Phase Linear 4000 Series II Preamp

T

tom b. 57

Member
I am wrestling with the thought of picking up this preamp for cheap, but don't know much about it. Are these good preamps? I love the vintage stuff, and own a Phase Linear 3000 series II preamp and it works fine. I just don't know if the 4000 would be much of an improvement. It looks cooler. I am hoping someone on this forum has experience with this preamp and can shed some light on this subject for me.

Tom
 
Updated version of the 4000. Lots of cool stuff to play with. Never owned or worked on one. I've got the service manual.
 
Peter Walker said:
If you acquire the original manual it adds value to the preamp if you ever sell it and puts a smile on technicians faces if ever you ask them to work with it.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PHASE-LINEAR-PL-4000-Series-II-PREAMP-SERVICE-MANUAL-/350213788433
Click to expand...

Having worked on a number of the 4000 (not the 400II's) before, I find that they do not bring a smile to your face, with or without the manual. There are typically over 100 cracked solder joints. So one must touch up every one which leads to bridged connections. I'm assuming the 4000II is very similar to the 4000.

I have the manual and have also submitted several pf the common P/L manuals to the AK database. It will probably take a while for the administrators to get them posted. I sent the manual to STEPHENM
 
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Tom,

If you can get it for cheap, I'd get one, assuming you enjoy doing your own tech work.

I picked up a 4000 series I and went through it- Re-cap (all were out of spec- esp the small vaalues), cleaning, re-flowed the solder joints (even though all of mine looked fine.) It's a bit noisy, esp. the correlator (which you can turn off.) The correlator is still nice with certain noisy sources. I find the Peak Unlimiter/ Downward Expander to be a nice touch. After I get my 700B up to snuff, I'll probably look into some mods/ upgrades to the 4000.

I have no clue whether the "II" has these features or how they compare.

I also have a 3000 Series II, and overall, it's probably the better pre, but I still like the 4000 better, and I think it's due to the PU/DE, but I may be just another audiofool in love with his pet pre. It seems more alive.

In the end, who cares? I like it. I think most of us here have passed the point of saying, "it's got to have the best sonic performance or it's out." This stuff is vintage, and cool on its own, though it needs to be at least passable. Time and technology marches forward, and it's silly to think this stuff represents the peak of perfection. Enjoy it for what it is. Who really wants perfection anyway? What would we do then, find a new hobby?

Zach
 
Zach C. said:
Tom,

If you can get it for cheap, I'd get one, assuming you enjoy doing your own tech work.

I picked up a 4000 series I and went through it- Re-cap (all were out of spec- esp the small vaalues), cleaning, re-flowed the solder joints (even though all of mine looked fine.) It's a bit noisy, esp. the correlator (which you can turn off.) The correlator is still nice with certain noisy sources. I find the Peak Unlimiter/ Downward Expander to be a nice touch. After I get my 700B up to snuff, I'll probably look into some mods/ upgrades to the 4000.

I have no clue whether the "II" has these features or how they compare.

I also have a 3000 Series II, and overall, it's probably the better pre, but I still like the 4000 better, and I think it's due to the PU/DE, but I may be just another audiofool in love with his pet pre. It seems more alive.

In the end, who cares? I like it. I think most of us here have passed the point of saying, "it's got to have the best sonic performance or it's out." This stuff is vintage, and cool on its own, though it needs to be at least passable. Time and technology marches forward, and it's silly to think this stuff represents the peak of perfection. Enjoy it for what it is. Who really wants perfection anyway? What would we do then, find a new hobby?

Zach
Click to expand...


Great way to look at it! I own one of them, and mine is very quite, dead black background. But I recently have been plagued with the solder joint problems. If I just tap on the top slightly the channel that drops out comes back on and usually stays on till I turn off the unit. As far as owners manuals and shop manuals with all the specs and scematics everything that Bill Carver made is for free to download at the Carversite.

Can't give you comparison to the 3000 as I don't own one of them. I also own a Carver preamp that looks just like the Phase Linear one just a bit different placement of the knobs, all the same features with the rack handles only instead of bright silver finish the Carver versions are dark gray, that to sounds great to me, and dead quite background. If your finding yours to have some noise maybe something is not right with yours.
 
The 3000 series II had way to many relays, 14 I believe. P{L made better pre-amps, the 2000, and 3300 Ser II's were excellent. The 4000 Ser I service manual has almost as many service bulletin pages as the original issue manual. It had a lot of problems.
 
When the 4000 was designed no one was using plated through holes on PCB's. So when P/L used a square peg in a round hole on the motherboard to plug in all of the processor boards, they set up a nightmare for long time users. Sometimes it takes a magnifying glass to see it. That's why I just go through and redo all of the joints.
 
I had a 4000 II... Those relays cause a bunch of issues in humid areas... They keep oxidizing and they would no longer work...
 
I have a PL 4000 ,and it's a love hate relationship. so many gremlins...
My pet peeve is the rca connectors failing.
 
I'm resurrecting this thread...

Anyone out there know if the 4000 II can bi-amp?
In regards to 2 PL 700 II amps?
Bi-amping needed as I'm driving a pair of Kappa 9's...
 
If you want to have one, by all means go for it.
As an every day driver preamp, there are much better options out there in terms of performance, stability, and sound quality.
 
It does have 2 paralleled outputs. However I think what you need is a crossover which it does not have.
 
Thanks W9.

d3, that's what I was wondering... if the A & B were parallel.

Why a crossover?

Am bi-amping at this time with an Oppo driving 2 WOPL 700's.
Wanting to get my Series II pieces back in rotation.
 
How do you define bi-amp? Usually a biamp system splits the frequency spectrum at line levels and send bass to a bass amp and mid/highs to a different amp. What is an oppo?
 
How I define bi-amping (Passive).

Bi-amping horizontal & vertical...

Horizontal uses each amp as a stereo amp. One amp drives the low end of both left & right speakers, the other amp drives the mid/high end of each left & right speakers.

Vertical takes one stereo amp to drive the same (left/right) speaker. Done by using one channel of an amp (left) for low and the other channel of same amp (right) for mid/high.
The only thing bi-amping vertical demands is that both amps need to be identical.
Some say identical goes further... identical power cords and interconnects.
Steve McCormack (McCormack Audio) has a good explanation of vertical (passive) bi-amping.

In both horizontal & vertical without using a separate crossover is passive bi-amping.
Using the speaker's internal crossovers... the same as using one stereo amp for left & right. Only difference, when bi-amping, at the speaker is removing the jumper bars.

The Oppo is a digital disc spinner... cd player. I also use a Pioneer DV-AX10 for digital.
When using these (players) without a preamp... make sure the power supply (in the disc spinner) is robust enough to drive an amp. Some low dollar players, not so much.

Throwing another hiccup into the mix.
Once all my PL gear is ready.... I'll be trying to use the 4000 II, 1100 II and my 1200 II in a bi-amping set-up.
I have NO IDEA how to do that!

Your thoughts d3...
 
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What I don't understand is it sounds like all of your amps are operating full frequency range. I would think that you would want an active crossover after the preamp.
 
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