A PHILIPS REDUX

In these days of sequels and re-makes, it should be no surprise to come upon another visit to the nostalgic past! Here is a collection of data from the yesteryears from the Philips stable. I have posted these in response to steady demand from a lot of fellow DIY-ers and hobbyists, not only in the senior league, but surprisingly from the younger set too. It seems that the youth brigade are none too happy about the "plug-in simplicity" of IC-based designs, especially when it comes to "getting your hands wet" with making a PCB, wiring it up, and finally, after a bit of tense trouble-shooting, arriving at the moment of sweet audition, which, I must say is its own reward.

I would like to stress the fact that the copyright on the material presented rests with M/s Philips and the data is only provided expressly for the benefit of hobbyists and for not-for-profit applications. Philips data sheets and application books are acknowledged fully as being the source of the material.

Philips was a 'household name' with music and hi-fi enthusiasts long before the field of hi-fi was 'hijacked' by the 'high-end' peopled by companies with exotic names. Revolutionary technologies like Motional Feedback Loudspeakers were introduced by Philips and I intend to touch this topic later from the angle of servicing/restoration of these epochal designs. Most of the designs of Philips were of truly high quality and often reflected the state-of-the-art, and were highly "user-friendly". Those who are sufficiently "long in the tooth" will recall many happy hours spent with Philips data sheets planning the next project. It is pleasantly surprising that many of these designs can more than hold a candle to the "cutting-edge" designs of today. Surely this is going to open the floodgates of nostalgia for many and I am sure many constructors, young and old, will once again experience those old thrills!

THE UNIVERSAL PRE-AMP

Here is that perennial 'hot' favourite, the 'universal' pre-amplifier. If somebody had been keeping count, this ought easily have got into the Guinness Book of Records for the sheer number of units constructed by hobbyists and DIYers. As for the many commercial designs that based themselves on this 'pilot design', again, there is no count. Those who begin to think that this is a 'dated design' should do well to remind themselves that circuitry very similar to this was inside the many pro and semi-pro equipment that served duty in the recording chains of yesteryears at least for a while. Carefully built on good quality glass-epoxy PCBs with selected components, they often rewarded the builder with absolutely enviable performance.

Welcome to the first step in this nostalgic trip!