The legend of the 1073 lives on in Warm Audio's beautiful WA73-EQ.
You might say; the legendary 1073 set the standard for characterful microphone preamplification. This venerable circuit helped define the punchy sound of '70s rock - and countless recordings and live concerts since. Today, this coveted tone for a song can be yours, with the Warm Audio WA73-EQ microphone/line/instrument preamp. In both design and performance, the WA73-EQ pays homage to the respected British console line that started it all. Throughout the audio industry, the 1073 is considered the holy grail among preamps, with a rich, sweet and bold tonality ideal for making bold statements with your music. After years of R&D, meticulous reverse engineering and countless hours of listening, Warm Audio has perfectly captured the sonic essence of this classic in their boutique WA73-EQ. With 80dB of gain and a fully discrete transformer-balanced signal path, the sound is a revelation: harmonically rich bottoms, focused midrange and slightly resonant highs.
Handcrafted with top-quality parts
The WA73-EQ features premium build quality with discrete, hand-wired Class A circuits and high-quality components like British-made Carnhill transformers, and has 80dB of gain so you can capture muted sources with yes favorite ribbon microphone. Your ribbons and condensers will sound heavenly; in fact, you'll be amazed to hear how authoritative your dynamic mics sound. By increasing the input stage and decreasing the output gain, your tracks will be even better colored vintage-style. To top it off, there's an instrument connection, polarity reversal, 48V phantom power and switchable impedance for tonal variation and an optimal match with various microphones.
Optimize every source - and microphone
There's no source that doesn't sound great through the Warm Audio WA73-EQ. With judicious microphone selection and placement, drums are larger than life; DI bass and keyboards sound massive and synths become trance-inducing; electric guitars soar; vocals reign supreme. Pianos and acoustic guitars are brilliant. Orchestral instruments - strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion - achieve unspeakable lushness and dimension. You can even use the WA73-EQ to edit vocals or entire mixes.
Legendary British EQ
The EQ section of the WA73-EQ is based on the classic 1073 circuit topology. The vintage 1073 is legendary EQ, and the WA73-EQ has its sound and behavior (complete with its fabulous harmonic distortion) all over it. It's a three-band affair, with HF shelving at 10, 12, and 16kHz; midband peaking with selectable center frequencies at 360Hz, 700Hz, 1.6kHz, 3.2kHz, 4.8kHz, and 7.2kHz; and LF shelving, selectable at 35Hz, 60Hz, 110Hz, and 220Hz. With a high-pass filter, selectable at 50Hz, 80Hz, 160Hz, and 300Hz, you can rid your signals of unwanted bass. If you've never worked with a 1073-style EQ before, all we can say is: you're in for a serious treat. Worth noting is that the original 1073 offered only a fixed 10kHz shelf, and the extra flexibility in the high frequencies offered by the WA73-EQ is most welcome.Optimal match with various microphones.
UK Custom Carnhill transformers
1073-loving engineers at Klundert Music get happy when the conversation turns to the history of the components of these classic circuits, and signal transformers are a common topic of conversation. Vintage 1073s used several transformer variations during their production; but the most coveted were the very first made by Marinair Radar, because of their smooth and forgiving nature that sweetly saturates when pressed. They have been known to bring engineers to tears when they hear how wonderful their mixes sound through them! Warm Audio turned to Carnhill Transformers of Cambridgeshire, UK, to meticulously design replicas of these highly desirable early 1073 transformers. The result is stunning, and - to our ears - tantalizingly close to early vintage 1073s.
Warm left no stone unturned
An essential but not often discussed component of these classic British circuits are the various types of capacitors and output transistors used. To maintain the integrity of the original circuits, Warm decided to use high-quality tantalum and polystyrene capacitors in the signal path and an output transistor selection that delivers smoother results at higher gain settings than what is common in today's 1073-style preamplifiers. All in all, Warm Audio's monumental effort to design an uncompromising product has paid off.
Warm Audio WA7-EQ specifications:
- included: power cable
- weight: 5.5 kg
- dimensions: 63.5 x 35.56 x 10.16 cm / 25 x 14 x 4 inches
- 19 inch rack mountable
- frequency response: 20 Hz - 20 kHz +/- 5 dB
- LED indicator
- output control
- DI, instrument input
XLR and TRS line outputs
TS jack send/return
TRS line input
XLR microphone inputs (front and rear) - 3-band EQ with high-pass filter, 4 positions: 50, 80, 160 and 300 Hz
- 48V phantom power supply
- polarity switch
- tone knob that changes transformer impedance for tone versatility
- completely separate signal paths
- 80 dB gain, stepwise
- hand-wired and hand-built
- Blore Edwards EQ dual-concentric potentiometers
- Carnhill Transformers, made in England
- single-channel, Class A 1073-style British microphone preamp with EQ
- preamp/pre-amp and EQ
