UREI was a major manufacturer of equalisers through the 70s, 80s & 90s and the 530 was one of the earlier stereo graphics EQs. It’s a pretty standard opamp-based equaliser with ten octave bands, but it’s liked for the way the EQ bands interact
“Those older Urei graphics are proportional Q designs, great for getting sounds as they extrapolate the curve into a smooth one”. Jim Williams, Audio Upgrades
The one drawback with these older UREI Eqs is sticky pots. JJ Electronics in the USA has a cure for this – a new circuit board to mount replacement Bourns pots. The job is more complex than it sounds, as it requires the pots to be mounted closer to the front panel, but this makes the pots much smoother in operation
We’ve recapped this 530, upgraded the power supply and put larger bipolar caps in the audio path. We’ve done the fader replacement & the EQ tests fine. The original knobs have been replaced with neat soft-touch plastic sleeves from Thonk
We can supply XLR pigtails to suit the terminal strips
Removing the old pots, old movies in the background
Laying out the parts – new JJ circuit boards closest to the camera
Test fitting with nylon stand-offs and 40mm M3 bolts
Close up of new board mounted closer to the front panel
Making up wire links to link to the original board
Main circuit board partially recapped
Bigger power supply caps with bypass caps mounted under the board
