Warm Audio WA73
Warm Audio WA73
€589,00
€589,00
Tax included.
Availability on request
In stock
Estimated Shipping Widget will be displayed here!
Description / Specs
Description / Specs
A Single-Channel '73 For The Rest Of Us
If there’s one style of preamp that professional engineers would unanimously agree has defined the tone of pop/rock records for decades, it would most definitely be the venerable '73-style mic preamp. '73-style preamps have been massively used in recording and live applications for many years and are still considered to be the “Holy Grail” of preamp choices today. The Warm Audio “WA73 Family” consists of single and dual channel '73-style preamps (with & without EQ), that each pay careful homage to British audio history.
When we at Warm Audio decided to release the WA73 it was imperative that it met vintage expectations in both design and performance. The tone and sweet character that vintage '73-style mic preamps impart is so unique and familiar, that we had only the pure desire to release sonically accurate reproductions. After years of R&D, intense research, and countless hours of auditioning, the WA73 was born!
The WA73 is a “Desert Island” boutique preamp, but it can also be classified as a studio and live workhorse. Classic '73-style preamps are known for being versatile tools that work with all kinds of microphones from condenser, to dynamic, to ribbon. The WA73 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’s no recording, mixing or engineering task that the WA73 can’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. Vintage units used various versions of transformers throughout the years, but the most coveted were the earliest versions. These are regarded as the most desirable choice 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 '73-style preamp sound as sweet and musical as our WA73 with these beautiful custom Transformers.
Capacitors & Signal Path
An important part of classic British tone not often discussed is the different types of capacitors and output transistors used in '73-style circuits. We found it important to maintain integrity to early British designs 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.
Hand Wired & Hand Assembled
Classic '73-style preamps were often hand-wired and so is the WA73! Experts claim that part of the sought-after classic British tone comes from the hand-wired construction. The WA73 is hand-wired and hand assembled, including the PCB components, all populated by hand.
Technical Specifications
- SINGLE-CHANNEL, CLASS A, '73-STYLE BRITISH MICROPHONE PREAMP
- UK MADE CARNHILL TRANSFORMERS
- HAND WIRED, HAND ASSEMBLED
- 80DB OF GAIN - RESISTOR STEPPED GAIN SWITCH
- FULLY DISCRETE
- TONE BUTTON - CHANGES INPUT TRANSFORMER IMPEDANCE FOR VARYING TONE
- POLARITY SWITCH
- 48V PHANTOM POWER
- 4 POSITION INDUCTOR BASED HIGHPASS FILTER - 50, 80, 160, 300 HZ
- XLR MIC INPUT
- LINE LEVEL TRS INPUT
- TS SEND/RECEIVE INSERT JACKS
- XLR & TRS LINE LEVEL OUTPUTS
- DIRECT IN, INSTRUMENT INPUT
- OUTPUT CONTROL
- LED LEVEL INDICATION
- 19" RACKMOUNTABLE
- GROUND LIFT SWITCH
- INTERNAL IEC 115V/230V POWER INLET
