Ole'school in New World, Help!

[Warmonger]

I recently purchased a pair of EMP E41 speakers. They sound fantastic even on the 35 year old hardware that I pulled from storage. I recently resurrected some 300+ vinyls hidden under the stairs. They've been there 25 years.

Many years ago, one of three little villains ripped the stylus off my Empire Z phono cartridge. I replaced the cartridge with a brand new Shure V15 IV. Less than a week later, the stylus was damaged once again. To keep myself from committing mass murder, I placed all my vinyls, turntable and other hardware under the stairs, vowing not to bring them out until all the little villiains were gone. Well, the 3 little villains have grown up and are gone.

I don't use the Phase Linear, too much noise. The Sony power amp had static at first but cleared up. However, every now and then, I hear something that just doesn't sound right. The right channel on the Kenwood tuner is gone. As romantic as I might have been about my old gear, the equipment failures and my son the Electrical Engineer and the one villain, I suspect is the real culprit of that dastardly deed years ago, has forced me to reassess the project. He had the nerve to laughed at my Phase Linear when he opened it up. His world is micro processors, multi-layered and surface mount circuit boards, firmaware, software etc. Ha! This is analog and everything is hand soldered, he scoffed!

Okay, I get it! It's old, older than he is. The Phase Linear's featured attributes were noise reduction and dynamic range enhancement for vinyl and taped music. Is it posslble to get the Phase Linear rebuilt? I need a preamp with RIAA phono equalization so, is there a product that anyone would recommend as a replacement for the Phase Linear 4000 preamp?

[KEW]

Cool!
Do you have the one with the joystick?
Phase Linear 4000 Series Pre-Amplifier

If so, note the last sentence under it: "It is still highly sought after today."

I'm sure you could replace it for less than a rebuild, but the system for increasing headroom seems pretty trick and I don't know if it can be replaced by modern hardware.
Since it is an analog pre, I'm guessing it didn't see much heat so may be a simple matter of cleaning the rheostats and contacts to eliminate the noise. Play with the knobs and switches a lot and see if the noise gets better. You won't fix it that way, but it will tell you it is a matter of getting rid the layer of oxidation which has formed on the contact surfaces. If so DeoxIT is your new best friend!

He had the nerve to laugh at my Phase Linear when he opened it up.

- The villains need to get to 26-30 years old before you will regain normal levels of human intelligence! Until then, "Suck it up you blithering old fool with your Phase Linear Pre-amp!"

[Warmonger]

Cool!
Do you have the one with the joystick?!"

Yep, I have the one with the joystick (Phase Linear 4000). In fact, it is a rare demonstration model that I got my hands on "New". I was living in Hawaii at the time and my boss hooked me up. About 8 months after I got it, Phase Linear sent me a letter asking for the return of the unit so they could upgrade the phono section. They did the upgrade at no charge and paid shipping both ways.

- The villains need to get to 26-30 years old before you will regain normal levels of human intelligence! Until then, "Suck it up you blithering old fool with your Phase Linear Pre-amp!"

"blithering old fool" I bet that's exactly what he was thinking at the time. LOL!

[KEW]

You might want to look at these links:
AudiogoN Search: Forums

This just posted today:

Phase Linear 70's Dream System 700B, 4000 Preamp & 5000 Tuner | Solid state | Richmond Heights, Missouri 63117 | AudiogoN - The High-end Audio Community
For about $2-3,000 you might be able to find a modern component that looks as good!
Heck, I just wish we could get silver units instead of black, like the Brits! The Marantz receivers in reviews from the UK all seem to be silver!

Congrats on having a normal, healthy kid who is in transition from child to adult!!!