Thanks for sharing... it brings back memories of my very early days of first building stuff.
You wonder how such a design would be received today... and how it might compare sonically to the later IC offerings.
thanks
You wonder how such a design would be received today... and how it might compare sonically to the later IC offerings.
thanks
I know exactly what you mean Mooly! I had already been building stuff for years by the time I built this aged 17.....
All the little dots etc around the pcb layout are from me cleaning my Dalo pen nib whilst hand copying the layout to copper clad.
It does actually sound very good indeed. As a matter of interest I built a copy of the design a few years afterwards but using NE5534 op amps in place of the discrete ones. It sounded good but was very obviously inferior to the original..... there could be life left yet in the original design in spite of the fairly crude discrete op amps 😉
Thanks too, Jez
Was "Electronics Digest" an occasional volume of similar material?
ETI here used to run a lot of basic design, audio, test gear etc. publications with cross- publication from their continental and, of course, UK editions. I'm looking at one such title here called "ETI circuit techniques" volume 3, ca. 1983.
Interestingly, it carries some reworked IC app. notes by Ray Marston and has Prof. Cherry's own condensed magazine version of his NDFL technology paper! ETI had some good years.
I don't recall Stan Curtis' design in our editions as most interest at the time seemed to be focused on big Mosfet pro style gear with many 5534s and knobs. Small, separate preamps were very "high end" and almost unknown to even electronics enthusiasts.
It would be good to see something like this concept reworked with little SMD discretes
or even E-line Txs. on small sub-boards. Yes, I know its been done commercially and DIY but one is never enough, is it?
Was "Electronics Digest" an occasional volume of similar material?
ETI here used to run a lot of basic design, audio, test gear etc. publications with cross- publication from their continental and, of course, UK editions. I'm looking at one such title here called "ETI circuit techniques" volume 3, ca. 1983.
Interestingly, it carries some reworked IC app. notes by Ray Marston and has Prof. Cherry's own condensed magazine version of his NDFL technology paper! ETI had some good years.
I don't recall Stan Curtis' design in our editions as most interest at the time seemed to be focused on big Mosfet pro style gear with many 5534s and knobs. Small, separate preamps were very "high end" and almost unknown to even electronics enthusiasts.
It would be good to see something like this concept reworked with little SMD discretes
or even E-line Txs. on small sub-boards. Yes, I know its been done commercially and DIY but one is never enough, is it?
i remember this project very well, what is striking is the resemlance to a meridian 101 preamp of the same era. even the case is very close in looks 😀
Yes it was. And, IIRC, it sometimes had themes (audio, musician, etc.). The Digest usually consisted mainly of projects, though I do seem to recall the occasional app feature.
This project article had a different revision that includes a table with RC loading for various MM cartridges of the time.
It was indeed a great mag at the time! I too have some of the Prof. Cherry articles etc.... all good stuff.
I must say that I am surprised by the lack of any downloadable scans of old ETI mags...... and to a lesser extent old Wireless world mags. It could well be for the very same reasons that I am not about to volunteer to do it 🙄
Reminds me of an incident at my first job. I was writing a manual for testing a microprocessor control board. I had completed first year studies, and had no experience of technical writing, so I mimicked the ETI style of articles... complete with its characteristic humour! It was never made for my boss' eyes, but he did eventually get hold of it. He was not impressed! I don't think I ever managed to erase the mental "joker" tag he put on me. 😱
Thanks Jez for posting the article; I'd almost forgotten it. The physical resemblance to the Meridian is simple....COST. It was the smallest box I could easily get away with and it cost almost pennies to make.
I recall that it worked very well at the time but it was a long time and several hundred designs ago
Stan Curtis
I recall that it worked very well at the time but it was a long time and several hundred designs ago
Stan Curtis
then there was the 'System A power amp' this was a class A monster also by Stan as I remember, great mag was ETI.
My first home build too. If anyone is wanting to build from the PCB scans there was a mistake in the artwork. I remember building it and the dismay when I didn't work. There was a correction published a couple of months later. I still have the magazines in the cupboard if you need the correction. I also have the Stan Curtis System A power amp articles if anyone wants them.
Hi,
a great preamp. It was my second diy audio attempt in 1985. I was using a NAD 3080 integrated,then and I remember well,that his RIAA section send the Tomlinson Holman designed NAD RIAA,for a walk in the woods.It gave me 3 years of good service,repaying its existence nontheless, great guy.An iconoclastic design,using shunt feedback in the RIAA,instead of ,the politically correct series feedback.He wrote in the text,that although the shunt was vastly superior audibly,the series one was measuring better.(ever heard of that weird phenomenon?)It still exists in the attic,and there are times that I long for its sound.Some day...
Stan Curtis is, a great designer,but a bad trader.Isn't it ironic that all great minds are soddy with the monies. Any way his Cambridge designs of the time were running rings in the audio scene then.
Regards
B.L.
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Wjlamp
---Stan Curtis was, is, I don't know if he is living,a great designer,but a bad trader.---
He worked for a lot of companies and designed many products which were successful :
Stan Curtis, the hifi guru, introduction
---Stan Curtis was, is, I don't know if he is living,a great designer,but a bad trader.---
He worked for a lot of companies and designed many products which were successful :
Stan Curtis, the hifi guru, introduction
I do recall reading an article or an interview,I am not so sure, in Hi-Fi News,about his unfortunate Quad adventure.It was written there.No further experience.
B.L.
Likewise, I built a few ETI designs as kits, but I really was more an Electronics Australia man, and built several of their Playmaster series of amplifiers published in the 1970's - 1980's. I still use a ETI 200W 8R amplifier on my subwoofer.
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