VU Meters

[boostin1989]

Hey guys, I have been searching for a long time now for some nice looking analog VU meters to add to my amp. I like the old style green/blue lit meters, not the LED bouncing lights. If anyone can guide me in the right direction or to a vendor that would be great. Thanks a lot.

Vic

[jmateus]

I have two pairs of nice VU meters in very good condition that I
have no use for them.
One pair came ot of a Phese Linear amplifier and are 5" x 3.5"
big ones, very nice.
The other pair are smaller, but both pairs are the tradicional white
and red ones, not blue and green.
E-mail me if interested.

[jacco vermeulen]

check www.sifam.com

Acenovelty used their meters in his Leach superamp, prettiest off the shelf meters i've seen.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showt...997#post777997

[acenovelty]

Howdy boostin1989,

Instrument Meter Specialties, Inc.
1756 Victory Blvd. Glendale, CA 91201-2865
Phone: 800-926-3837

http://www.meterdistributor.com/SIFA...20Contents.htm

Lots of different styles. Talk to Ike, knows everything and real helpful.
Quick response and prompt delivery. Have other brands also.
Sifam meters are not cheap. Be prepared for some sticker shock.
Quality is outstanding.

Regards

[jackinnj]

want a good, big VU meter?

well, you can use any panel meter -- and can use PowerPoint or Excel to design a meter face -- take a visit to Elliot Sound Product's website for a schematic. A big meter movement has ballistics which would make it easier to use in an audio application.

I bought a pair of Corning 7 pH meters, Here's a pic from the LABX site:

initially I wanted to actually use the meters and probes to measure pH, but there are now easier to use LCD meters which are dirt cheap. Corning must have made tens of thousands of these units and they are cheap as dirt on EBay.

If you purchase a Corning 7 you will also be blessed with some very interesting Raytheon sub-miniature tubes.

[AndrewT]

Hi,
talking about ballistics, are you planning fast attack and slow decay?
Without this, the meters will not register anywhere near maxima on short period signals. Even with it they will still miss very short peaks unless you put in peak hold and meter that.

You can calibrate them as accurately as you need for continuous AC or DC signals but varying signal is a completely different situation.

[karma]

i have been tweeking mine for some time, there as good as it gets

[jackinnj]

Originally posted by AndrewT
Hi,
talking about ballistics, are you planning fast attack and slow decay?
Without this, the meters will not register anywhere near maxima on short period signals. Even with it they will still miss very short peaks unless you put in peak hold and meter that.

You can calibrate them as accurately as you need for continuous AC or DC signals but varying signal is a completely different situation.

I have to assume that the ballistics of a panel meter, (all panel meters even taught band, save those which rest at center) are slow attack and fast delay as the physics "is what it is".

The design which I worked out uses a pair of rail-rail opamps as a precision rectifier (no diode drop) to drive a transistor current source. The ballistics are set up aligning the usual RC components. Rod Elliot has a good design on his website.

There are many websites which discuss the history of the VU and history of VU meters -- the cruddy diodes which were initially used had a profound effect upon the recording industry !

[acenovelty]

Howdy folks,
A VU meter attached to your amps output to display power must certainly be considered a purely cosmetic issue. They look pretty, but can not really be considered to give any very accurate info.
At low volume levels the meter action is quite limited. Modding Rod Elliotts schematic to provide for a switch and "booster" 10X amplification can improve the visual effect. Kinda like the old Radio Shack 2W-200W device.

[AndrewT]

Hi,
slow attack and slow delay is closer to the truth.
You miss all the short term high voltage(current) events and all the low voltage events. Effectively you see a running average of recent events.