms of the sonic difference, it seems that the OEP is *dirtier*, in a way that sounds kinda like a well used original. i'll let you know what i think when i'm done.

rick,
any news on those trannies? 2 X OEP A262A2E, one LUNDAHL LL1540 and one LUNDAHL LL5402?

i love the sound of the MCI cases, but i'm going for two mono units in this build. thanks for the tip on the VU's at altronics - at the moment i'm more fixed on the audio path, so i reckon i might go the cheapie model meters. i hope you dont mind.

:)

chris.

[mfdu]

harry - i have the cheap VU meters from altronics - they look great. also, got OEP trannies from RS components - $40 ea. mnats says we dont need the screening can, so i'm trying them as-is.

building them both with OEP's on the outputs only - i'll build another set with lundahls later . . .

power supplies are both working fine. just gotta fit the trannies and i'm go!

hows your progress?

chris.

[harry]

hi Rick,

the mci cases sound good but i have already contacted a sheetmetal manufacturer down the road who was going to punch the holes and screenprint cases which they can make to various depths. i'm doing a group diy 10 units, so maybe some of the other guys might be interested.

thanks for the offer,

hey chris,

i have a mate who has some lundahls sitting around so i am going to put them in a testbed unit and compare to the oep's.

does anyone know what the original transformers were? do they work well in the clone. I have also heard of people substituting the input opamp for a higher quality one,

at this stage i am planning to do the units in the school holidays (2weeks) will post when i ahve (hopefully) completed the units to offer subjective opinion on sound?

[mfdu]

i look forward to hearing about your results.
all the best with the build, and i'd love to see the cases you're getting.
unfortunately i've already done my own cases a la mad professor (home-drilled, hand written legends) but how much are the cases you're getting?

chris.

[EvLoutonian]

What did you guys end up feeling is the pref between OEP's and Lundahs on the 1176 Rev J boards from MNATS? I have to order for this same project.

Leaning towards the OEP's if I can difure out where to get them locally.
Cheers,
Ev.

[Chinagraf]

Evan, RS Components have a range of OEP trannies.
Cheers.