TC Electronic 2240 Stereo Equaliser #3 (Refurbished & Recapped)

£650.00

Vintage stereo four-band EQ / preamp from TC

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Description

This 2240 has been refurbished in our workshop. The circuit boards have been removed, recapped & modified before reassembly and rewiring

The boards have been recapped with Panasonic electrolytics and caps in the audio path have been replaced with high-value Panasonic bipolar caps. The power supply has been upgraded with new, higher-value electrolytic caps

This 2240 is tested & working 100%. It sounds better than ever!

Photos show a 2240 sold previously


The TC Electronic 2240 is a two-channel version of the 1140 so is effectively two 1140s in one chassis. The description below is taken from the TC Electronic 1140

TC Electronic was founded in 1976 by the Rishøj brothers to build products for musicians and recording studios. The brothers were musicians and they designed products for musicians. This led to features like a built-in preamplifier so a guitar, bass or keyboard could be plugged straight into the equaliser

TC studio gear was a well-kept secret in the UK till the success of the 2290 Delay Line and the Finalizer, both products that had a big impact in studios. Among the “sleeper” products in their back catalogue are parametric equaliser footpedals, chorus & pitch-shifter units and rackmount equalisers like the 1140

The TC 1140 HS is a mono rackmount equaliser with a built-in preamplifier with up to 20 dB gain. The unbalanced input impedance is set deliberately high, so there’s no loss of high-end when direct-injecting guitars & basses, or synths & other keyboards. It also has a balanced input on an XLR connector

The 1140 preamp has Input Gain (+/- 20 dB), Output (0-6) and a peak-reading LED meter. Unusually, it has an EQ Match gain control to allow gain matching between the flat & EQ’d signals and to help with gain staging. The eq section has a non-latching in / out toggle switch and an external bypass footswitch socket on the back panel. EQ status (in / out) is indicated by different levels of brightness of the power on LED

The EQ section has sweepable EQ bands in the typical TC fashion with Center (frequency), Bandwidth (Q) and Function (boost / cut) controls. The four bands cover 20 Hz – 2 kHz, 50 Hz – 5 kHz, 100 Hz – 10 kHz and 200 Hz – 20 kHz so there’s plenty of overlap. Each band has its own Overload LED making it easy to spot overloads caused by large amounts of boost

Most studio equalisers assume a nominal signal level of +4 dBm and have no gain controls. TC goes to the other extreme – the 1140 assumes input levels may vary by up to 40 dB, that boost and or cut may change signal level significantly and that any EQ band might be pushed into overload – a fair assumption when 20db of boost or cut are available. This makes the 1140 ideal for live situations, for instruments with widely varying output levels, or for situations where large amounts of EQ may be required

Like the TC 1220, the TC 1140 is a highly effective equaliser. It’s possible to dial in large amounts of boost or cut but the results are always musical. On the broadest settings the EQ gives a warm, wide boost ideal for brightening signals or putting punch into the low end without making it sound flabby. At higher Q settings you can put a nice snap on a snare drum or make surgical cuts at problem frequencies

TC equalisers are amongst the few EQs I really like. They’re precise but musical at the same time – a combination that seems to escape most other manufacturers

“The TC 2240 is one of my absolute favorite all purpose parametric EQ’s next to the GML 8200…”

“It doesn’t have the headroom that an 8200 has [few things do], and it’s not as transparent as an 8200 [fewer things are]… but it’s pretty much up there in my world”

“There are not a lot of 1140’s left on the market today, but should you be able to get a hold of one, don’t let it go. Even if you don’t have a use for it, don’t throw it out. You’ll regret it later on”

“I have an old 2240 and I absolutely love it. It’s super fat and great for broad tonal shaping applications. It’s an excellent complement to my digital EQs and my Massive Passive”

“Evidently Fletcher from Mercenary really likes ’em too, for whatever it’s worth…”

Analogue equaliser / preamplifier with variable gain from - 20 to +20 dB. Filter frequencies are variable (see band details above) with boost & cut of ± 20 db. EQ bandwidth is variable from 0.1 to 2 octaves. Unbalanced input is via jack socket with an input impedance of 1 MΩ and balanced input on XLR at 20 kΩ. Output is unbalanced jack or balanced XLR. Bypass is a mono jack socket for use with any standard footswitch. Mains input via IEC socket and voltage is switchable between 110 and 220 Volts. UK or Euro Schuko IEC mains cable supplied on request

Components are all through-hole devices on a large, spread-out circuit board. EQ bypass is switched by relay. Unlike modern devices using SMD (surface mount device) chips, this equaliser will be economically viable to repair in the future

Standard 2U device suitable for 19" racks. 220 VAC power input on standard IEC power connector. UK or Euro Schuko IEC power cable supplied on request

Operating manual

http://cdn-downloads.tcelectronic.com/media/686748/tcelectronic-tc1140-manual-english.pdf

Manual

http://www.studiomanuals.com/docs/tcelectronic/tc_1140_data.pdf

Tech specs

http://www.tcelectronic.com/tc-1140/tech-specs/ 

Review / advert from Talk Bass

http://www.talkbass.com/threads/t-c-electronic-tc-1220-parametric-equalizer-vintage.1070259/

Audiofanzine 5 Star ★★★★★ Review

http://en.audiofanzine.com/parametric-eq/tc-electronic/TC-2240/user_reviews/r.104024.html

Harmony Central 5 Star ★★★★★ Review

http://www.harmonycentral.com/reviews/product/tc-electronic-tc-1140-parametric-eq--preamp/341123

Youtube demo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPLQT4SDAF4

2U

This 2240 has been refurbished in our workshop. The circuit boards have been removed, recapped & modified before reassembly and rewiring

The boards have been recapped with Panasonic electrolytics and caps in the audio path have been replaced with high-value Panasonic bipolar caps. The power supply has been upgraded with new, higher-value electrolytic caps

The knobs & switches are all original and the front panel is unmarked apart from minor rack rash. It's hard to find vintage equipment in this kind of condition

Photos show a 2240 sold previously

Vintage gear All vintage gear will have case scratches and marks. It may also have, or develop, noisy pots and switches. I make my descriptions as accurate as possible and note any existing defects. I test each item before shipping but please understand that vintage gear will not be perfect and adjust your expectations accordingly