Audio Prism

 

 

 

 Texar Audio Prisms- later Gentner.  These were a digitally controlled analog 4- band AGC that partially defined the sound of Radio  for a decade. 

This pair came in with significant distortion in one unit, both with power supply issues.  Original capacitors in  the PSU, and that PSU runs hot- so we’ll start there. 

 

One of the first things I check with these are the seals on the trimpots.  Occasionally someone will “adjust” them, thinking they are level controls or display calibrations. They are not.  These control the bias applied to the LDR gain control elements.  Each LDR is slightly different and there are adjustments to compensate.   If the LDR’s are still in spec, and there is a test procedure for that, no reason to adjust them.  

..

 

 Here you can see the actual LDR in the lower right corner.  There are 4 of these gain control boards- one for each audio frequency band.   And 6 electrolytics on each that were changed out.   

 

One unit still suffered distortion and very low audio levels after replacing capacitors.  A bit of audio tracing turned up a failed op Amp in the input circuit.  Replaced and the unit came right back.   We’ll let them burn in 24 hours and ship them back.