[avahifi]

Top front, switch board.

To the right of that the mute/remote receiver board.

Below that the regulated power supply board.  Note that this a multi-purpose board only partially stuffed for this application.

Vertically in the center, the stereo line/tone control board.

Behind that the mute and remote controller board.

At the far left the stereo phono board.

Its all hand wired here in Minnesota by skilled and well paid experienced technicians and all get a final bench testing by me.

Thanks for the photos, Wayne.

Best regards,

Frank Van Alstine

P.S. The new "ah ha" upgrade will replace four plug in ICs in this unit, two in the phono board, two in the line/tone control board.  Likely we will make this a do it yourself upgrade, if you can identify the 8-pin linears and remove and replace them and get them in the right way up and without mangling any pins.  More about this to be announced as soon as my first production parts order gets here in a few days.

[skrivis]

It looks like the right and left channels going to the tape out jacks are pretty close together. Does that harm channel separation?

Does that then affect all inputs going into the line section since the tape outs are connected to the same "bus?"

[avahifi]

If you notice the left channel wires are green, the right channel wires are red, and the ground wires are black.  These colors are part of a very secret and proprietary and unique technique to provide electron guides to keep the right stuff in the right places.  The electrons have been trained to recognize and organize themselves in accordance with the color coded "tunnels" they are flowing through, much like the colored lines on the floors of hospital hallways.  Thus nothing ever gets lost or off track and there is absolutely no negative effect on separation, each electron keeps it its own color coded path nearly perfectly.

If you measure inside one of our chassis, you will find it almost impossible to find and identify any stray electron that is in the wrong place.  I urge any of you with the appropriate test equipment to confirm this.  We have really worked this out nearly perfectly.

Best regards,

Frank Van Alstine

[timjthomas]

If you notice the left channel wires are green, the right channel wires are red, and the ground wires are black.  These colors are part of a very secret and proprietary and unique technique to provide electron guides to keep the right stuff in the right places.  The electrons have been trained to recognize and organize themselves in accordance with the color coded "tunnels" they are flowing through, much like the colored lines on the floors of hospital hallways.  Thus nothing ever gets lost or off track and there is absolutely no negative effect on separation, each electron keeps it its own color coded path nearly perfectly.

If you measure inside one of our chassis, you will find it almost impossible to find and identify any stray electron that is in the wrong place.  I urge any of you with the appropriate test equipment to confirm this.  We have really worked this out nearly perfectly.

Best regards,

Frank Van Alstine

Thank you Frank!  That was the funniest thing I've read in quite some time!!! 

[rcag_ils]

I'd call it "dumb question", "smart answer".

Ooops, I am not supposed to make fun of others, sorry, my apology.

[avahifi]

Not a dumb question, I was just teasing the writer, a very good long term client, a bit.

i hope nobody notices that I never actually answered the question. 

Not supposed to ask me questions like that.

Regards,

Frank

[skrivis]

Not a dumb question, I was just teasing the writer, a very good long term client, a bit.

i hope nobody notices that I never actually answered the question. 

Not supposed to ask me questions like that.

Regards,

Frank

I noticed.

I was certainly aware that green electrons follow green wires, and the same for red electrons (Are they really Red Lectroids?).

I'm just worried that Wayner might not have any electrons of color in his house.

[Tom Alverson]

Frank carefully gets the direction of the wires correct so that all of the crosstalk is cancelled out. 

[TjMV3]

My Super Pas 4i SL has arrived!!!   

Very nice!!!


Frank, 

The upgrade you spoke of earlier in this thread.  Would that change the type of tubes used in the Super PAS 4i from 12AX7's,  to 12AT7's or another tube?

[heiba]

First posting here on this forum for me.
I`m a happy owner of an AVA Super PAS 3 preamp,
that I bought new in 1985 and upgraded some years
later with a new power supply with parts from Frank.

I listen to mostly LPs and 90% classical music. My
LP collection has grown in later years, since classical
music on vinyl is so cheap now.
I don`t play my CDs much these days.

[Wayner]

Not a dumb question, I was just teasing the writer, a very good long term client, a bit.

i hope nobody notices that I never actually answered the question. 

Not supposed to ask me questions like that.

Regards,

Frank

I noticed.

I was certainly aware that green electrons follow green wires, and the same for red electrons (Are they really Red Lectroids?).

I'm just worried that Wayner might not have any electrons of color in his house.

What is that suppose to mean?

[Wayner]

Not to hijack this thread on the off topic of the Insight Preamp and the mentioned chip upgrade, but I have just installed the new 8 legged beasts into my phono board of preamp #1. It is of the EC variety.

While the upgrade may not be for the totally squeamish, an unplugged unit an patients will be rewarding. The phono board is easy to get to, the line board not quite so.

As per Frank's instructions, I have installed the new chips into the phono board's left and right channel. I'm going thru the Insight 260 and then the Paradigm 40v.3's. Source is the Techincs SL-1200 w/Audio Technica 440MLa cartridge. Later tonight I will put the Technics SL-Q2 with the time honored Grado Longhorn thru the paces.

The very tube-like sound of the chip reveals a nice solid bass line, cymbal crashes that sound like real and a very reasonable soundstage. This is all I will say for tonight. I need to get adjusted to the change and listen to some more different LPs.

Wayner

[Tom Alverson]

Are the new chips just for the phono stage? Do you have 2 more for the line stage that you have not installed yet?

[JerryM]

First posting here on this forum for me.
I`m a happy owner of an AVA Super PAS 3 preamp,
that I bought new in 1985 and upgraded some years
later with a new power supply with parts from Frank.

I listen to mostly LPs and 90% classical music. My
LP collection has grown in later years, since classical
music on vinyl is so cheap now.
I don`t play my CDs much these days.

Hey, heiba!!  Cool first post! 

Welcome!

Have fun,
Jerry

[turkey]

Not a dumb question, I was just teasing the writer, a very good long term client, a bit.

i hope nobody notices that I never actually answered the question. 

Not supposed to ask me questions like that.

Regards,

Frank

I noticed.

I was certainly aware that green electrons follow green wires, and the same for red electrons (Are they really Red Lectroids?).

I'm just worried that Wayner might not have any electrons of color in his house.

What is that suppose to mean?

So you do have colored electrons?

Curiouser and curiouser.

[turkey]

The very tube-like sound of the chip reveals a nice solid bass line, cymbal crashes that sound like real and a very reasonable soundstage. This is all I will say for tonight. I need to get adjusted to the change and listen to some more different LPs.

What do you mean by "very tube-like?" Lots of harmonic distortion and coloration?

[heiba]

Thank you, Jerry!
I have been spinning vinyl since 1962.

[Flyquail56]

What do you mean by "very tube-like?" Lots of harmonic distortion and coloration?

Ha ha. Another sand amp fan. 

If I may go off topic a bit, this reminds me of another comment made here a few months ago that concerned me. Someone used the term euphonic to describe the sound of a tube amplifier, and he sounded almost apologetic in his use of this adjective. I just don’t understand the need for thinking that way. We all know that all amplifiers add distortion to the sound that they reproduce, and that the distortion characteristics between tube and solid state amps can be quite different from each other. I think it is high time that solid state amps have their own special adjective to complement the use of euphonic for tube amps!

I’m thinking that “dysphonic” is a possibility, but my favorite would have to be “cacophonic”.  To borrow from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the word cacophonic comes from the Greek root words “phonos” meaning sound, and “ca-ca” meaning… well we all know what that means.

Just think what an easy time the magazine reviewers will have now. “In summary, the new Howling Banshee XK-400 is a fantastic power amplifier, exhibiting none of the grit and glare of its predecessor, and having just a hint of cacophony at lower volume settings.”

Let the Cacophonic marketing campaign begin 

Mike

[TjMV3]

I never apologize for loving euphonic.  To each his own,  I always say.

Everyone else can bite me

[martyo]

I never apologize for loving euphonic.  To each his own,  I always say.

Everyone else can bite me