Power you need only for remote otherwise passive preamp should work without power.
Repair options for Placette passive linestage?
Just learned the sad news that Guy Hammel the erstwhile founder/owner of Placette Audio passed away. Any thoughts on repair options for what has otherwise been a flawless performer for the last eight years?
Specifically, my Placette audio passive linestage isn't transmitting a signal to my amps, and was only quasi responsive to inputs from the remote or the manual volume toggle (amber light was intermittent and I’d hear a few clicks before even those would shut down). Since then, the unit seems completely dead (no lights or reaction to remote or toggle inputs whatsoever). Seems like a power supply issue to me.
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Take it to a local technician. Ask your local dealer who does their repairs. everyone seem to think their prized piece of audio gear is only repairable by the manufacture, That's just silly. Well unless there is some component that's only available from the manufacture but that's more rare then you think. Any competent electronics tech should be able to fix 95% of problems with any piece of audio gear. granted parts being available etc. Sure if you have a case/housing/faceplate issue maybe the manufacturer but all the electronics components should have comparable parts available. |
I hear you on passive components not requiring power, but the volume control here is either via remote or via an up/down toggle switch on the front of the linestage. and neither work unless the unit has power. That suggests to me that the linestage isn't passing anything through unless it has power. That isn't a malfunction. It's always been that way. The way this particular unit failed (intermittent operation, and then completely dead) would suggest it's a power supply issue, and frankly, I hope that's all that it is, b/c that should be a fairly simple replacement of the external (plug into the wall) unit. Just curious if anyone's experienced anything similar with Placette passive units. |
@czarivey If the passive line stage has a no-gain tube or transistor it has a power supply. Buffered circuit to reduce output impedance. |
@jasonbourne71 buffered circuit isn't passive means preamp isn't passive. |
FWIW, I don't know if there is a buffered circuit in these units. AFAIK, the power supply exists simply to provide remote volume control and input switching. This is the product listing page for anyone who's interested: http://www.placetteaudio.com/passive_line.htm |
Just want to make clear my unit didn’t have an issue and Guy just wanted to make sure I wouldn’t have any power supply issues down the road since he mentioned some do get flakey down the road. If I notice any oddity, just swap the ps unit he gave me. I just did the swap anyways as a just in case. Nothing improved or got worse. Just peace of mind |
Yeah, I really hope it is a power supply issue since that should be a very simple swap of an external item. The issue I’m running into is that I can’t find a replacement 8 pin DIN power supply anywhere! It’s as if Guy was the only guy (no pun intended) persisting with this type of connector, and no one makes them anymore. The mfg is CUI. The model is EMSA050120 and the part number is EMSA050120-P5P-SZ (output 5V, 1.2A). I would of course welcome any suggestions for sourcing direct replacements or even suitable substitutes. |
Try one of these:
Here's CUI's new version, from Mouser:
Any competent Tech should be able to convert the plug. Placette (which seems to remain operational) still offers replacement PCs, for their units: http://www.placetteaudio.com/replacement.htm I owned a Plcette Passive Linestage, for a few years and loved the purity. |
@Rodman99999
Also, while Placette’s website is still up and running, they are NOT operational (Guy’s widow confirmed as much to me), so I caution anybody against hitting the Buy button on any products. |
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