Sequential Prophet 5 rev2

via this auction

"There are 3 distinct Prophet 5's, the rev 1, rev 2 and rev 3. To be honest I have never seen (or even met someone who has seen) a rev 1....so if you want a Prophet the choice is pretty much between the rev2 and rev3. The major difference between the rev2 and the rev3 is that the rev2 uses SSM chips and a lot more discrete components and the rev3 uses Curtis chips. The rev2 is the the better sounding of the two with a more organic sound, though back in the day the rev3 was much more reliable....so bands tended to use rev2's for recording and rev3's for touring.

The rev2 reliability issues were primarily down to tuning, this was down to a transformer that got very hot (have a look at the size of the heatsink!)...i.e. thermal drift and the fact that the voltage control DACs for the oscillators were made with discrete resistors. Nothing actually wrong with building DACs with discrete resistors except that you need to use very precise and matched resistors....which weren't readily available in the 80's. These days ridiculously precise "ppm" (part per million) resistors are available for not too scary money. So the internals circuitry has been changed to incorporate the better resistors (and a few other more modern components) and a modern over-rated toroidal transformer to ensure that the tuning and reliability is as good, probably better than any rev3.

The rev2 is very rare, with only 200 having ever been made and is an incredibly beautiful sounding machine. This version is in very good condition, apart from a dint or two on the woodwork and pretty bad silk screening on the mod panel. I am at the moment considering building a totally new hardwood cabinet, re-screening the mod panel and fitting Kenton MIDI...this will however add well over £1000 to the price so I thought I'd put it up for sale as is....as I'm a bit buzy at the moment and someone could grab a bargain.

Tested, serviced and recalibrated by James at Synth Repair Services."