T-03EQ is an out and out archival EQ/Preamplifier designed specifically for archivists.  The previous T-01EQ was designed to do all things for all reasons.  Archivists asked us to concentrate on their needs and make it easier to use with digital readouts and a large display of the huge library of pre-sets, and this is the result.

Compatible with the Owl-1, Vadlyd, Milennia LOC, TDL 4010, KAB Souvenir, EMT JPA-66, Elberg MD12 and others.

Design and Construction:  Over the years there have been several archival equalisers; ours takes into account the needs of the archivist and has a built in library of  nearly 30 commonly used EQs in alphabetical order.  More can be added, just ask us !  The unit has a built in power supply and is in an industry standard  19" rack mount that can also be used as a stand-alone instrument out side of a rack.

We have been very careful to present a high quality feel to this equaliser, we use only top quality op-amps, PTFE and gold input connectors and gold plated Neutrix XLR output sockets.  The signal to noise is extremely high with no hum or buzz, the distortion is vanishingly low and the overall audio fidelity is in the HiFi zone.  We use gold plated relays and all resistors are 1% or 0.1% tolerance.  EQ capacitors are all 1%.

The Owl-1 has not been produced for over 30 years now, it had become the de-facto standard in 78rpm equalisation with most of the books and guides either referencing the Owl-1 directly or mirroring its settings.  The EQ switching and gain distribution in the T-03EQ are the same as the Owl-1 so you will feel a natural and intuitive migration to the T-03EQ.
This is no coincidence, as the creator of the Owl-1 and Multifilter let us have the original hand drawn circuit diagrams and gave us permission to use his circuitry.  When we showed him our concept and drawings at the 2013 AES Convention in New York, he  said "the world has been waiting 20 years for this". 

Inputs:  To cater for the use of both Moving Magnet and Moving Coil 78rpm cartridges, both inputs will take any sort of cartridge with switchable sensitivity of 1, 4, 6 &10mV. 

The inputs can also be switched into a line-mode that allows re-processing of recordings already made.

EQ:  We offer quick and easy 20 preset EQ's that are the most used, as well as near infinite variation of both the LF and HF points.  Where possible level matching is achieved so that regardless of the EQ setting the output level remains constant, in a similar way to the Owl-1.

True Mono:  Many preamplifiers and EQ's simply short the two stereo signals together to get a mono output.  There is a better way, and that is to sum both channels into one.  The wanted signal is coherent and rises by 3dB and the noise which is uncorrelated stays the same.  Hence a very simple 3dB improvement from allowing a stereo cartridge to perform in a similar manner to a true mono cartridge.  Also true summing removes all vertical modulation on laterally recorded media for an even better result.

Blend, Lateral and Vertical mode:  Using a stereo cartridge you can seamlessly and continuously pan across from one groove wall to the other, and anything in between to find the least wear.  Often  this has no real effect but it can be checked in a few seconds anyway.

Edison Diamond, Pathé and others have a vertically modulated signal that is better played with a stereo cartridge with one channel out of phase, to extract all the information recorded.  This is a simple turn of the switch, here the blend control allows you to null out any cartridge imbalance to get the best sound possible.  The Library of Congress require vertical records to be archived in stereo but with one phase inverted, so that a simple add will produce the mono vertical output, we can do that from the front panel.

Output level  The output level is digitally controlled so that the level is what you expect it to be, always.  This can't happen when a simple pot on a front panel is used. 

Compatibility:  We have designed the T-03EQ to equal or exceed the specifications of all other 78rpm EQ's, past and present. This unit is approved by  the creator of the Owl-1 and we guarantee that it will meet and exceed all specifications of the Owl. Remember our Mono summing is true and not simply added.  We also have the ability to pan seamlessly from one groove to the other at a constant signal amplitude.  We have both library presets and manual equalisation and a fixed flat output on separate XLR connectors.    

Buying a T-03EQ:  We aim to keep units in stock, so no waiting and we can deliver to almost anywhere in the world by tracked and insured Fed Ex.  The price is $3,300 USD plus shipping.

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Technics SP-15 Turntable repair and modification

The Technics SP-15 SL-1015 turntable was first produced in 1979 and hence can be up to 46 years old (as of 2025) and hence like all things electronic is 40+ years past it's "best buy" date !  However it is a favourite amongst archivists and many will not upgrade to the very much newer SL-1200.  Because of its loyal following Timestep have brought new life to the SP-15.
Chip failure & 95rpm  Your SP-15 SL-1015 is almost definitely not working to specification and cannot do 90rpm Pathé.   The new chip has a better display and goes from 70-95rpm.  The old chip goes from 70.5rpm to 86.0rpmin "new mode" and exactly as before in "old mode". The MN6042 IC305 can fail and stop the turntable working and/or without you noticing, will degrade the performance.  This is an issue with every SP-15 as  the chip will suffer Time Dependent Dielectric Breakdown (TDDB) due to a manufacturing issue.  This was first noticed around 2002 and is a big issue now.  Worse still is the gradually and almost unnoticeable degradation of performance. How it works  Digital display in 1 rpm steps Pressing and holding the "pitch" · button will allow direct increment in 1rpm steps and digital display in 1 rpm steps.  The + or - LED goes out to indicate you are in direct rpm mode. Pressing and holding the "pitch" button again will return it to the +/-  % mode. In a nutshell If you see the +/- lit you are in % old mode.  The number you see is the % up/down on 78 RPM If there is no +/- shown you are in new direct RPM mode.  The number you see is the RPM speed.  (ignore the decimal point) Note that 78rpm however displayed, is actually the correct 78.26rpm.	78rpm at 0 percentage speed adjust (old mode)
	78rpm at 1.2 percentage speed adjust (old mode) Notice the +/- is lit and is in old mode
	95rpm New Chip New direct rpm mode (ignore the decimal point) Notice the +/- is not lit and is in new direct rpm mode

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Jeclo 9 and 12 inch tonearms

We have some brand new 9 and 12 inch tonearms.  They are in unopened boxes and from the last batch made. 
They have both counterweights, and the 12 inch is just fine for 16" transcription records.  Ask us for details ?

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20 February 2025