No love for the original Phase Linear gear?

[d3imlay]

I think maybe it was to gimmicky for audiophiles with the auto correlation preamps & other dynamic range processors.

But the original 700 amp & 2000 preamp are pretty straight forward audio designs.

I for one would love to own to 2 of the 700 amps a 4000 preamp quad heaven!

Be careful for what you wish. The 4000 has a motherboard with connectors. All of the processor boards plug into the motherboard. The connectors are notorious for cracked solder joints. The last 4000 I worked on had more than 100 cracked joints. The RCA jacks are easily broken and suffer from the same cracked solder joints. I won't work on a 4000.

The Phoenix Audio forum has many devoted P/L fans and followers.

P/L amps were never intended for pro sound. Like any other pro amp they could be reliable with proper cooling. If they did go down speaker damage was possible as there was no output relay. For those who are concerned about this I have an output relay board available for the 400 and the 700.

 

[nttrbl]

I have a P/L model 1000 series 2, noise reduction/expander and have been using it since the 1980's. The noise reduction circuit works great, I use it with my Luxman c02 pre-amp and kenwood m1 amp. It makes my casettes sound like vinyl!

 

[laatsch55]

With White Oak's new backplane boards with the Fully comp/quasi output option they lack for nothing anymore, with Don's DC PCB no worries now either. With Joe constantly stroking his upgrades are truly amazing. Last week he came out with his Rev "B" 400 light board. There are now 2 modes to select for meter movement. The original 1/2 wave rectified drive and the new full wave drive. A Spec 2 meter it does not make but much faster and a slower decay, nice stuff. The 700B backplane board is a week or so away from headed to the board makers....

 

[NavLinear]

With White Oak's new backplane boards with the Fully comp/quasi output option they lack for nothing anymore, with Don's DC PCB no worries now either. With Joe constantly stroking his upgrades are truly amazing. Last week he came out with his Rev "B" 400 light board. There are now 2 modes to select for meter movement. The original 1/2 wave rectified drive and the new full wave drive. A Spec 2 meter it does not make but much faster and a slower decay, nice stuff. The 700B backplane board is a week or so away from headed to the board makers....

So winter it is for the 700 backplane board - cool. Will this work for the early model 700s Lee?

 

[laatsch55]

So I gotta come over here to see Devin eh??

The Series 1's had a different backwall layout than the B's did. Joe figured if someone were going to retrofit a 700 for fully comp there were more "B"'s that would be done.
I think beta testing starts in about 10 days Dennis.

 

[laatsch55]

For me personally, Phase Linear / Carver simply does not have the sonics. "Side Show Bob" - The bells and whistles are there.. but the main event.. isn't happening.

I currently have a Carver C-4000 preamp coupled with a Carver TFM-15CB amplifier. It sounds better without the bells and whistles than it does with.

I realize there are those who swear by Bob's designs.. I'm simply not one of them. To each their own I suppose...

TRC

It is a subjective thing, this audio stuff, but I have a White Oaked 700 and a very trick 400 pushing a set of what you're leaning on there in you avvie, and man is that a killer combination...

 

[danb44]

I've owned a bunch of it through the years, still have a set of the speakers that I dearly love. I guess its all in a persons' perception and tastes. - dan

 

[mixwiz]

Back in the day when musicians tried to use them for sound reinforcement they were called Flame Linear, and we carried an extra stock of JBL and Electrovoice Horn voicxe coils just because of them for the most part. Our tech absolutely hated them. Sounded good when they worked though.
Regards,
Jim

We actually referred to them as flame throwers. We had a 400 that took out a couple jbl wedges. The meters were cool but they were really heavy for the power they made. Replaced em with cs 800s that were bullet proof.

 

[PureQuill]

Be careful for what you wish. The 4000 has a motherboard with connectors. All of the processor boards plug into the motherboard. The connectors are notorious for cracked solder joints. The last 4000 I worked on had more than 100 cracked joints. The RCA jacks are easily broken and suffer from the same cracked solder joints. I won't work on a 4000.

Thanks d3imlay that is very good info to know!:thmbsp:

 

[TheButler]

The Phase Linear gear was excellent and ahead of its time. Got a bit of a bad rap when the band guys started using the amps to drive 2 ohm PA cabs, hence the name Flame Linear after they caught fire.

A buddy of mine had 2 of their power amps and both were very musical and dynamic sounding...

 

[Glen B]

I dont seem to see much about the original Phase Linear gear.
Is there a general consensus here on AK that the original Bob Carver designed stuff from the 70’s is just not that good?:thumbsdn::thmbsp::scratch2:

If you do a search you will find a lot of discussion on Phase Linear. Here is my Model 400 Series 2, to which I added DC protection.

Stock input and output connectors:

Upgraded input and output connectors:

DC protection boards:

 

[SolderIron]

I like the two 700 amps I acquired at low cost. Can't find anything putting out that much power for the $. They are easy to work on too. Only complain is no output relay and the power supply cap voltage has no margin. There is not much room inside to add the realy, but I will get around to it someday.

 

[PureQuill]

The Phoenix Audio forum has many devoted P/L fans and followers.

P/L amps were never intended for pro sound. Like any other pro amp they could be reliable with proper cooling. If they did go down speaker damage was possible as there was no output relay. For those who are concerned about this I have an output relay board available for the 400 and the 700.

Thanks for the heads up on the Phoenix Audio site. The White Oaks upgrades look interesting. There are some big time PL fans there!
Nice upgraded amp Glen B!

 

[strat10]

Just remember to buy the optional fire extinguisher..

 

[NavLinear]

So I gotta come over here to see Devin eh??

The Series 1's had a different backwall layout than the B's did. Joe figured if someone were going to retrofit a 700 for fully comp there were more "B"'s that would be done.
I think beta testing starts in about 10 days Dennis.

Well, I keep the avatars toned down here. You're right though - it is Devin.

I wonder how closely matched the 700B and the 700 back wall topologies compare. If the transistors line up than it's very possible that with some minor changes the backplane board would work in the early 700s. I can't wait to see how this all pans out.

 

[fiddlefye]

A friend had a full Phase Linear set-up with a pair of EPI 1000s to round it out. It sounded great when it was working, but pushed a bit and it would blow, finally in rather spectacular fashion. I stuck with Yamaha at the time....

 

[laatsch55]

Nav the bolt spacing, heatsink spacing, It's all different.

 

[laatsch55]

If you do a search you will find a lot of discussion on Phase Linear. Here is my Model 400 Series 2, to which I added DC protection.

Stock input and output connectors:

Upgraded input and output connectors:

DC protection boards:

Glen, were those DC PCB's the AmpsLabs variant?

 

[Glen B]

Yes they're Ampslab boards.

 

[laatsch55]

I like the two 700 amps I acquired at low cost. Can't find anything putting out that much power for the $. They are easy to work on too. Only complain is no output relay and the power supply cap voltage has no margin. There is not much room inside to add the realy, but I will get around to it someday.

With Don's DC protect relay boards they mounton the speaker posts. Piece of cake and plenty of room. I've installed at least 50 with no problems...