It was and ordinary day when we got an e-mail from a DIY builder asking if we can do a custom kit for him. Normaly, we don't do any custom kits because of various reasons. But this was special. It was hard to resist a proposal to create a 1084 type preamp and equalizer, especially when there are very few of such kits on the market.
If you are familiar with regular 1084 (which is a lot like 1073, but has different EQ section) you know that it's a complete nightmare to wire. The build becomes complicated very fast. And while the boards themselves are not that difficult to assemble, wiring of the whole unit is very hard and time consuming. And if you ever need to service this preamp, good luck.
Our goal was to make the wiring as simple as possible, while keeping the appearance of the front panel and front controls as close to the original as we could. We beleive that the goal was achieved, and the result of this work is probably the easiest-to-wire 1084 type preamp there is on the DIY market. Front panel holds front controls assembly that is completely detachable from the main PCB. this assembly is wired with several multipin IDC connectors. Rotary switches and potentiometers are connected to the PCB with regular wires, but we made these connections as simple and straighforward as posible.
We are placing an order for a preliminary batch of the RN84 kits, most of witch will go to the initial builder. But there will be several spare kits that we will be able to offer to the public. If you want to secure your RN84 kit, please, drop us a note here. Approximate price for the PCB, front panel, power transformer and enclosure is 235 USD.
Finally, here are some photos of the prototype.
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