Hi All,
I have an 8ch Spectra Sonics sidecar that was custom built, neglected, and apparently rebuilt. It was quite a mess when I got it but is now passing signal. It uses 101 cards for mic amps and EQ and has the two-band 501 EQs. However, it has little gain and low headroom and tends to distort with nasty clipping well before healthy line level gain.
Power supply is good, cards are recapped and in good shape. I'm wondering if it's a block diagram issue?
Here's how the channels are currently configured:
Polarity switch>Input transformer (Triad A-67J)>Pads>101 amp card, (with resisters in feedback loop for gain)>10k pot for attenuation>101 card with 501 EQ in feedback loop>unbalanced output
I'm wondering if the mic amps should come after the cards with EQ? If I use enough gain on the mic amps it seems to clip the EQ cards, and they have no makeup gain. Also, I get the sense that that 10k pot in the middle of the two cards is not ideal.
I've scoured the web for this issue but haven't seen it addressed directly. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Daniel Dempsey