I've never had any complaints about Soundcraft mixers. Certainly a well-built and quite reasonable piece. I've never been disappointed with them, especially for their British roots in spite of the fact that the "Dr." now owns them in America.

I used to be afraid of doctors until they got into the audio business.

My gynecologist has big microphones
Ms. Remy Ann David

I believe that the 200 series was their first line they imported into the States. Is it built into an aluminum flight case? Those had headroom out the ying-yang, baby! But then again, so did I back then....
You will probably have to do a lot more than "just" star-ground that board to get the noise levels down to useable level for recording, but for live sound, those old Soundcrafts rock! Just make sure that the power supply is in good operating condition. If the box physically hums, you have a bad transformer and that may not be replaceable. Good luck!

Thnx for feedback so far,,

here's a link to what one looks like
http://vid2001.stores.yahoo.net/200b.html

good news re: head room for PA work,,, bad news on hum for recording , although i didn't plan to record thru it, but just use it to hook up some new gear i have , dbx 166, aphex eciter type C and yamaha spx 50d, mostly for scratch pad song writing until i'm ready to track thru my Sebatron vmp 2000e to RME ADI 8 pro,> rme hdsp 9652> samplitude pro,,

and since i don't have my wish list comps yet, Manley Vari MU and Cranesong unit , i'm interested in upgrading the 166 with the Burr brown idea, caps n all,

which leads me to, can anyone post the DIY site from the guy that was here once ??

i'm not sure if the case is the aluminum one you described, but i do know it comes with case, supply

again thanks
i'll let yous know how it turns out ,,

SI

litle bump

well down to crunch time, the place selling these has two units available

200B 8 channel for around 600 hundred, and the 200B 16 CH for 1200.00 canadian

both have fleight cases and power supply and very well maintaned

are the units worth it?

thanks
SI

This is a tough one, actually. That board was probably made back in the middle 70's. It was the first model that JBL brought into North America, eventually leading to Harmon's purchasing the company later. I had a 200 I bought in 2000. It LOOKED good, everything seemed to work OK, but then... the power supply reared it's ugly head and started to generate a most gnarly 60-Hz hum that emanated from the transformer. And then it finally gave up the ghost (pun intended!). I bought it for $400US and sold it off to a dealer in South Florida for whatever he could use it for. I got $500.00 on a trade...I was lucky!
Even if the boards do look like they were well-maintained at some installation (venue, broadcast station,church, etc), and not "rode hard and put away wet" by some sound company, I think that it's a crapshoot. And an 8-channel is no good. Get the 16 if you must. Offer them half...$600 for the 16. Tops. Tell him that you've heard too many horror stories about the reliability of an old spark'n'fart like that. Otherwise, walk, er, run out of there. Don't let them jack you around. For $1200.00 you can do a lot better...

Thnx again moonbaby , I appreciate your input ,,,

think I'll shelve the idea right now and keep eyes open

SI

moonbaby wrote: I believe that the 200 series was their first line they imported into the States. Is it built into an aluminum flight case? Those had headroom out the ying-yang, baby! But then again, so did I back then....
You will probably have to do a lot more than "just" star-ground that board to get the noise levels down to useable level for recording, but for live sound, those old Soundcrafts rock! Just make sure that the power supply is in good operating condition. If the box physically hums, you have a bad transformer and that may not be replaceable. Good luck!

Nope. They were importing before this one. The B did not come in a case. That must have been a custom thing that you saw.

The 200B is ok. The only real issue that I had using it, back in the day when it was current, was the grounding. There is just one little wire running across the channel strips for a ground. 86 that, do a star and you will be ok. I would have the power supply checked as stated above, get the whole thing recapped and be ok. Of course, by now the pots and switches may be crap too. Check it out.