Setting up my Winter (or at least Autumn) project.
Many years ago I was given a mono Leak Point One pre-amp from the 1950s. Never found a use for it, but kept it as it was a nice thing to look at. The front panel has a couple of darker spots, but is otherwise in good condition with all the legending intact.
Last winter I built a pair of GEC 9-12 plus amplifiers, which I've been using in my study driven from a modern 8 channel mixer on my desk.
It occurred to me that the Leak front panel would look more in keeping, and take up less space, so have decided to convert it to stereo.
I've removed the circuitry, based on a pair of EF86 valves, and will replace it with a stereo pre-amp circuit based on 5532 chips.
The phono section will include a balanced input for MC cartridges using a pair of microphone transformers from a Millbank mixer and the pre-amp will have a balanced output using DRV134 chips. I'll keep the front panel original and just have to ignore the legending for the various record equalisation standards of the era.
I'm planning to make a polished wooden box to house the pre-amp and have it free-standing on my desk.
I've thought long and hard about destroying the original circuitry, but feel that I'd rather have the unit functioning, albeit with modern internals, than just sitting unused in a cupboard. It will be powered by an external SMPS providing +-15v as I happen to have one doing nothing.
Here's the front panel and chassis ready to start fitting the new connectors and boards.