Warm Audio WA273 Dual-Channel, Hand-Wired British Mic Pre

Overiew:

The Warm Audio WA273 is a dual-channel, Class-A microphone preamp designed to provide up to 80 dB of gain for engineers, producers, musicians, and vocalists in mobile-recording rigs and home, project, and commercial studios. It features custom Carnhill transformers and is wired and assembled by hand to deliver the sound and functionality of classic British ’73-style preamps.

Its inputs include balanced XLR and 1/4″ TRS jacks and two front-panel 1/4″ TS instrument inputs. Input impedance, polarity, ground lift, and phantom power are switchable. Connect an outboard compressor or equalizer via the 1/4″ TS insert send and return jacks. Balanced XLR and 1/4″ outputs are fed by output level controls and allow compatibility with most audio interfaces and mixing consoles. The selectable high-pass filter can be set to 50 Hz, 80 Hz, 160 Hz, or 300 Hz for management of unruly bass frequencies

Features:

• Mic, Line, and Instrument Inputs
• Insert Sends and Returns
• Up to 80 dB of Gain
• Output Level Control
• Switchable Input Impedance
• Selectable High-Pass Filter
• Custom Carnhill Transformers
• Phantom Power and Polarity Switches
• Ground-Lift Switch
• Wired and Assembled by Hand

More Features:

A Dual 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 of mic pre. ’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 & w/out EQ), that each pay careful homage to British audio history.

When we at Warm Audio decided to release the WA273 it was imperative that it met vintage expectation 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, careful reverse-engineering, and countless hours of auditioning, the WA273 was born!

The WA273 is a “Desert Island” boutique preamp, but it can also be classified as a studio and live work-horse. Classic ’73-style preamps are known for being versatile tools that work with 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’s no recording, mixing or engineering task that the WA273 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 day ’73-style preamp sound as sweet and musical as does our WA273 with these beautiful custom Transformers.

Capacitors & Signal Path

An important part of classic British tone not often discussed are the different styles of capacitors and output transistor 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 WA273! Guru’s claim that a portion of the sought after classic British tone can be attributed to the hand-wired nature of the build. The WA273 is hand-wired and hand assembled, including the pcb components that are all populated by hand.

Specs:

• DUAL 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 HIPASS 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

• FREQ RESPONSE 20HZ – 20KHZ /-.5 DB

• 19″ RACKMOUNTABLE

• INTERNAL IEC 115V/230V POWER INLET