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Toytone 20 March 2012

Hello there,
I was lucky enough to get two BFE MV1 Preamps and two BFE MK2 Eqs..
But unfortunately I didn't succeed in finding a rack or console yet to test them.
Has anyone experience how a DIY construction could be made or does anyone offer that service?
I can do basic soldering but I'm not firm with building a circuit board and have no idea about capacitors etc.
Of course I did a search on the forum but couldn't exactly find what I need.
I'm living in Berlin and could pay a person to build me a nice cube for my new sweeties.

Thanks a lot for any help!
Best
T

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Comments

Boswell Wed, 03/21/2012 - 05:31

I don't think you will find a low-cost rack ready-made to house the BFE modules in. I had a good look round last year when I bought a pair of Neumann V476B pre-amps that have a similar physical form factor, and eventually decided to rack them myself.

Modules of this type are less than 1U thick, so will fit nicely on their sides in a 1U high rack chassis. I bought an old chassis with faulty electronics on Ebay, stripped out the internals, mounted the modules, cut a new front panel and built a new internal power supply using a toroidal transformer. It sounds first-class, looks fine when racked, and you can't tell it's a re-build. The rear panel is a give-away, but unless you have a penchant for inspecting views of rear ends, you don't need to know.

Toytone Wed, 03/21/2012 - 05:43

Hello Hueseph and Boswell,,
thank you very much for replying! Especially the hint with the power supply is just great to know! What exactly is a "toroidal"? Is it easy to connect it to the modules?
Is there any "standard plug" I can use to connect if I solder the pins? How are they called?
Shematics of the modules aren´t that easy to find, but I will keep my eyes open. - Found some graphics but it was a super small resolution,, I will keep searching.
Thanks a lot! Looking forward to finally test them. I heard amazing things about them so far..
Best,
Toytone

Boswell Wed, 03/21/2012 - 10:36

[="http://www.automationtechnologiesinc.com/products-page/torroidal-power-supplies/kl-3815-unregulated-linear-power-supply-525-w-duplicate"]This[/]="http://www.automati…"]This[/] is an example of a simple power supply using a toroidal transformer. Although that's a much higher power unit than you would need and it's unregulated where you would require regulated, it shows you the shape of the transformer.

One advantage of toroidal mains transformers is the very low leakage of mains-frequency magnetic field. This is especially necessary when a power supply is housed in the same chassis as pre-amps that employ input transformers on the microphone circuits.

It's worth having a look at the [[url=http://="http://www.sonicwor…"]Sonic World[/]="http://www.sonicwor…"]Sonic World[/] site, as they are (German) specialists in housing Neumann and other makes of pre-amp. Not cheap, though!

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