Ashly GQ231

[ntravis]

So I was taking out the trash at work today and I looked over and saw an Ashly 31 band stereo graphic eq. It was a bit dirty and neglected but it looked like it could be fun regardless. I've powered it up and nothing seems to be wrong with it. I haven't had a chance to run any signal through yet and to test it that way. My question is, even if it does end up working without any major issues, is the GQ231 even decent. I know it's old (circa 1990's). At the least, it'll be fun to dissect. Thanks
Nathan

[Les]

Hi Nathan,

That's a good find, especially if it works!

The GQ-231 is the older version of the GQX-3102, which is still in production.

The GQ is only slightly different. I believe all the frequency centers & filters are all identical between the units. So, it should be sonically the same as the new unit.

The GQ's master gain is +/- 15, where as the GQX is +6 to minus infinity. I believe the newer GQX is about 6db quieter. But, both units are quiet anyway so that's not an issue.

The outputs are balanced differently. The GQX are servo balanced outputs while the GQ is not. But, again, that's not a huge deal.

If you want to sell the unit let me know, I would be interested in it.

[waynehoskins]

Does make you wonder if there's a reason it was in the trash.

[pdc]

Funny how he thought it worked without passing audio through it.

Some of my best scores were made when people threw out gear because it looked old and assumed that it was no longer good. When doing installs it is common asked, "Will you hall this old junk off, or throw it away?" I have also scored gear because of ignorance. When people do not know what gear does or how it was intended to be used, they give up on it.

[ntravis]

So I got a chance to test the EQ out today. It works flawlessly! I ran signal through it with an insert cable and all LED meters/ indicators worked as they should. It functioned just as a graphic EQ should and it didn't add any noticeable noise to the signal. The awesome thing is that just two weeks ago I was talking with another sound guy at my new church about how we really needed a graphic EQ to tune our sound system. God is an awesome provider!

[Gracetech]

I once scored a Klark Teknik dual 31 because the person who had it didn't like it because the casing was all scratched up. It's amazing what people will get rid of not knowing what they have. Of course i rarely use graphic equalizers so i usually go in churches and gut out most of the geq's and put in parametrics or digital processing which uses parmetrics.

crt

[ntravis]

Yeah I agree that GEQs aren't optimal for an installed system but the church is a fairly new church plant meeting in a rented space so the system is set up and taken down each Sunday. Also when you're using Peavey PR15D's for your speakers, you can only go so far with any amount of effects processing. Hopefully we can shape the response of the room enough to tame some of the unruly frequencies.
Nathan