In view of the GB topic being closed . . .
Due to my limited time I have not cross-posted my efforts at finding solutions to the various and sundry problems with the TNC ACMP preamps to all the forums. I have been posting primarily to Prodigy-pro DIY and trusting that interested folks would get the word that I was working on the preamps.
Crazydoc and others have been mentioning my efforts in this thread and I was made aware last night that my name was mentioned by Chance in his closing post to the GB thread. A correspondent who has been keeping me posted about various political goings on alerted me to this and I am posting here to clarify my (lack of) involvement with Chance and TNC. Had the GB thread not closed, I would have responded there, but I must respond somewhere to set the record straight.
I have not entered into any business relationship with Chance or Terry.
Chance and I have spoken on the phone a couple of times and sent a few emails back and forth, where he has asked me if I would be interested in helping with engineering/QC, etc. on future Group Buy products. I have expressed willingness to consult on such projects. At this time Chance has not hired me nor has he entered into any other business relationship with me. Terry Manning wrote me an email when I first started investigating a new power transformer for these preamps, in which clarified that TNC was not hiring me to work for them or act on their behalf, but my efforts were for my own benefit and were completely separate from TNC. My offerings to modify the preamps and/or provide kits of parts and modification instructions were strictly between me and the owners of the preamps, with no involvement from TNC.
Chance says in his finall post, "Future GB's? You bet, but there will be profit made. I am expecting the prototypes around June/July. Steve Hogan offered his services and will share in the profit."
I am flabbergasted that Chance mentions in his post that I will share in the profits. There have been no conversations about such a proposal between Chance and me that I am aware of, and going into partnership with folks you have just met is something I would remember.
I upgrade and modify vintage gear for a living, and I always spend way more time engineering the fixes than I can legitimately charge the customer. I was looking for a situation where I could spend 100 hours engineering a fix one time, and then apply that fix to multiple units over and over again in order to have a steady supply of work that doesn't involve re-inventing the wheel for every piece of gear that comes into the shop.
My original concept for the ACMP GB preamps was to simply design a replacement power transformer that fixed the hum in these preamps, but the more I have dug into them, the more problems I have found that need fixing. At this point, the fixes include new power tranformer, All new caps and components on the power supply PCB. New Phantom feed components, including new matched PRP 1/2 watt 0.1% 6K81 resistors. Replace damaged resistors, Rework gain switch to eliminate pop. Replace transistors and a diode in the '81 EQ PCBs. I'm still working on fixes, which I hope to complete this week.
I have already made a substantial commitment to this project and have accepted units for repair along with deposits. I have ordered a substantial quantity of parts for the upgrades including the PRP resistors, the transformers, all the power supply caps. I will be making kits of parts available for those who are skillful DIY types, or for those who are overseas and other locations where shipping is prohibitively expensive. The modified preamps will be quite useable with an acceptable, if not spectacular, noise floor. I am working on the gain switch now, which is shared by all the preamps, and then I will check out the 81 oscillations. I want to avoid missing something that will require a return trip or other later fix.
So to reiterate, Chance can hire me to work on a project if he desires to do so, but he has not yet done so. I have not received a dime from TNC. The support for this project so far has come strictly from the deposits of those who have sent their units in for upgrade/repair. Thank you, BTW, for all who have expressed their appreciation for my efforts on the behalf of those who own these preamps and want to be able to really use them to record quality music. Those expressions of appreciation have not gone unnoticed, and I am touched by your kind words. I hope to reward you with my best efforts in making these preamps as bulletproof and great-sounding as possible given the basic structure we have to work with.
