Magnecord M900 - tube pre and 5 watt amplifier

the north wind · Post by **the north wind** » Sat Oct 24, 2009 11:11 pm

Anybody heard of these? I picked one up at a local vintage store for pretty cheap... It seems like it is super solidly built, and looks like an amazing piece of enviable vintage gear. The guy at the store said it would make a great pre or small guitar amp. Any one here have experience with this brand or model? It looks a lot like old ampex gear. I haven't opened it up yet, but lots o' tubes! Seems like a lot of 12AX7s, which I think I had heard were not very desirable mic pre tubes...

the north wind · Post by **the north wind** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 9:28 am

Here's some pictures :

jaguarsg · Post by **jaguarsg** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:11 am

magnecorders are awesome.

tubetapexfmr · Post by **tubetapexfmr** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 11:29 am

I have one of these in the shop and there are so many options here that I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do to it. I think the best means would be to tear it down completely and build an all new circuit in there. There are enough tubes to do a Mic pre+EQ or a mic pre+compressor/limiter. It already has input and output transformers and would need some interstage, but long story short you will need to do some serious modding to have anything useful here as this was originally a tape machine amp. The parts are so good though it would be a sin not to mod int into an amazing bit of studio gear.

the north wind · Post by **the north wind** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 8:06 am

Do you have a M900 in the shop? I wasn't able to find any information online about this model whatsoever. There were a few people with talkng about the PT-6, but that was it.

T seems like kind of a shame to just chop it up for parts, but then again, I haven't tried it as is yet, so it might only be worth that.

KennyLusk · Post by **KennyLusk** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 3:08 pm

Plug the thing in, configure it into your audio path, press record and listen to the results. That's called engineering.

the north wind · Post by **the north wind** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 3:36 pm

KennyLusk wrote:Plug the thing in, configure it into your audio path, press record and listen to the results. That's called engineering.

Oh, cool. I was wondering what you might call that process.

trodden · Post by **trodden** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:13 pm

the north wind wrote:
KennyLusk wrote:Plug the thing in, configure it into your audio path, press record and listen to the results. That's called engineering.
Oh, cool. I was wondering what you might call that process.

I'm glad we have Kenny here to help us down this difficult path.. May he be blessed.

KennyLusk · Post by **KennyLusk** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 10:04 am

trodden wrote:
the north wind wrote:
KennyLusk wrote:Plug the thing in, configure it into your audio path, press record and listen to the results. That's called engineering.
Oh, cool. I was wondering what you might call that process.
I'm glad we have Kenny here to help us down this difficult path.. May he be blessed.

I have some pieces like this and love the way they sound, so I was sincere when I said just patch it into your audio path and work with it. It'll play nice with some of your gear and not so nice with the rest. IME I've found there's no other way than to just start plugging stuff in and see what works.

the north wind · Post by **the north wind** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:13 am

I would agree with you there, and find your second post much more helpful.

We've had guests over, so I haven't had a chance to test it out yet, but should be able to plug it in in the next couple of days.

KennyLusk · Post by **KennyLusk** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:20 am

It kinda comes down to a game of impedence matching.

tubetapexfmr · Post by **tubetapexfmr** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 1:03 pm

Do you have a M900 in the shop? I wasn't able to find any information online about this model whatsoever. There were a few people with talkng about the PT-6, but that was it.

The unit I have I THOUGHT was called an M80. Likely yours is a slightly newer version that is 99% the same as mine. Mine has been modified previously so I'm not exactly sure what is stock and what is not. I will try to take some pics. The PT6 family has a lot of variants itself and is a VERY common compared to this guy. I have a handful of different models awaiting transformation as well. The transformers on these devices are AMAZING and I think better than similar Ampex units. It is still a surprise to me that they do not get the same respect as other vintage bits.

It seems like kind of a shame to just chop it up for parts, but then again, I haven't tried it as is yet, so it might only be worth that.

I wasn't saying hack it up for parts. Instead, I was saying reform it to what you need it for. There is a lot of circuitry devoted to tape machine business that you simply won't ever need unless you're operating it as a tape amp. Instead of just having an OK mic pre with a bunch of stuff you'll never use along for the ride, why not create an optimal microphone preamplifier as well as a useful EQ, compressor, or limiter circuit in there as well. FOr instance I plan on remaing mine as an Altec 438C type unit, with a mic pre and vari-mu compressor in one box. It certainly has the space, power supply, and transformers (most anyway) for it. If you'd like more info on my project when I get to it let me know and I will post details.

the north wind · Post by **the north wind** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 1:08 pm

Yeah, I'd love info on the project as it comes together. That makes sense about getting the most use out of it as possible. It's stuff I'm not capable of doing myself though, so I'll have to wait until my tech gets back from tour, plus he's got to finish my ampex 601 pre first too...

But yes. Any info on what you end up doing would be sweet.

xfmr · Post by **xfmr** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 11:56 am

Zombie walking! Yes, this thread is indeed back from the dead. I finally put together some details on my Magnecord mods. The basic post will grow as my current projects progress. You can follow it all right here:
http://xfmr.blogspot.com/2012/07/what-i ... order.html

Smitty · Post by **Smitty** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 1:48 pm

Used to have an old Magnecordette, and this thread is making me wished I hadn't gotten rid of it...

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Magnecord M900 - tube pre and 5 watt amplifier

Magnecord M900 - tube pre and 5 watt amplifier

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