[BC] Achieving good S/N

[Robert Orban]

At 01:46 PM 12/27/2005, you wrote:
>From: "Phil Alexander" <dynotherm at earthlink.net>
>Subject: Re: [BC] Achieving good S/N
>To: Broadcast Radio Mailing List <broadcast at radiolists.net>
>Message-ID: <43B13028.2292.4A5A1269 at localhost>
>Content-Type: text/plain
>
>On 27 Dec 2005 at 3:49, khcs at juno.com wrote:
>
> > Could very well have been a Gates Sta-Level.  It would do something 
> like that.
> > If the jock had several seconds of dead air and then hit the mic key, 
> there
> > would be a loud "whomp" from having the compressor wide open.  No 
> gating at all.
> > That would come later, with the CBS Audimax.
>
>The Sta-level was a simple tube compressor with a push-pull output and a
>dual diode (6AL5) bias generator. In the days before FM processors and
>limiters it worked great for FM and gave a tremendous LOUD sound on top 40
>without pumping if you rolled off the low end of the input to the bias
>generator by cutting the capacity of the coupling caps by about 90%. It
>was also possible to play with the time constant in the bias gen output
>to speed up the attack slightly. However, too much and you could hear
>the mid-range dominating the high end if you listened carefully. Even
>before Audimax-Volumax, it was my secret weapon in the early '60's -
>yes, doing top-40 on FM even then. <g>

I built a copy of the Sta-Level for our AM college carrier current station, 
driving into a Collins 26W limiter. Of all the '60s compressors I've heard, 
the Sta-Level was the best sounding to me. Combine it with one of the 
original Volumax 400s and you had a great-sounding AM station, although one 
that would not be competitively loud by today's standards.

I've often wondered who designed it and if he hit the magic formula by 
accident (without quite knowing what he had accomplished), or if he fine 
tuned it like we do with today's processing. It was certainly atypical of 
the Gates processing line.

I heard a Sta-Level not too many years ago, and the sound held up to my 
memories of it.

Bob Orban