D.I.Y Audio gear

Skulptor professional audio

Why are some audio products that were designed 40 or 50 years ago, still considered among the best in their category today ?

This is because what is captured by a microphone is never identical to what is captured by our ears. A "scientific" recording, made with a measuring microphone, followed by an instrumentation amplifier often sounds harsh and little natural to our ears when played back on a standard equipment. The signal coming from the microphone sometimes needs to be "corrected" in an extremely subtle way in order to give us a feeling of real, natural.

This is what these few designs from the past are giving us. Their "flaws" compensate exactly the limits of the microphones and give a result that we like. The combined characteristics of topologies, transformers and components bring an almost magical touch to the sound, making the recording sound natural, sometimes wider than life.

Modern technology also brings some solutions when we need to capture the pure sound, without any alteration. Some very low noise transistors allow the designer to get rid of the input transformer and thus provide a great transient response.

Our goal at Sound Skulptor is to offer a range of products that are based on these great designs from the past as well as modern technologies. The form is modern : compact design, easy construction, new functionalities like DI inputs, clip Led's, relay switching, ... Our products are slowly crafted, with extreme care and many listening sessions in real conditions in our recording studio.

The products are proposed in kit form, to minimize cost as far as possible. They are also available built and tested for the non technicians.

Why D.I.Y. ?

Building your gear gives you several major advantages :

• It's fun : The experience of building their own gear is extremely gratifying for most users.
• It cuts down the cost : You are saving a major part of the cost which comes from workmanship.
• It is customisable : You will get many options of circuit topologies, components choice, and settings that will allow you to tailor your gear to your needs and get a unique sound.
• It gives you a better knowledge of your gear : By getting a better understanding of your gear you will be using it more efficiently and creatively.
• You will be able to service it should it, after many years of troublefree running, need a potentiometer or a switch replacement.

Can you D.I.Y. ?

Every effort has been made during design to make the building process easy. The complex hook-up wiring has been completely avoided by the use of PCB components (potentiometers, switches, transformers ...) and flat cable connections.

Anybody that is capable of doing a clean solder joint, carefully following our step by step Construction Guides and using a digital multimeter should be able to successfully build these kits. Check our D.I.Y. page.

In the case you would fail to build one of our kits, we propose a repair service that will fix it for you.

For those who are not confident enough in their skills, there is an option of choosing the fully assembled kits.