Modifications on ASL Hurricane 200 DT ?


I am contemplating purchasing a used pair of ASL 200DTs that have been modified by Milan Bogdan, apparently a well-respected Nashville recording engineer.

Has anyone had any modifications done by this gentleman on their Hurricanes ? Has anyone heard of what kind of work he does on the amplifiers? By all accounts he can cut a great record, but is his choice of capacitors equally wise ?

Any information is greatly appreciated.

Dimitry
dimitry

Showing 4 responses by dimitry

Yes I did. I am very happy with them.

However, there were growing pains - the previous owner was compulsive/obssessive and he apparently tweedled the bias all the time, often blowing up the tubes. A couple of sacrifice tube resistors in these amps needed to be replaced. One tube was not connected to the meter, which due to a design flaw simply "holds" the previous tube's current - very dangerous, as you are fooled into thinking the tube is biased just the same. Finally, the fuze holder on one was not screwed down all the way, causing the amp to switch off randomly.

Now all is fixed and they are fabulous and very stable. Love them. My particular pair has silver wiring and Relcap Multicap for coupling. I plan, sometime in the future, to send them to the "extreme" shop for $5k's worth of TLC. I think, for me, these are the final amps.
Thanks for good tips! I am currently using Electro-Harmonix tubes in all positions, but have been thinking about NOS for the input, as well as tube dampers from Herbie's Audio Lab. I will definitely investigate the caps you recommend!

Hurricanes Forever!
Wow, you seem very involved in improving your amps. Keep me posted on you endeavors. I am a sometimes tweaker, but some of the things you are contemplating are a bit above my level. However, there is always something to learn from knowledgeable people ! I am in Massachussetts, by the way. If you decide to go commercial, let me know. I am especially interested in you 6SN7 experiments.
Sounds like you have great plans !

The modifications on my amplifiers were all coupling caps (front and side, so to speak) to MIT RTX and silver wire to from the jacks to the front end. I don't think he did anything else. I replaced the binding posts, some of which had cracked bases (flipping them over, if you are not careful, can put a big bending moment on the posts), with the same kind from the manufacturer. The tops of the transformers have scuffs on them (apparently from several trips to the repair place, where the amps were placed upside down to work on them), which I need to paint.