New API 500 rack, screwed up in reverse
Oct 5, 2022 17:41:52 GMT -6
jcoutu1, ericn, and 3 more like this
Post by beyer160 on Oct 5, 2022 17:41:52 GMT -6
During the recent free-fall of the British Pound, I decided to buy some stuff. After a swing-and-a-miss at a B-stock Daking dual preamp from a UK site, I decided to get a pair of pre-built AML 1084 modules. They arrived at my door for under $700 each at the then-current exchange rate (it'll probably be higher when you're reading this)- not bad! The only problem was that I didn't have a 500 series rack. So after a little shopping, I came up with a B-stock API 8 slot rack from Musician's Friend for $375- with free shipping, it was the cheapest decent rack I could find.
It arrived today and the box was pretty beat up, like it'd been around the block a few times. There were several inventory stickers on it that seemed to indicate it'd been sold and returned at least three times before I got it. When I opened it, I discovered why. It was a 6 slot rack, not the 8 slot. I chuckled at the institutional stupidity of large box retail and was about to initiate yet another return (the poor rack must have a pretty serious rejection complex by now) when I stopped to think.
-The 6 channel rack has XLRs, the 8 channel is DB25 only- not only do DB25s suck, but I'd need to buy more cable.
-The 8 channel rack retails for $474, the 6 channel rack sells for $664. If I want to flip it for a bigger rack, I'll basically get my money back out of it.
-The 8 slot rack has a line lump PSU, the 6 channel plugs in with an IEC. My rig is mobile, so this is a big deal.
Then I thought about the fact that I'd been scheming about how to fill 4 additional slots in the rack, and I really don't need any more outboard (the 1084s were a "want", not a "need"). Now I only have two slots to fill, which I'll probably do with CAPis or AML AM16s.
So Musician's Friend screwed up in reverse, and I'm OK with that.
It arrived today and the box was pretty beat up, like it'd been around the block a few times. There were several inventory stickers on it that seemed to indicate it'd been sold and returned at least three times before I got it. When I opened it, I discovered why. It was a 6 slot rack, not the 8 slot. I chuckled at the institutional stupidity of large box retail and was about to initiate yet another return (the poor rack must have a pretty serious rejection complex by now) when I stopped to think.
-The 6 channel rack has XLRs, the 8 channel is DB25 only- not only do DB25s suck, but I'd need to buy more cable.
-The 8 channel rack retails for $474, the 6 channel rack sells for $664. If I want to flip it for a bigger rack, I'll basically get my money back out of it.
-The 8 slot rack has a line lump PSU, the 6 channel plugs in with an IEC. My rig is mobile, so this is a big deal.
Then I thought about the fact that I'd been scheming about how to fill 4 additional slots in the rack, and I really don't need any more outboard (the 1084s were a "want", not a "need"). Now I only have two slots to fill, which I'll probably do with CAPis or AML AM16s.
So Musician's Friend screwed up in reverse, and I'm OK with that.