Soundcraftsmen 2215R Equaliser

[Dimal]

Hi All...

What do fellow VE-ers think of the above EQ unit? I bought it new some years ago, used it once very briefly and then promptly left home and worked o/seas for many years. The EQ was repacked into its original box, put into storage and has never seen the light of day since. Basically, it is still in new condition....

Just wondering if I should recover it from storage and possibly use it in my current system? We have a less than ideal listening room so maybe an EQ unit would help to balance things out a bit. Alternatively, I guess I could give it a thorough inspection and then sell it I suppose...

Mal.

[jackfish]

Unless you are prepared to do measurements across the audio spectrum you will never know what EQ settings to use to "balance things out a bit."

[Alec124c41]

You might be able to improve things with some experimentation. You have nothing to lose but your resonances.

Cheers,
Alec

[analogaudio]

Why not experiment with the sound balance? Many speaker+room combinations are rather too bright in the treble and deficient in the bass, you can try turning down the treble and mid and see how you like the different sound. It is preferable to make changes by reducing, cutting down in level, the unwanted tonal bands rather than raising, boosting, the wanted bands, this because most amps and speakers begin to distort when over-driven and that isn't what you want.

Ted

[Dimal]

Unless you are prepared to do measurements across the audio spectrum you will never know what EQ settings to use to "balance things out a bit."

As it happens, I have everything I need to analyse audio spectrum data, except for a decent Mic, which I'm prepared to buy and like Alex and Ted say, I have nothing to lose and perhaps a lot to gain.

By the way Ted, you got it in one; our listening room is a little too bright for my tastes and we're not about to install a bunch of heavy drapes or soft furnishings to absorb the excess. After thinking about it a bit more, I believe I'll hang on to the EQ and start looking for a decent Mic. Will be worth it in the end I think but a rough setup and listening test will do for now.

Thanks guys....
Mal.

[PeterW.]

[quote="Dimal"]Hi All...

What do fellow VE-ers think of the above EQ unit? I bought it new some years ago, used it once very briefly and then promptly left home and worked o/seas for many years. The EQ was repacked into its original box, put into storage and has never seen the light of day since. Basically, it is still in new condition....

A few things:

a) At a guess, that unit is at/around/more than 30 years old. By your own description it has been sitting idle most of that time. At the very least it will need _all_ its controls checked and cleaned/lubricated if necessary. NOTE: Many slide-controls of that period used a proprietary silicon-based lubricant. If yours is such a unit, unless you go to heroic measures *and* find that same lubricant to replace what you remove, you will be better served simply to exercise the controls until they operate correctly than to clean with improper materials.

b) Writing for myself, I would suspect the viablity of any and all electrolytic capacitors in the unit, from the power-supply to any in/around the signal path. To the point where I would advise you to shotgun replace them. It won't cost you more than a few bucks to do so and it won't take much time. Those units are quite easy to service at that level. At the same time, other than the potential for a loud HUMMMM... it is unlikely that you will cause damage by trying it without replacing the caps first.

Cutting to the chase - equalizers can be useful. I keep one - I rarely use it - and two of my pre-amps have a large-than-typical group of tone-controls. A well designed unit will have an in/out switch, and with the better units when the slide is at 0, it will be entirely out-of-circuit. And the better pre-amps have a switched "EPL" connection - same idea.

Use it. Can't hurt, might help.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

[Dimal]

Great advice Peter...

Thank you mate .

It actually was my intention to 'raise the bonnet' and make a list of all the Electrolytics, then replace them. It is within my skill range and experience to do this but will depend on how easy the access is. My hands and eyes aren't what they used to be.

Yes, I have a decent enough Pre-Amp with useful EQ installed but it isn't anything like that of a good Graphical or Parametric EQ; quite broad band really. I'll see how it all goes though and give it a try...

Cheers Peter,
Mal.