Golden Age PR73

Mono Pre, based on Neve 1073

Stupidly low price on this one. Golden Age seem ready to give the lower-priced part of the studio market a little rub in the right spot.

So... here's their blurb on the ripper little Pre-73:

The PRE-73 is the first one-channel low-cost preamp on the market that is using a fully discrete signal path with three separate transformers for the balanced mic input, the line input and the output.

The circuit is very similar to the classical preamp section of the Neve 1073 pre/eq module with a corresponding sound character that is warm, punchy, sweet and musical. This classical sound has been heard on countless recordings through the years and it is a versatile sound that works very well on most sound sources and in most genres.

The PRE-73 has a maximum gain of 80 dB on the mic input and the gain range on the Line input is -20 to + 10 dB. There is also a high-impedance instrument input.

The PRE-73 is perfect for almost any signal source, no matter if it's a microphone with a high or low sensitivity (like a passive ribbon mic), a syntheziser or sound module or an electric guitar or bass.

The input impedance of the microphone input can be switched between 300 and 1200 ohms, which makes it possible to affect the tone of most microphones. There is also phase switch and an simple 4-step LED signal level meter.

The output level control makes it possible to make fine gain adjustments and also to overload the main gain stage for more character and then lower the signal to a suitable level before the output stage.

$499 (RRP)