agedhorse

Use the tiniest amount of D-5 possible. Less is more in this case.

It's not what I would call a preamp pedal, it's a filter-eq pedal.

Impedance balanced, or ground compensated outputs can be either depending on the designer's choice as well as the nominal calibration choices (including where an output level control may be set). That said, the maximum output level (for a given power supply) will be 6dB lower.

There are still products (including g interfaces and mixers) that can’t accept true nominal +4dBu line level balanced signals. This alone makes a mic signal more universal as a line level signal won’t work in that situation.

The RE/Q pedal is not what I would consider a preamp pedal, nor is it intended to be a preamp pedal.

Looks to me to be closer to 18dB/oct.

Except that 8dB/octave is a tough filter to design (successfully). Typically, ~30Hz is about the lowest that a HPF needs to go IMO and IME. The average player seems to settle right around 45-50Hz, but it depends on the bass, the pickup location, the type of strings, playing style, speakers and acoustic environment. Every player is in fact a little different.

A couple of important differences, the first being that on the Q-strip there is a parallel through jack on the input, which allows the signal to pass through the pedal onto whatever else may feed the input of an amp while the eq'd XLR output feeds something else, and while the Q-strip is an eq-DI, the RE/Q is a HPF-LPF-EQ pedal, the filters being sweepable and each function being foot switched. Both are pedals that combine different functions, and different players will have different needs for the different functions.

You can still impedance balance the signal, it just requires a custom cable with matching resistance in the ring line.

If you wish to have a DI output, any passive DI will work, and just about all have a parallel in/out on the unbalanced side. 1K output impedance is very common, and is intended to drive any input of typically 10K or greater. Passive DI’s are all greater than 10K. This pedal was not intended to be a DI. It’s a filter-EQ pedal.

Many amps have HPF's, mostly added in the past 15 years, once designers recognized how valuable they are to the performance. All amps I have designed over the past ~20 years have had them, between 12 and 24dB/octave, and in the Subway amps, all but the D-800 have variable HPF's. Differences in slope and alignment are representative of the specific task and character desired for the amp's overall goals.

If you knew how many tubes marked 7025's are in fact just plain 12AX7 in "different clothes" (counterfit), you might be surprised. If you knew how many tubes we reject because they are either out of spec, noisy or microphonic, you might be surprised. If you knew where these rejected tube end up, you might be surprised. If you knew how many issues related to a user or tech not understanding the concept of correctly biasing an amp, you might be surprised. Preset bias and "matching tubes for that bias level" is an essentially foolproof way of being able to change out power tubes without the need to re-bias, as well as keeping fingers out of the electronics. This way the bias is exactly as the designer intended. Your comment about "bullsh*t marketing" is uncalled for because it's based on your lack of knowledge of why these decisions were made. You don't have to agree with them, you don't have to buy our amps either, but calling it bullsh*t isn't right.

Glasgow Studio Electronics is another good option IME.

Yes, the folks at Westside are excellent, and run a tight ship.

With the ongoing COVID case numbers throughout Europe, parts and materials from that region is remaining a serious challenge. Materials and shipping from Asia remains a nightmare, with some regions getting worse rather than better. Eastern Europe (a major source of tubes) is getting worse, which compounds tube shortages from China’s issues. South America (another source of speakers and materials) is also not improving as hoped for. Some things in the US are improving, but backorders and global parts shortages are impacting our abilities to produce finished goods as well. Ultimately, we are all in this together. That’s how a global economy works.

Yes, that's the best option. If there's hum due to a ground loop, most PA companies carry XLR pin 1 lift barrels for that purpose.

With your Streamliner, you have enough power on tap to destroy those speakers. Beware.

Least likely is either ported or sealed next to a folded horn IME.

Yes and no. The original specs posted by the seller were not correct because he was advertising them as stock 12PR300’s when in fact that was untrue. Eventually, that “oversight” was addressed. The published TS parameters, as you know, only describe elements of the low frequency performance of the driver. The mid and high frequency performance characteristics are not described. I don’t believe that correct information was ever provided (though the incorrect info bounced around quite a bit. This is because of an issue when somebody bought some of these drivers and they sounded quite different from the stock model in spite of the paperwork showing them being “identical “. Created some ill will.

There were 2 versions of the NeoX 212 cabinet. The original version used a custom Eminence driver and the NX2 version used a custom Faital driver. While the low frequency parameters are reasonably close, the mid voicing parameters are different as the goals for the cabinet line evolved.

I can be general, but correct I can't get specific because these techniques are in fact still used in commercial products being designed today. One of the biggest challenges with any driver is balancing the desired characteristics with their side effects or negative attributes. Sometimes, this works in the designer's favor, but often they can conflict. The critical part of this is correctly identifying the attributes you wish to exploit and those you wish to minimize. It's easier said than done of course, and sometimes, it's simply an impossible set of compromises and a different approach in needed. One characteristic that's VERY important to bass players is the midrange voicing, and how that voicing integrates with the tweeter. This is also heavily influenced by the polar pattern of the driver which is governed in part by the diameter of the driver but also by the cone/dust cap shape, material. Another characteristic is how well the driver tunes in the desired cabinet size. Different choices of soft parts results in different parameters that can make a driver more or less friendly to a particular range of cabinet sizes. This means that if the goal is a smaller than average cabinet size, TS parameters may be adjusted through the selection or tailoring of soft part properties. Another property that a designer can address is what happens to the VC as it enters and exits the non-linear portion of the magnetic field and the shape of the magnetic field fringe is shaped, specifically the ends of the VC, and how the inductance and the VC current interact with the fringed fields. Note that the fields are often not perfectly symmetric, this can become a blessing or a curse depending on the goals and the component parts. Xmax is something that comes up a lot in LF driver discussions, there are different definitions, sometimes different goals and sometimes different mechanisms depending on what parameter the designer is more concerned with. For example, it's possible to design a driver with more robust mechanical suspension parts than the basic Xmax might suggest depending of the characteristics of the fringe field performance, as well as long term ageing and mechanical reliability metrics. While the AES power rating standard is a 2 hour "must survive" test, I typically use a 200 hour "must survive" test because the companies I design for have longer warranty periods and the customers of those products typically have greater expectations. This is just a little bit about what goes into designing a driver.

To clarify this often propagated and unsubstantiated "rumor", the Genz Benz products did not use a stock 12PR300. The soft parts were customized for our design goals with the stock metalwork. The difference is significant and for our goals worth the effort and cost of customization.

Message me and I will help you sort it out. If the job isn't done right, you can indeed end up with a mess. I do not have any replacement PCBs left, ironically in all the years I have serviced these amps, I have never needed a replacement board but I have seen plenty damaged from failed repair attempts that would have been a simple, inexpensive job for a QUALIFIED tech. They are a double sided PCB with plated holes, damage the plating and you have a problem. Due to chronic issues with blue LEDs from what were well qualified suppliers/brands, we moved to using CREE parts due to their much higher overall reliability (of course they cost more too, but that wasn't the reason we used the parts we did use, CREE didn't have this part available until years after the amp was designed.)

Yes, All of ICEPower’s modules going back almost 20 years by now are still in current production and available to authorized manufacturer’s service centers.

There are many parts that are no longer available as the manufacturers of such parts discontinue them and there are no other sources. The most common parts are pots, jacks, switches, relays, and some opto-electronics, plus many lateral and vertical MOSFETs (though for some applications there are still some reasonable substitutes but they don;t work in all applications). Beware of counterfeits however, especially semiconductors. The world is awash with counterfeit MOSFETs, most aren't even the type that they are labeled (lateral in particular). From a company that supports their products, replacement class D modules are often reasonably priced. Not are they generally impractical to repair, the act of repairing them invalidates their safety certifications because they are a specially certified part (reinforced insulation between the primary and everything else) and must be tested for compliance after the repair. The European manufacturers of these modules are quite clear about this and won't even repair them at the factory. It's a bit like rewinding a transformer, if you can't certify it (properly), it can't legally be used in a repair for the same reason. It's treated as an integrated component. The EU is more strict about this than most regions.