Looking for an XT2

[rrsounds]

My suggestion would be to get an Ariane, and get and RCF 1 or 2 card, instead. There are better solutions out there in 2009 than the XT2.

The Ariane Sequel has a preset that sounds similar to the old Prisms. I believe it is called "stereo bigger." There is a description in the manual.

Thats not true.. It sounds far from the original prisms. It comes close to the crappy digital Prizm version Gentner made, but thats it.
The decision point to compress, expand or do notthin is FAR better than the ariane in my opinion.

I would choose prisms over the Ariane. But i would prefer the XT2

You can't please everybody.



Kind Regards,
David

 

[fm-engineer]

My suggestion would be to get an Ariane, and get and RCF 1 or 2 card, instead. There are better solutions out there in 2009 than the XT2.

The Ariane Sequel has a preset that sounds similar to the old Prisms. I believe it is called "stereo bigger." There is a description in the manual.

Thats not true.. It sounds far from the original prisms. It comes close to the crappy digital Prizm version Gentner made, but thats it.
The decision point to compress, expand or do notthin is FAR better than the ariane in my opinion.

I would choose prisms over the Ariane. But i would prefer the XT2

The prism is a multi-band AGC. The XT-2 is a multi-band limiter. Two different animals. I thought the preset listed in the manual by Dave sounded similar to the original Texars. But I will admit many years have passed since I used them on-air. Somewhere in storage I have a set of prisms with the DVE mods. For the time you could not beat it. I haven't worked with an 8100 in ten years. IMHO, the Ariane is the best AGC on the market. It shakes well with Orban and Omnia. The ability to control L-R is a great tool for multipath prone areas.

 

[littlejohn]

It's differences of opinion that make for competitive products and good horse racing.

And if you're selling one of them, 'The needs of the many must take precedence over the needs of the few' as Spock was won't to say.

 

[rrsounds]

It's differences of opinion that make for competitive products and good horse racing.

And if you're selling one of them, 'The needs of the many must take precedence over the needs of the few' as Spock was won't to say.

Exactly. Texars have a 'sound.' Some like it (me, for example), others don't.

But the main design goal of the Ariane was program-agnostic sonic neutrality. A 'sound' was the last thing I wanted. Obviously, the appreciation of any particular 'sound' is subjective...the opposite of neutral.

I felt that the more neutral the product, the broader the potential audience.

Whether sonic neutrality is a worthy goal, and whether I achieved that or not is a decision I have been happy to let the market make.


Kind Regards,
David

 

[stha]

It's differences of opinion that make for competitive products and good horse racing.

And if you're selling one of them, 'The needs of the many must take precedence over the needs of the few' as Spock was won't to say.

Exactly. Texars have a 'sound.' Some like it (me, for example), others don't.

But the main design goal of the Ariane was program-agnostic sonic neutrality. A 'sound' was the last thing I wanted. Obviously, the appreciation of any particular 'sound' is subjective...the opposite of neutral.

I felt that the more neutral the product, the broader the potential audience.

Whether sonic neutrality is a worthy goal, and whether I achieved that or not is a decision I have been happy to let the market make.


Kind Regards,
David

David, I like the sound of Texars too. To me, the attacks are more perceptible in your Stereo Bigger preset and I found no solution with any different setting of the attack level. Please let me know if that preset have the same time constants than Prisms ? Too, if I remember well, the Texars didn't have any band coupling ? And what is the equal setting than "density" in Texars set at 12:00 ?

 

[rrsounds]

It's differences of opinion that make for competitive products and good horse racing.

And if you're selling one of them, 'The needs of the many must take precedence over the needs of the few' as Spock was won't to say.

Exactly. Texars have a 'sound.' Some like it (me, for example), others don't.

But the main design goal of the Ariane was program-agnostic sonic neutrality. A 'sound' was the last thing I wanted. Obviously, the appreciation of any particular 'sound' is subjective...the opposite of neutral.

I felt that the more neutral the product, the broader the potential audience.

Whether sonic neutrality is a worthy goal, and whether I achieved that or not is a decision I have been happy to let the market make.


Kind Regards,
David

David, I like the sound of Texars too. To me, the attacks are more perceptible in your Stereo Bigger preset and I found no solution with any different setting of the attack level. Please let me know if that preset have the same time constants than Prisms ? Too, if I remember well, the Texars didn't have any band coupling ? And what is the equal setting than "density" in Texars set at 12:00 ?

Actually, I have never seen a published figure of what the Texar attack times are or the range/calibration of their density control. Perhaps Glen Clark will chime in, if he sees this.

The Ariane attack time was originally set at roughly 35 ms. This is now adjustable up to about 200 ms.
The Ariane 'IDR' settings are roughly equivalent to the Texar 'Density' control. The Ariane's IDR control is calibrated in dB steps, while the Texar is not.


Kind Regards,
David

 

[KeyLowatt]

ebay has one for sale right now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300345536356&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

 

[littlejohn]

Well, if someone wants to buy my nostalgia and pay handsomely for a couple pieces of history, I have - someplace - a pair of the opriginal Prisms, old enough to have the serial numbers on them in Magic Marker - two digit - and the rear panel barrier strip unmarked. And likely, if one looked, Glen's finerprints on the inside of the top. I don't rememeber if the tops are the ones with the AM limiters on or not... but the boxes don't have them connected anyway.

 

[fm-engineer]

Well, if someone wants to buy my nostalgia and pay handsomely for a couple pieces of history, I have - someplace - a pair of the opriginal Prisms, old enough to have the serial numbers on them in Magic Marker - two digit - and the rear panel barrier strip unmarked. And likely, if one looked, Glen's finerprints on the inside of the top. I don't rememeber if the tops are the ones with the AM limiters on or not... but the boxes don't have them connected anyway.

Yes, those sure are from the early years, and were made just up the road in Monroeville, PA! I believe the magic marker lasted until unit 200 or so. Some of the early Gentner units, circa 88 or so, were also made in Monroeville, but Gentner added the control covers. The back screening, motherboards, and M-100's were all marked Texar. Gentner made a limited number of Prisms in a tan color circa 89. I can't remember LittleJohn, but you may be thinking about the phase rotators that may not have been standard on all early units. But I also remember some tops having the AM markings too. I can remember meeting Glen in the early 80's when he was traveling around to stations. We were shocked to hear the audio when the Prisms were hooked up to our Optimod 8000! You can still find many stations using them with 8100's. I know of at least 10 or so in western PA / northern WV.

 

[littlejohn]

I acquired the limiter tops later, and they may have found their way back to the original pair I've got. I'd hafta go out and look, and it's dark and there are spiders out there, and.....
Glen was running around with some snakeoil salesman who was pitching an automation system which was based on a bunch of I believe Grundig cassette deakc and a Commodore 64. The Prisms worked well though.
The only thing I won't do is attempt to feed Glen dinner. He'd helped us out cinsiderably so I asked him and his lady to come by for barbecued chicken once when they were in town. And he got the only chicken on the grill which got set away from the fire and was raw. So, next time he's around I'm like let's go over to the nice restaurant over in the next town. He went for the potato skins for an appetizer, and they came out smoking and in places still glowing red. Next time around, it will be the ArchBurger Shoppe.