Adding meters to a SP14.

I’m thinking about nixing the the left a right gain pots And replacing them with meters. I never use the gains. Has anyone done this? I’m assuming it will be relatively simple but if someone has already done the homework I’m not above cheating off your answers.

are talking VU meters? VU meters in an output circuit of consumer gear usually just 'look pretty' and are not really calibrated properly.
The main use for VU meters is when recording, in order to set the input level so that the recording is not distorted.

Yes VU meters. Nothing that needs exact calibration. I’m not sure why but I love to watch a VU meters needle dance to the music.

nothing wrong with that I guess
There are some 'ready to go' VU meter kits on eBay, complete with VU meter, driver & power supply. Most of those require 12VAC or DC. You could use a voltage doubler circuit, described in another thread, to double up the 6.3VAC supply to give roughly 12VDC or so.

erhard-audio wrote:nothing wrong with that I guess
There are some 'ready to go' VU meter kits on eBay, complete with VU meter, driver & power supply. Most of those require 12VAC or DC. You could use a voltage doubler circuit, described in another thread, to double up the 6.3VAC supply to give roughly 12VDC or so.

Those Round VU meters kits on ebay are garbage. Trust me. I mean they work, but...
If you're going to install meters in an amp the designer claims as a $5000 preamp, one should seek out some quality ones.

Another option might be to get the cheap meters, and mount them separately in a little box of some sort instead of carving up the amp.

Just my opinion.

bbqjoe wrote:

erhard-audio wrote:nothing wrong with that I guess
There are some 'ready to go' VU meter kits on eBay, complete with VU meter, driver & power supply. Most of those require 12VAC or DC. You could use a voltage doubler circuit, described in another thread, to double up the 6.3VAC supply to give roughly 12VDC or so.

Those Round VU meters kits on ebay are garbage. Trust me. I mean they work, but...
If you're going to install meters in an amp the designer claims as a $5000 preamp, one should seek out some quality ones.

Another option might be to get the cheap meters, and mount them separately in a little box of some sort instead of carving up the amp.

Just my opinion.

you'd be surprised how many $5000+ 'high end' gear use these VU meters. They work and they work just fine. Accurate?, no, then again, as pointed out, playback VU meters are more for looks than anything else!
So garbage they are not, they do their job OK in the 'right' circumstances.

erhard-audio wrote:

bbqjoe wrote:

erhard-audio wrote:nothing wrong with that I guess
There are some 'ready to go' VU meter kits on eBay, complete with VU meter, driver & power supply. Most of those require 12VAC or DC. You could use a voltage doubler circuit, described in another thread, to double up the 6.3VAC supply to give roughly 12VDC or so.

Those Round VU meters kits on ebay are garbage. Trust me. I mean they work, but...
If you're going to install meters in an amp the designer claims as a $5000 preamp, one should seek out some quality ones.

Another option might be to get the cheap meters, and mount them separately in a little box of some sort instead of carving up the amp.

Just my opinion.

you'd be surprised how many $5000+ 'high end' gear use these VU meters. They work and they work just fine. Accurate?, no, then again, as pointed out, playback VU meters are more for looks than anything else!
So garbage they are not, they do their job OK in the 'right' circumstances.

Didn't mean to get you upset.
I recently bought these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0716YTDGK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03__o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

As I said, they work, and as the OP stated, they are mostly for eye candy, which is fine.
The visual in the Ad is kinda deceiving, as the dial on these aren't much bigger than a quarter.
The terminals on the backs are awfully flimsy. The tabs broke after only one rework.
They do have the ability of a large range of adjustment.
Maybe you saw better quality elsewhere, but I surely wouldn't put these in any high end gear.

Interesting. Back in my misspent youth, I once was at an event attended by one of HK's top reps of the time, and he told the story of the Citation 16 - a brute-force solid-state power amp wildly popular at the moment. It came in, essentially, four versions, with an LED VU display, without said display and Euro, either way. The premium for the display was, in 197X or so, $200. He stated for the record that the display gave no useful information, had no effect on the sound either way, but looked neat. Apparently the "with" version outsold the "without" at about 10:1. To the point that when the Citation 19 came out, there was no "without" option. Yes, I have both a 16 and a 19 (as well as a 17 & 18)

I am not the least bit critical of this option. I do think it would be nice to add it without actually making physical alterations, however. Note that there are both LED and meter options on eBay. LEDs are easier in a darkened room or at a distance.