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PSE Audio Equipment

G

geturdone

Active Member
I am looking for any information I can get about this company. There is so very little online, but what there is, the equipment seems to be very well regarded.

More specificly, date of manufacture of the HL1 preamp and the studio V mono blocks. I am also looking for manuals for the two and any general information would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.
 
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You're in luck. I have a pair of the studio V's and a little bit of literature. They really didn't come with a "manual" but I have the birth certificates with mine. Stellar amps that have ousted some very stiff competition in my system. What exactly do you want to know?

Is the HL1 the tube preamp? I have no experience with that unit.
 
The HL1 is a tube pre. In the short time ive had these units, I am super happy with everthing, sq and headroom to die for. Do you know the years these were made? I'm looking for the operating manuals for both the HL1 and the studio V, and a remote for the HL1. Any other general information would be great.
 
It's a hybrid tube preamp for what it's worth. I did a bit of googling. That's a rare bird you've found (same for the amps). I have seen very few for sale on the internet since I became aware of PSE about 10 years ago.

Good luck finding a remote, you may get lucky and find it uses the same commands as another remote control. How you would figure this out, I am not sure. There are no operating manuals (assuming my documentation is complete) for the amps, just hand written spec sheets.

Very nice setup you've got there, I would love to hear that preamp one day. I think it was Deans only tube device.

Evan
 
geturdone said:
I am looking for any information I can get about this company. There is so very little online, but what there is, the equipment seems to be very well regarded.

More specificly, date of manufacture of the HL1 preamp and the studio V mono blocks. I am also looking for manuals for the two and any general information would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.
Click to expand...

I have the Studio One preamplifier and the Studio Two amplifier. They date from the late 1970s. The company started in the early 1970s. The owner was Dean Klinefelter. The company was Minnesota based. I recently took my Studio One in for service. My tech knows Dean and reached out to him directly to trouble shoot my preamp. I understand PSE was always a small operation. Mr. Klinefelter may be retired by now. The Studio V would date from the 1990s. The Studio IV was reviewed here in 1994: http://www.theaudiocritic.com/back_issues/The_Audio_Critic_22_r.pdf

Good luck.
 
Modegard, can you PM me your techs name? I don't have anything in need of work but it sure would be nice to know who to go to if I need it!
 
Thanks for the info guys. I picked up the two studio V monos and the HL1 from a nice fellow that was retired and moving. All three are mint and I'm astounded by what I'm hearing through my Vandersteen model 2c. I know it's cliche, but I am hearing details Ive never heard in tracks I've been listening to for a decade. Keep in mind I don't consider myself to have a "golden ear" either, it takes a significant improvement for me to notice.

I just enjoy reading and learning about the components I have, especially the lesser known ones.
 
Great catch, geturdone.
I've been enjoying PSE gear since I purchased my first Studio I and II from Shirvin Mrzai with Subjective Sound in NYC back in the 70s.
I heard that Richard Shahinian used to hand carry a PSE amp to demo his Obelisks at electronics shows.
 
Vandersteen and PSE are supposedly a stellar match, and PSE gear was used to demo Vandersteen speakers at shows if memory serves. Great find, I am glad to hear you're enjoying it.
 
Some folks asked for pictures of the innards of my amp. Here they are.
 

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More pictures here.
 

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I have a set of the Studio V that I have hooked up to my Vandersteen C2i. I have a Onkyo 308 Preamp for them but would love to find a PSE pre like you did. :yes:
These are some great sounding amps once they get warmed up. I tried to leave them on to maintain stability, but they just put out to much heat.
Do any of you guys leave yours on?
I read somewhere that they are supposed to be left on, but I hate to feel those heat sinks when I do!
Thanks,
J.T.
 
One of the reasons the power switches are on the back is because you're not supposed to turn them off. Honestly, mine are on pretty much all day. My wife is a stay at home mom, so they get constant use. They are on almost every waking hour.

Interesting about the heat, mine don't run all that hot compared to other stuff I have had. I did fan cool my audio cabinet though, so I am sure that helps. I need to get a photo of the birth certificates from my amps up here. Hand written stuff is always cool :)
 
Hmmmm
I just checked the temps on my amps heat sinks and they are alot different. I am getting 133 degrees on one and 113 on the other one!:no:
I do have them stacked in an audio rack. Do you have yours stacked
I thought sine the heat soincs were on the front it would not be a big deal.
I wonder if the heat off the bottom one is rising to the top one and not allowing it to cool.
May have to look into cooling the rack.
What do you think?
J.T.
 
I do run mine stacked. The top one is going to get hotter naturally. I had mine re-biased by a local tech and I am wondering if they are biased too low. Is the top one warmer? Honestly it's probabally not a huge deal.
 
Yes the top one is the warmer one.
I suspect the heat rising off the bottom one causing it. I might just move the top one and run iot a bit to see if it runs cooler.:scratch2: Like you said probably not a big deal, but heat is a killer for electronics.
I have set the bias on some of my older Sansui amps but I had service man uals to do it. The fact that these units are tough to get repaired, I don't want to do anything to shorten the life.:yes:
hanks,
J.T.
 
J.T.

There are easily 6 trimpots in there for various adjustments that I don't understand. 50 bucks to my local guy so I didn't blow them up was a good deal to me!
 
Very true!
I will check into getting them looked at. It was really cool talking to another PSE owner. Don't know how many of us there are.:D
Thanks for the conversation.:thmbsp:
Thanks,
J.T.
 
Yeah man, not many know about these special amplifiers. Mine have ousted some serious competition over the years. Are your serial numbers on the bottom or back of the amp? Rumor has it there was a "signature" edition with the serials on the bottom (which is where mine are) but I am skeptical this is true. If you pull them out of the rack you should take a few photos!

Evan
 
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