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Hey everybody,
I am missing the two handles on one of my 9440A amps. Does anybody have a pair that's in good shape they'd sell me?
How can I tell how old my 9440A's are? I know the period they were made in, but were there variations in the 9440A's that Altec made over those 7 or so years? (wasn't it 1975-82?)...
Also, I've seen some power meters in photos of 9440A amps on the net that are blue. Mine are both the standard white we are all familiar with. Did Altec make some with blue meters or did people just put a blue film over the meters themselves? I'd like to try that myself (it'd match some of the marantz stuff I have in my rack). Anybody know how I can reversibly tint my meters blue?
Brad
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Can't help you locate handles, or with technical changes during years of production. However, I can tell you early production of the 9440A's were manufactured with the blue tinted meters, and different front panel knobs. They later changed to the brighter (white) meters, and the more common knobs found on most other Altec amps.
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The cast rack handles snap easily from a side impact. I've found no suitable alternatives, and would like to have a couple of spares myself. I've considered making some relacements from 3/8" round cold-rolled stock bent to shape, with the ends flattened and drilled. Wouldn't look 'original', but would function without breaking.
There were at least 11-12 factory revisions to the 9440A. The original fan shrouds were marked on the right side, under the serial number, as to the revision #s of the installed assemblys (control bd., driver bds., and output bd.). This marking doesn't necessarily tell the tale of what's really inside today, as boards were often replaced without the labeling revised to match. Each board however, is marked with its' own revision #. I know of no list giving the dates and details of each revision, but I'll bet one exists. I've found no problems (yet) with using boards of various revisions in the same amp, but would recommend at least to use matching-revision driver boards to maintain symmetry.
*Note- When repairing a board, ensure the revision matches the schematic/parts list you're using as a guide. Otherwise, use parts identical to those you're replacing, if in doubt. With one "online" schematic/parts list, and 11 or 12 actual versions of boards, there are undoubtedly some discrepancies.
The earliest 9440As had the blue meters. The tint appears to be a (purple PVC primer?) coating on the rear plastic surface, rather than being mixed in the opaque plastic. Since the meters are externally lit by the panel lamps (14V 28ma bayonets) on the control bd., I suppose one could apply some tinted plastic film to make the white ones any color desired. Since you'd have to completely remove and disassemble the contol bd. to do it as original, I wouldn't recommend it unless you had to go there for another reason, as you could easily create new problems in doing so. Application of a colored film to the clear plastic front would be easier to do, and also to remove. Maybe some of the colored, transparent overlays from the school supplies dept.?
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I have one of the 9440's with the blue meters. I have one that has such a light blue they are almost lavender. And I have a couple of white ones.
I got some spotlight gels that are blue and put behind the meters in front of the bulbs on the white ones. They look cool now.
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Correction to my earlier post re: panel lamps;
The correct panel lamps are actually 28V 40ma mini-flange. I gave incorrect info earlier from memory, for bulbs I've been looking for on another project.....sorry.
After studying the online manual (again), it appears the schematic included may be the original version. The document has a copyright date of '77, and the individual drawings don't indicate any revision suffixes or initials that would be present if the drawings had been updated or modified. Also the pictures of the rear panel indicate -01 revision, which may or may not be relevant.
I dug through my boxes of parts, and came up with an old, tinted meter (a saved dud). The tint IS a coating of some type on the rear of the plastic housing, as I could easily remove it by lightly scraping it with my pocketknife, revealing the white, opaque plastic as on the later style. It's really more lavendar, like the one Charles described, than blue, and it may really be a sprayed coat of purple PVC primer.....sure does look like it anyway. Charles' method of adding color sounds great, as it would be easy to do.....and undo.
