Classic Phase Linear 2000 Preamp Re - Capped And Upgraded In Shape
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:51263247 | Model: Linear 2000 |
| Country/Region of Manufacture: United States | Modified Item: No |
| Brand: Phase Linear |
Right at the outset I should note that this preamp has been bench tested and fully checked out. I’ve cleaned all the switches and controls along the way as well. While I had it open, I did notice that in spite of the overall quality, this did appear to be built to cost which resulted in the use of some pretty generic electrolytic caps. In addition, the power supply used a bare minimum capacitance with only 940mf total. I decided to see how much I could improve things by increasing th...e supply capacitance to 4, 000mf while also replacing all the other electrolytic caps with high quality Nichicon audio grade devices. I also noticed that the output coupling caps were cheap electrolytics which are not ideal for the application. These were replaced with some nice Audyn poly caps. In the end, these changes yielded a much improved bottom end with a smoother and more open presentation overall. A very fine sounding preamp has only been made even better! I should also note that one of the output jacks was damaged when I got this. I decided to swap one of the rear output jacks as it’s quite unlikely that the buyer will want to run a second amp just for the ambience feature. Okay, with those details out of the way, lets talk Phase Linear.
Before there was Sunfire, or Carver Corp, audio engineer Bob Carver made an indelible mark on the audio world with his original offerings from Phase Linear. No doubt, the original 700 and 400 power amps were a shot heard round the audio world as some of the biggest and most powerful amplifiers that could be purchased at any price in the 1970’s. With glowing reviews from the audio press and acceptance as the workhorse road amps for such bands as Pink Floyd, the Phase Linear may well be one of the most well known and popular monster amps from that great time in audio history. Indeed, a search on the internet will reveal a good bit of lore about the hand built American construction and quality matching of parts. While the Phase Linear was a top performer with build quality to match, it was also a line that was priced reasonably enough that the average audio enthusiast could still afford them without too much of a stretch. No doubt, this combination of factors made the early classics from this company a huge success while securing a chapter in the audio history books!
While the power amps were known for their huge output reserves, Bob Carver’s pre amps came first to be known for their smoothness and open sound, and eventually for having many novel features that Bob came up with over the years. While such items as the autocorellator, peak unlimiter, de-clicker, and ambiance recovery circuit would prove to be very clever additions which also served to add more knobs to the larger models than just about anything I can think of, these circuits have also proven over time to be somewhat out dated with a lack of usefulness in many modern systems. Don’t get me wrong, the model 4000 is an awesome looking pre, with good sound to boot. Even so, I have to say that it is the “bare bones” model 2000 that ultimately has proven the winner in the line with all these years of hindsight. With its simple no nonsense circuit topology and clean layout, this pre amp offers a clean and transparent presentation that its bigger brothers don’t quite manage to pull off. Indeed, this offers very a musical and smooth sound quality while also presenting very good detail resolution and a total lack of grain from top to bottom. In light of the unusual circuits that Carver would come to be known for, the bottom line is that he knew how to design good sounding components and it was that fundamental aspect that made the Phase Linear such a hit in the first place!
Now, I referred to this as “bare bones” earlier, but I should clarify that I only use that term relative to other Phase Linear’s. Compared to pretty much anything else out there, the 2000 is a very well rounded full feature preamp. There are a number of very useful functions which include very well thought out bass and treble controls (which are also fully defeatable) with selectable turnover frequencies, provisions for two tape decks with dubbing in either direction, stereo/mono switch, and a low eq switch which provides a boost in the very low frequencies to help overcome the inherent rolloff in smaller speakers. There is also an interesting ambiance retrieval feature which allows you to dial in an ambiance signal which has the effect of widening the soundstage on the main outputs as well as a difference signal which can be fed to a rear speaker amplifier. Of course the main feature of this pre is good solid performance without a ton of extra bells and whistles. The sound is really quite excellent with great transparency and detail and the phono section is also really nice with a very flat and extended frequency response with very low noise.
Cosmetically it's in very nice shape with just a few tiny scratches and such on the front panel and knobs. I can’t call it mint, but can certainly say without hesitation that you’re going to have to get in pretty darn close before you’ll spot out what subtle flaws there are. of course, what's important is the sound, and that's quite sweet! So don't miss out on this classic from Bob Carver's Phase Linear days! Buyer pays actual shipping cost. Happy Bidding!
Before there was Sunfire, or Carver Corp, audio engineer Bob Carver made an indelible mark on the audio world with his original offerings from Phase Linear. No doubt, the original 700 and 400 power amps were a shot heard round the audio world as some of the biggest and most powerful amplifiers that could be purchased at any price in the 1970’s. With glowing reviews from the audio press and acceptance as the workhorse road amps for such bands as Pink Floyd, the Phase Linear may well be one of the most well known and popular monster amps from that great time in audio history. Indeed, a search on the internet will reveal a good bit of lore about the hand built American construction and quality matching of parts. While the Phase Linear was a top performer with build quality to match, it was also a line that was priced reasonably enough that the average audio enthusiast could still afford them without too much of a stretch. No doubt, this combination of factors made the early classics from this company a huge success while securing a chapter in the audio history books!
While the power amps were known for their huge output reserves, Bob Carver’s pre amps came first to be known for their smoothness and open sound, and eventually for having many novel features that Bob came up with over the years. While such items as the autocorellator, peak unlimiter, de-clicker, and ambiance recovery circuit would prove to be very clever additions which also served to add more knobs to the larger models than just about anything I can think of, these circuits have also proven over time to be somewhat out dated with a lack of usefulness in many modern systems. Don’t get me wrong, the model 4000 is an awesome looking pre, with good sound to boot. Even so, I have to say that it is the “bare bones” model 2000 that ultimately has proven the winner in the line with all these years of hindsight. With its simple no nonsense circuit topology and clean layout, this pre amp offers a clean and transparent presentation that its bigger brothers don’t quite manage to pull off. Indeed, this offers very a musical and smooth sound quality while also presenting very good detail resolution and a total lack of grain from top to bottom. In light of the unusual circuits that Carver would come to be known for, the bottom line is that he knew how to design good sounding components and it was that fundamental aspect that made the Phase Linear such a hit in the first place!
Now, I referred to this as “bare bones” earlier, but I should clarify that I only use that term relative to other Phase Linear’s. Compared to pretty much anything else out there, the 2000 is a very well rounded full feature preamp. There are a number of very useful functions which include very well thought out bass and treble controls (which are also fully defeatable) with selectable turnover frequencies, provisions for two tape decks with dubbing in either direction, stereo/mono switch, and a low eq switch which provides a boost in the very low frequencies to help overcome the inherent rolloff in smaller speakers. There is also an interesting ambiance retrieval feature which allows you to dial in an ambiance signal which has the effect of widening the soundstage on the main outputs as well as a difference signal which can be fed to a rear speaker amplifier. Of course the main feature of this pre is good solid performance without a ton of extra bells and whistles. The sound is really quite excellent with great transparency and detail and the phono section is also really nice with a very flat and extended frequency response with very low noise.
Cosmetically it's in very nice shape with just a few tiny scratches and such on the front panel and knobs. I can’t call it mint, but can certainly say without hesitation that you’re going to have to get in pretty darn close before you’ll spot out what subtle flaws there are. of course, what's important is the sound, and that's quite sweet! So don't miss out on this classic from Bob Carver's Phase Linear days! Buyer pays actual shipping cost. Happy Bidding!
