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PAS 2 - New volume control issues

I hate to hijack this thread but my head is spinning now. I did read somewhere that poor sound may be affected by the rca jacks, hence I think about replacement. I look at the PC5 and PC6 board and see the old PEC's and think that may be the cause of the poor sound, read about vol pot and attenuators, contemplate replacing. I just returned from my listening room, and if I adjust the tone controls just right it actually does not sound too bad. I have read countless pros and cons on removing tone controls. Countless for's and against's mods. Rereading this thread even some say just replacing the rca jacks will reduce the fidelity of the unit. I really am at a crossroads of what to do.
 
no PECs in these. Just caps and resistors. The resistors are often off value, the caps can be leaky.

Miswiring the jacks can make it sound worse, but honestly unless you screw it up it won't hurt it. Also unless they're truly in terrible shape now its not likely to help things either. Frankly I'd save my money on fancy connectors and put it into fresh parts inside first.
 
Well I did a sound comparison. I thought I had the pas toned pretty good. Sounded pretty good. Then I traded the pas for a little homemade pre amp my friend had made that has no tone controls. No comparison, the toneless amp was head and shoulders above the pas in sound quality.

Also, the volume is like ten times more responsive. I just have to barely have the volume knob turned past zero and it's equal to the volume turned more than half the way up on the pas.

I tried to convince myself no adjustments were needed for the pas, but that is just false. I have replacement boards on the way, already ordered the rca jack board and a led to replace the power light. I will start with the light and move on from there.

Glad I did the sound comparison, my mind is made up now.
 
Thanks you guys , I promise I will start my own thread as soon as my parts come. Although all the help I think I need is right in here.
 
You want me just to have the phono plugged in and have the tape totally unplugged from the system?

I have noticed a difference between the 2 before. The tape seems to sound a tad bit better more fuller than the when I play a record. But that is when I have both plugged in and can go back and forth. I will give it a try here in a bit. And get back with you.
 
zenarrrow said:
Thank you guys for the replies, I am pretty clueless about these and have been doing research all night long while at work. So I am just reading posts and getting ideas. Not quite sure what step to take next. If I replace the 2 boards and rca jacks and I still have sound problems I may consider the attenuators or maybe use my old board to bypass the tone controls. Both boards do need an upgrade as they still have the old black cat caps, so that may be my problem. Looks like the previous owner did a simple power supply upgrade, but that's about it.

View attachment 1030509
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In my PAS3x, I replaced the black cats with Sprague 715P Polypro (Orange Drop) or silvered micas and polystyrenes in the phono section. Then, I checked all those carbon comp. resistors , replacing any that didn't meet spec. with metal films. Also, replaced the old phenolic boards with fiberglass and moved the phono equalization caps off the switch and onto the board itself-much shorter path that way (per Joe Curcio's instructions).
 
peterh said:
Can you momentarily disconnect the tape and try phono with a record. Any differences ?
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I did PeterH, same result, compared to the other pre amp, the pas is still "tinny" no matter what adjustments I make to the tone controls
 
zenarrrow said:
Also, the volume is like ten times more responsive. I just have to barely have the volume knob turned past zero and it's equal to the volume turned more than half the way up on the pas.
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This may be an incorrect volume control type. It's sounds like you are describing the action of a LINEAR pot. It should be a Logarithmic pot. This way, full volume (approx.) is up at about 12 o'clock. It's the 10%/90% control taper.
 
Planning on dropping in those new boards tomorrow, PC5 and pc6 I could start with maybe with just disconnecting the tone controls and test that first. . Any words of wisdom? I have been reading the owners manual, any other reading you may suggest? Any other ideas you may suggest I do? I don't have the replacement led for the light. Any measurements or readings to take?

I will be at work for 12 hours, and be doing my project there, so any thing I do I won't be able to test it out till I get home about this time for the next few nights.

I will be able to reference this thread if someone is willing to pitch in and lend me their sage advice. Thanks to all, Joe
 
No sage here but don’t forget to label all those wires with the number for the pad they go to before desoldering.
 
put the boards in and leave the tone controls for now. See what it does in stock proper working condition with on-value parts first. Also verify your power supply voltages to confirm all is well. If you still don't care for the sound, bypass the controls and see what that does for you.
 
gadget73 said:
put the boards in and leave the tone controls for now. See what it does in stock proper working condition with on-value parts first. Also verify your power supply voltages to confirm all is well. If you still don't care for the sound, bypass the controls and see what that does for you.
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You got it, I will do that and test it tomorrow evening. I am super novice but I have an election at hand to help me check supply voltages. I am sure I can read it in the manual and check other discussions. I will do this tomorrow, thank you gadget73
 
Well I got them wired in. Turned it on and it powers up. Now to head home from work and test it out.

It was more kinda stressful than anything else. Just cause I haven't messed with too many circuit boards and stuff. Did both the PC5 and PC6. Pretty much no issues other than a very finite amount of wire to work with. And a few rookie mistakes and errors.

My confidence is pretty high right now. Hope it stays that way, and I don't get silence when I test it out.
 
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