A Dual Channel '73 For The Rest Of Us
If there&rsquo,s one style of preampthat professional engineers would unanimously agree has defined the tone of pop/rock records for decades, it would most definitely be the venerable '73-style of mic pre. '73-style preamps havebeen massively used in recording and live applications for many years and arestill considered to be the &ldquo,Holy Grail of preamp choicestoday. The Warm Audio &ldquo,WA73 Family consists of single and dual channel '73-style preamps (with &, w/out EQ), that each paycareful homage toBritish audio history.
When we at Warm Audiodecided to release the WA273 it was imperative that it metvintage expectation in both design and performance. The tone and sweet character that vintage '73-style mic preampsimpart is so unique and familiar, that we had only the pure desire to release sonicallyaccurate reproductions. After years of R&,D, careful reverse-engineering, and countless hours of auditioning, the WA273 has been born!
The WA273 is a &ldquo,Desert Island boutique preamp, but it can also be classified as a studio and live work-horse. Classic '73-style preampsare known for beingversatiletools that workwith all kinds of microphones from Condenser, to Dynamic, to Ribbon. The WA273 equally shines on all types of microphones and sources including, vocals, acoustic/electric guitars, bass, drums, percussion, orchestras, keyboards, and even as a tone shaping tool to run partial or complete mixes through. With 80dB of gain and a fully discrete Carnhill Transformer balanced signal path, there&rsquo,s no recording, mixing or engineering task that the WA273 can&rsquo,t handle.
UK Custom Carnhill Transformers
Enthusiasts unequivocally get excited about the components used in classic '73-style British preamps. The signal transformers are a common topic of conversation. Vintageunits used various versions of transformers throughout the years, but the most coveted were the earliestversions. These are regarded as the most desirablechoice due to their fluid and forgiving nature. They saturate sweetly when pushed, and have been known to make engineers cry when they hear how beautiful their mixes sound through them! Warm Audio worked closely with Carnhill Transformers of Cambridgeshire, UK, to design faithful reproductions of these most coveted, early version transformers. We at Warm Audio have not yet heard a modern day '73-style preampsound as sweet and musicalas does our WA273 with these beautiful custom Transformers.
Hand Wired &, Hand Assembled
Classic '73-style preamps were oftenhand-wired and so is the WA273! Guru&rsquo,s claim that a portion of the sought after classic Britishtone can be attributed to the hand-wired nature of the build. TheWA273 ishand-wired and hand assembled, including the pcb components that are all populated by hand.
Capacitors &, Signal Path
An important part of classic British tone not often discussed arethe different styles of capacitors and output transistor used in '73-style circuits. We found it important to maintain integrity to early Britishdesigns by using tantalum and polystyrene capacitors in the signal path and an output transistor choice that is much smoother in the high gain settings than what is typically found in modern '73-style preamps.
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Dual Channel, Class A, '73-Style British Microphone Preamp
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UK made Carnhill Transformers
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Hand Wired, hand assembled
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80dB of gain - resistor stepped gain switch
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Fully discrete
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TONE button - Changes input transformer impedance for varying tone
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Polarity switch
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48v phantom power
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4 position inductor based hipass filter - 50, 80, 160, 300 Hz
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XLR mic input
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Line level TRS input
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TS Send/Receive insert jacks
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XLR &, TRS line level outputs
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Direct In, instrument input
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Freq response 20Hz - 20kHz +/-.5 dB
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19", rackable
