Berlant Series 30 preamp questions

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Hi Everybody,

It's time for my long-awaited tri-annual post to RAP...

So I picked up a pair of Berlant Series 30 preamps a few weeks ago for
not much money at all. I cleaned about 25 years of basement grime off
of them and now they look okay, turn on, and actually seem to work.
I've posted some pictures at:

http://www.dayactionband.com/berlant.htm

>From what I gather from various Google and RAP searching:

-the Berlant transports that these things came with are, at speed,
somewhat intimidating and not very reliable.
-the preamps themselves are not very good but do okay on the used
market because they qualify as "vintage tube" gear.

I plan to keep them to augment my very limited preamp stable. My
questions are these (my apologies in advance for any newbiespeak):

-It looks like there is no input transformer (see lower right hand
corner of bottom photo). Would it be a significant improvement to seek
something out? What would I look for, and what would be a good source?
-The empty socket for "T2560 Output": is that for an output
transformer? If so, same two questions as above.
-Finally, if anyone has had any experience with these and has any
comments on their utility (or lack thereof), they would be very
welcomed. An SM57 on a guitar amp sounds decent through them, but this
comes from a guy who has never heard a preamp beyond the Mackie VLZPRO,
early 80s Studiomaster ilk.
Thanks in advance for any and all feedback.
Best,

Nate O'Keefe

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Thanks for the quick reply and feedback.

Okay, maybe they're not preamps, but is it fair to say they have some
preamplification capability? They were neither sold to me as preamps,
nor do I intend to sell them as such. I was buying an old Omega
photographic enlarger from a retired EE and he pointed at the Berlant
and said "you want that for $20?" I figured at very least the
electronics would be fun to play with, and so far they have been.

If I wanted to go about balancing the input, does anyone know how I
would describe the input transformer that will fit that socket and have
a good source for buying a pair? (pics at
http://www.dayactionband.com/berlant.htm)

Any help is much appreciated.

Nate


Scott Dorsey wrote:
> <nateokeefe@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >So I picked up a pair of Berlant Series 30 preamps a few weeks ago
for
> >not much money at all. I cleaned about 25 years of basement grime
off
> >of them and now they look okay, turn on, and actually seem to work.
>
> These are not preamps. These are electronics packages that someone
> has stripped out of a tape machine. They are NOT PREAMPS.
>
> >http://www.dayactionband.com/berlant.htm
> >
> >>From what I gather from various Google and RAP searching:
> >
> >-the Berlant transports that these things came with are, at speed,
> >somewhat intimidating and not very reliable.
> >-the preamps themselves are not very good but do okay on the used
> >market because they qualify as "vintage tube" gear.
>
> They are not preamps. They are mediocre electronics packages out of
> a mediocre tape machine.
>
> >-It looks like there is no input transformer (see lower right hand
> >corner of bottom photo). Would it be a significant improvement to
seek
> >something out? What would I look for, and what would be a good
source?
>
> Well, if there is no input transformer, there is no balanced input.
Does
> that bother you? If you want to put a balanced low-Z microphone into

> the high-Z input, you will need a transformer.
>
> >-The empty socket for "T2560 Output": is that for an output
> >transformer? If so, same two questions as above.
>
> Probably. Do you want a balanced output? On a lot of equipment from
> this era, balancing was an extra-cost option.
>
> >-Finally, if anyone has had any experience with these and has any
> >comments on their utility (or lack thereof), they would be very
> >welcomed. An SM57 on a guitar amp sounds decent through them, but
this
> >comes from a guy who has never heard a preamp beyond the Mackie
VLZPRO,
> >early 80s Studiomaster ilk.
>
> They were better than Wollensaks anyway. But this is the sort of
gear
> that gave home recording a bad name.
> --scott
> --
> "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

In article <1103258453.074201.59890@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com> nateokeefe@hotmail.com writes:

> Okay, maybe they're not preamps, but is it fair to say they have some
> preamplification capability?

Sure. You can connect a mic on one end and get a line level signal out
the other end. If you have them, certainly feel free to try them. But
if you're considering buying them, that might not be good advice,
depending on how much fooling around you want to do and how much you
really want a vintage toob piece to make noises in your studio.

> I was buying an old Omega
> photographic enlarger from a retired EE and he pointed at the Berlant
> and said "you want that for $20?" I figured at very least the
> electronics would be fun to play with, and so far they have been.

How does it work as a recorder? In the days before the broadcast
industry standardized on Ampex, there were plenty of these in daily
use in radio stations and a few in homes. That was when, if you wanted
to make a vanity record, you went to a radio station.

> If I wanted to go about balancing the input, does anyone know how I
> would describe the input transformer that will fit that socket and have
> a good source for buying a pair?

Those are octal sockets, but I suspect that the only thing that will
fit both mechanically and electrically is the genuine item. If you're
into soldering and fixing and modifying, you could buy nice
transformers from Jensen that you'll have to mount where you find the
space and connect via wires to the appropriate socket pins. That will
require either the schematic diagram or some circuit tracing to figure
out what goes where, and what are reasonable impedance values and
ratios.

I'd use it as it is and call it "my cool $20 mic preamp." If you want
something more like a modern mic preamp, buy one.


--
I'm really Mike Rivers (mrivers@d-and-d.com)
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

In article <1103604038.124387.131700@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com> nateokeefe@hotmail.com writes:

> jumbo knobs and oversized VU meters ought to count for something in the
> image department at least.

That's the best part. Split your vocal track off to one but don't
connect the output to anything. Then, when the client wants the vocal
a little louder, turn up the big knob on the Berlant electronics and
point to its VU meter pegging.



--
I'm really Mike Rivers (mrivers@d-and-d.com)
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo