This is an exceptional model from the transition phase between the nT generation and the next upcoming DS. In my opinion, this organ has a big personality and was the best sounding analogue organ produced by Böhm in my opinion.
The chosen technology was possibly too complex and too expensive to be continued as a DIY-kit. Unfortunately only a spinet model was shown to the public. For the first time Dr. Rainer Böhm allowed to use electric keyers instead of mechanical switches under the keyboard to switch all the needed footages on a single key, a technology that was used by other organ companies long before. Also the use of the sawtooth generator was becoming obsolete (a Sawtooth can be approximated by mixing octaves of rectangle signals). The sawtooth generator was the “heart” of the philosophy of all Böhm organs before. In the Prof2000 both modes are possible.
The electronic keyers allow polyphonic percussion and sustain. Even a key velocity enables a piano forte play. Velocity is measured by the time the key switch travels between two contacts at the key press. The key velocity is not very precise compared to today’s keyboards.
Generator: the same Sawtooth-generator as of the nT-Organs is reused which is switchable between sawtooth and rectangle output. It uses Siemens-chips with internal frequency dividers and resistor network to come up with stairstep sawtooth waves. However the electronic behind has resistor networks to approximate a sawtooth from several rectangle footages as well, so the generator is set to rectangle in normal operation. The drawbars gain more fundamentals at this position, however they do get a different character when the generator is set so sawtooth. Further some tabs sound more sacral as well in that mode (or even sound a bit strange).
A bright spot are the drawbars, they sound very good. Still not as lush as in some American organs at these times (Lowrey so to say) it uses 12dB filters for each single octave. Upper manual has a 10th drawbar with two footages (16/27″+1/2″) and produces very shimmering overtones.
Also the string piano circuit was a surprise for me, it is a heritage from the previous Böhm-DnT-generation. Available on the upper manual and at 8 foot, each tone has got its own time-variant sawtooth wave shaper. It sounds very different to the percussion effects of the normal keyers, which also are working polyphonic, but only with a VCA envelope. The strings of the following DS-generation organs were a change for the worse, a result of the trend to integrate much as possible into custom ICs.
For the first time on Böhm’s organs also: the possibility to store the registration setup into 32 flash RAM locations. The memory was used as a snapshot of the current scene. Once stored, it was not possible to alter single tabs.
The remaining was used from the older generation: the pedal electronics and the awful accompaniment and drums.
| My personal ranking | *** (3 Stars from 5) |
| plus | nice drawbar and solo sound. String piano is good sounding. Awesome technology. |
| minus | only spinet version (4 octaves keyboard). Drum sound sucks. Grey switches can get a nigtmare after 30 years. |