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Alembic Club » Owning an Alembic » Troubleshooting » Archive through December 18, 2006 » Curious, why the F1X power on switch is in the rear? « Previous Next »

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mrfunkwool
Junior
Username: mrfunkwool

Post Number: 35
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Friday, March 03, 2006 - 6:43 am:   Edit Post

Any plans to have a power on switch on the front?
Kinda of awkward when u have a rack to go behind and find the switch.
Maybe, I am supposed to leave it in the "ON" position and just shut it off by killing the power. Is killing the power bad like that bad or does it not matter. thanks
dela217
Senior Member
Username: dela217

Post Number: 614
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Friday, March 03, 2006 - 7:09 am:   Edit Post

I have been using F2B's since 1978. I find that there is no problem killing the power. I have mine rack mounted and going through a rack mount power conditioner. When I'm done, I just kill the power on the strip. It is way too much trouble to find that little switch in the back of a rack in the dark.

Michael
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck

Post Number: 3364
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Friday, March 03, 2006 - 1:57 pm:   Edit Post

I use the power conditioner to turn everything on and off in the rack except the power amp. I cut the power conditioner on and then the power amp. I cut the power amp off, then the power conditioner. There are power conditioners that have a seperate section of inputs that are on a delay; so that when you cut the power conditoner on, it first turns on everything in the first section - preamp, reverb, etc., then the second section - power amp. It then reverses the process on power down. Cool! I always cut the volumes down on the power amp before cutting it off. And when I turn it on, I let it finish its power up routine before turning the volumes up.
dfung60
Intermediate Member
Username: dfung60

Post Number: 138
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Friday, March 03, 2006 - 10:17 pm:   Edit Post

I'm not certain, but the reason the switch is on the back is probably because it keeps all the AC power (which can induce hum and noise) as far away from the sensitive front preamp gain stages as possible.

I have an F2B, but I suspect that the layout is similar to the F1X. The AC power comes in on the power cord, through the fuse, the power switch, then the transformer. All that stuff is on the back and everything else in there is DC powered (no induced hum). If you routed the power switch to the front panel, then the AC would pass close to the low level signal path.

I don't like that switch back there either. Since the chassis is short, I usually found that I had to reach in a long way to get to the switch, often between other components and at risk of pulling out some other wiring. I always left the power switch on, and was careful to turn off my power amp first (with its front panel switch) before turning off the entire rack with a power strip. As long as the power amp is off, you won't amplify the big thump that will occur when you power the preamp down. The power amp's input circuit will still be exposed to a big thump, but it shouldn't hurt it.
palembic
Senior Member
Username: palembic

Post Number: 2317
Registered: 9-2002
Posted on Saturday, March 04, 2006 - 1:16 am:   Edit Post

I'm with my moder!

Paul TBO

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