VU Meters

[StanleyB]

My integrated amp and my power amp got VU meters. I even did a knock-up of a VU meter assembly for the Caiman and Capella from a kit I found on eBay. I was thinking of getting a piece of perspex from eBay and mount the VU meters on it. It might look nice with some multi coloured LEDs at the side.

[danilo]

0.jpg
I like this man's "dial'
Although it's a temp Gauge on his/this DIY A amp build

[Thermionic Idler]

Remembered this thread today. Thought a pic of my completed AMB linestage would be appropriate:







and this one taken with the turntable before it had any gubbins in it.



The interior build for those interested. Note I replaced the white LED illumination on the VU meters with proper bulbs:

[occamsrazor]

Remembered this thread today. Thought a pic of my completed AMB linestage would be

Damn that’s pretty, nice job....

[GrahamS]

I can't imagine what the purpose of a VU meter is, on a power amp. Watt meters, yes, but VU? I was brought up on VU meters on the mixing desks. They are totally natural to me if they are driven and calibrated correctly with a -6db lag. When Philips introduced their "light beam meters" they were a revelation but difficult to get used to. They comprised a very tiny coil to which was attached a very small and lightweight surface-silvered mirror (I mean tiny - maybe 3mm square.) The mirror reflected the beam from an optically focussed light source onto the back of a frosted glass oriented vertically, which was marked with the sound level decibel calibration marks. From -60 to 0db to +6db. Between zero and +3db the glass was orange and between +3db and +6db it was red. This was in the mid 1980's. There was a switch marked "VU Levels / Peak Levels" which, in the VU position applied a -6db weighting so that the indicated levels equated to what a VU meter would show. Another 15 years down the line and meters became LEDs arranged in a vertical column. No moving parts at all.

[walpurgis]

But they add to the cost, so you pay more. They are something else to go wrong and they serve no useful purpose.

[GrahamS]

But they add to the cost, so you pay more. They are something else to go wrong and they serve no useful purpose.

Chocolate teapots come to mind......

[farflungstar]

They make biasing a breeze on the ref 75 as well as looking quite nice.

[Pharos]

I was brought up on PPMs, (Seen on TV, white needle on black background, 0 -7 range), which the BBC design Dept. at Kingswood Warren developed, and which became the universal broadcasting standard for many years. VUs were derided by BBC staff, but that was a group think (bonding) thing, most professional music studios using VUs..

It has a specially designed balistically fast movement, and a circuit which held the fed voltage to it for long enough for the meter to respond to. The effect of this was weird - a delay between hearing a loud peak and seeing it, but it worked as a limit for tape saturation and transmitter overload. The I/P was deliberately filtered to prevent any peaks less than 2 mS form reaching it because research found that the ear could not hear it.

I have a stereo Ernest Turner one (worth £400) to build up for my studio later this year, and I will remove the I/P limit capacitor to get all peaks.

[occamsrazor]

Pretty flashing lights...