Fender FR-12 preamp mod : The Hissterectomy

bigswifty said:
Thanks for the reply.

So in theory it can be an issue. But are we talking in extreme circumstances? Or can you just get incredibly unlucky and f*ck it up after one hit into the red in terms of output clipping? How would you even tell if damage has occurred in this manner?

And does your V2 design have a higher degree of protection in this regard?
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I think you would smell burnt phenolic or Fiberboard and have no highs if it thermals, but those parts aren't very expensive or hard to change. I had a "friend" smoke a similar driver in a headrush that I loaned them . It was a $30 and 10 minute fix.

The V2 design is tuned so efficiently I was able to turn the gain down on the TDA2050 horn amp from the almost 34X gain of the stock preamp to barely 8X gain in the V2 preamp ... while matching the the frequency curve and SPL output perfectly. With way less hiss, heat, or stress on the components.

Plus the clip light on the V2 serves as a warning before it ever lets the smoke out.
 
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WKSmith said:
I think you would smell burnt phenolic or Fiberboard and have no highs if it thermals, but those parts aren't very expensive or hard to change. I had a "friend" smoke a similar driver in a headrush that I loaned them . It was a $30 and 10 minute fix.

The V2 design is tuned so efficiently I was able to turn the gain down on the TDA2050 horn amp from the almost 34X gain of the stock preamp to barely 8X gain in the V2 preamp ... while matching the the frequency curve and SPL output perfectly. With way less hiss, heat, or stress on the components.

Plus the clip light on the V2 serves as a warning before it ever lets the smoke out.
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As someone with 0 electronics experience, this is reassuring.

Can't wait to deck out my FR-12 with your V2 🤟
 
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Patzag said:
So. How do you like the FR10?
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I like it a lot!
It's punchy. Voiced a little stronger in the mids and a little less bottom. Just a smidge difference though.. and my FR-12 is well broken in while the FR-10 is brand new and still a little stiff.

I am going to have some trouble deciding which one to buy to make a matched pair.

I have been burning in the first 2 V2s for my beta testing brothers this afternoon with some KingsX and Hemispheres in stereo ...with a FR-10 and a FR-12

They sound ridiculous!
 
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Sixstring said:
Just sitting here thinking out loud but have you considered coming up with your own power amp in a kit form for those that want to build their cab and speaker?
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I am seriously thinking about using an inexpensive IcePower amp (with power supply) and a coax driver DIY build
with a version of this pre as an option .. perhaps even with a S/PDIF digital input.

So we can diy a killer affordable FRFR ourselves.
 
WKSmith said:
I am seriously thinking about using an inexpensive IcePower amp (with power supply) and a coax driver DIY build
with a version of this pre as an option .. perhaps even with a S/PDIF digital input.

So we can diy a killer affordable FRFR ourselves.
Click to expand...
S/PDIF input is interesting? But where would you put the s/pdif input in the circuit? Won't it need a DAC of some kind?
 
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