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SAE Mark III / Mark Three meters fixable?

redondo2018 said:
Have to really crank it because my Cerwin Vegas are so sensitive, but we have movement! I sprayed the trimmers but didn't exercise them, so not sure what did it
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Could you be mixed up? The more sensitive your speakers are, the LESS you have to crank the amp to get louder.
 
bonzoro said:
Could you be mixed up? The more sensitive your speakers are, the LESS you have to crank the amp to get louder.
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yes, less crank to get loud, but to get the meters to MOVE, I have to crank my CVs to I-need-to-wear-safety-headphones-level (unless there is something still wrong with the meters, but I think that's right - and that was at the -15db position switch to boot)
 
redondo2018 said:
yes, less crank to get loud, but to get the meters to MOVE, I have to crank my CVs to I-need-to-wear-safety-headphones-level (unless there is something still wrong with the meters, but I think that's right - and that was at the -15db position switch to boot)
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So, while it's playing, flip the dB switch and see if the meters come up farther up the meter scale . I've seen the meter dB switch get connected backwards. Depending on the specs of thee amp, maybe it's too much for you. My amp (Phase Linear WOPL @ 500WPC) needs to get LOUD before the meters start moving and the analog meters are not really accurate especially with a variable like a dB + or - switch.
 
bonzoro said:
So, while it's playing, flip the dB switch and see if the meters come up farther up the meter scale . I've seen the meter dB switch get connected backwards. Depending on the specs of thee amp, maybe it's too much for you. My amp (Phase Linear WOPL @ 500WPC) needs to get LOUD before the meters start moving and the analog meters are not really accurate especially with a variable like a dB + or - switch.
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Cerwin Vegas are weird - they can sound great with a 5 watt amp but also love lots of power - I don't really get it, but I'd rather err on the "more power" side of things
 
redondo2018 said:
Cerwin Vegas are weird - they can sound great with a 5 watt amp but also love lots of power - I don't really get it, but I'd rather err on the "more power" side of things
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Whats the sensitivity in the CV's??? Mine are like 105dB (1 watt @ 1 meter) I thought the Vega's were like 80 something which is FAR from sensitive and would make you crank up that amp which I believe is only about 100 WPC????
 
Unless there is something wrong "sound-wise", I wouldn't worry about where your meters are pointing. If and when you do a re-cap, output replacement etc..., then you can worry about them being semi-correct.
 
bonzoro said:
Whats the sensitivity in the CV's??? Mine are like 105dB (1 watt @ 1 meter) I thought the Vega's were like 80 something which is FAR from sensitive and would make you crank up that amp which I believe is only about 100 WPC????
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never seen a CV under like 95db personally - I think these are around 102db (I have 3 pairs of CVs and these are pretty rare, not even sure the specs are out there on the webs TBH...) - but yeah, the SAE III is only 125wpc at 8ohms (not sure how much more it is if at all at 4ohms, and the CVs are 4ohms) and the SAE 2300 is 150 at 8ohms. to be perfectly honest (and superficial) in the end I really only care about the meters as eye candy, but of course it would be nice if they were properly tuned as well
 
redondo2018 said:
never seen a CV under like 95db personally - I think these are around 102db (I have 3 pairs of CVs and these are pretty rare, not even sure the specs are out there on the webs TBH...) - but yeah, the SAE III is only 125wpc at 8ohms (not sure how much more it is if at all at 4ohms, and the CVs are 4ohms) and the SAE 2300 is 150 at 8ohms. to be perfectly honest (and superficial) in the end I really only care about the meters as eye candy, but of course it would be nice if they were properly tuned as well
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What model CV's????????????
 
So set it on "0" dB and crank it up and see where the meters are. If you are wearing earplugs, then don't worry about your meters, they'll never be accurate with the volume down low, they are only KINDA accurate when they are bouncing around 0 dB . And yes, the analog meters are just eye candy. Your speakers are more than sensitive, set them where you are comfy and screw where they point. Here is what I do when taking a customer to the meter store, get him used to looking out the window instead of watching meters.




GrammyRS (1).jpg
 
Thank you for all of this- I have rebuilt a Mark 3 substantially but one of the meters does not work, these tips will be employed ASAP!

On lighting, I found that installing a strip of LED tape light across the top of the meter's clear plastic face does a SUPERB job of illumination, far better than any other for these meters. I recommend using 2700K (warm white). These tapes typically require either 12VDC or 24VDC that you can steal with a rectifier/filter board tapped onto the existing transformer taps or use a 120AC/12VDC or 24VDC module keeping in mind that LED's don't need much current. You can also get various colors I suppose if that's important - I tried amber but it was not as nice as the warm white.
 
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