Sat Jun 08, 2019 7:53 am
Re: Let's Talk Audio Amplifiers
madsamurai, thank you for your suggestion for a quick and cheap audio amplifier. I finally got the parts you suggested and it does work well. However, the Lock Amp I picked up does have significantly more gain than the pieced together unit. In that regard, the lock-specific unit is much superior.
The pieced together amp is great for learning, where one can essentially put the piezo pickup on the lock case itself, but it is barely helpful in the case of thicker, insulated doors unless you place the pickup on the dial itself, which can be done by hand when listening for contact points. The Lock Amp (and probably other, well-made lock-specific amplifiers) is a huge improvement. The biggest down side is that the gain is so high that background noises can be a distraction. Even my stomach gurgling a foot away from the pickup sounded like the pickup was literally inside my stomach! Any way, there is a big difference. I'm sure there may be other amplifiers and/or pickups that may be better suited to configure for lock work.
The last safe I bought took several hours to manipulate, and the timing of acquiring the Lock Amp could not have been more perfect. It helped immensely for precisely determining contact point locations. Even though the lock is a basic 6730, there were some lessons to be learned from this particular lock, with this particular combination. I left the combination on this lock so I can learn from it when I have the time. In short, pay attention to the left contact point too!
The pieced together amp is great for learning, where one can essentially put the piezo pickup on the lock case itself, but it is barely helpful in the case of thicker, insulated doors unless you place the pickup on the dial itself, which can be done by hand when listening for contact points. The Lock Amp (and probably other, well-made lock-specific amplifiers) is a huge improvement. The biggest down side is that the gain is so high that background noises can be a distraction. Even my stomach gurgling a foot away from the pickup sounded like the pickup was literally inside my stomach! Any way, there is a big difference. I'm sure there may be other amplifiers and/or pickups that may be better suited to configure for lock work.
The last safe I bought took several hours to manipulate, and the timing of acquiring the Lock Amp could not have been more perfect. It helped immensely for precisely determining contact point locations. Even though the lock is a basic 6730, there were some lessons to be learned from this particular lock, with this particular combination. I left the combination on this lock so I can learn from it when I have the time. In short, pay attention to the left contact point too!
