S'craft Spirit LE ?

[Obi-Wan zenabI]

Local music shop has a well used big old soundcraft desk for $700. It was dusty and looked like it came from your basic smoky venue.

I didn't count to see if it was 24 or 32.. It was grey, with the master channels oll the way over on the right, and had a large-ish power supply. I'm pretty sure it said spirit LE.... looked about 20 years old or so.

Good deal? Bad deal? Current setup in sig.

 

[Dilemmachine]

Smokey venue doesnt sound promising ask them if it works for one thing and has it been tested or see if you can get them to test it.

 

[ausrock]

From memory, the Spirit Studio LE was '90s vintage and was designed to work with a PC..........midi muting or some basic automation, I'm not sure. Consoles of that age are likely to have bugs that need attention and the LE probably has more to go wrong than the standard Studio model. From your description it sounds like a 24 channel. The pre's and EQ are quite good, definitely a step up from the Mackie 8 buss consoles.

You can d/load the manual here http://www.soundcraft.com/product_sheet.asp?product_id=93

 

[Obi-Wan zenabI]

Spirit Studio LC

Thanks Aus... but I have a Correction.. it's a spirit studio LC... the C looks like an "e"... and they even have it tagged wrong. 24 Channel.

It's got some smoke filled studio looking dust on it, but I'm thinking it really is a bargain.

http://www.soundcraft.com/product_sheet.asp?product_id=93

 

[ausrock]

I was typing that reply at some unearthly hour this morning and didn't pick up on the LE/LC thing .

I have the Spirit Studio 24/8 and it does develop the odd little "age related" problem. One thing to watch is the power supply, particularly the Bridge Rectifiers although they're not difficult to replace.

 

[Obi-Wan zenabI]

not your fault, Aus... I'm the one who typed LE!

I dunno. Maybe I should make some kind of lowball offer on it...

 

[ausrock]

Unfortunately, without having a fair amount of time to run and evaluate consoles like this, it is difficult to know what their "value" really is.

Some months ago, a guy (in the US) that I'm acquainted with was selling a Spirit Studio that he had heavily modded and it left these standard S/craft consoles for dead, so the basic circuit design isn't too bad to start with.

 

[Obi-Wan zenabI]

I'm sure that it would beat the -54 dB pres in my firepod (they spec at 70 son the 'craft.)

 

[ausrock]

QUOTE........."I'm sure that it would beat the -54 dB pres in my firepod (they spec at 70 son the 'craft.)"

Interesting, I have a manual for the LC but unfortunately, I can't put my hands on it at the moment to check the specs......we suffered minor "flooding" 3 weeks ago (the joys of living on the side of a hill) and the downstairs areas were all affected, consequently my whole studio is currently stored over in the workshop/garage . Anyways, I do know that my Spirit Studio is spec'd at 60dB according to the Gain knobs and once I get over 50dB I start listening for "self noise" from the pre's, over 55 and it starts to become too much, so even if the LC is spec'd to 70dB, I'd be surprised if it is useable at that level.

 

[Obi-Wan zenabI]

Good point. Still new to this, but I was thinking that the 54 dB pres would get into self noise below any spec'd at 70. It's like the frequency response specs for my bass cabs... you really need to know quite a few variables to really compare them.

Sorry to hear about the flooding! I'm all about digging ditches and putting in French Drains to try to fight the flooding.