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Warm Audio WA73 Single Channel British Style Mic Preamp

WAR-WA73 - RRP $1,125.00
In store: None
Online: Yes
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$1,099.00
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1

year warranty

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the shipping rates?

We offer free shipping on most items to metro areas in ACT, NSW, VIC, and QLD. If you are in a regional area we do offer great shipping rates, though it is often too expensive for us to offer free shipping. You can calculate shipping costs in the checkout and on item pages with your postcode.
Orders under $50 incur a minimum order fee to cover shipping.

Standard vs Express Shipping

Our shipping platform will automatically determine and display the Express or Standard shipping options that are available to you. If Express is not displaying, you're either located too far away from our store in Canberra, or the Standard shipping option will get it to you just as fast for the same price. Express shipping is 1-5 days, Standard 2-10 days depending on how far you are away from our store in Canberra.

What payment methods do you offer?

We offer secure checkout options like Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Zip Pay and Bank Deposit.
American Express payments are also accepted, although most AmEx transactions will require manual authorization after payment (Someone from the team will contact you to confirm the transaction after checkout)

What payment methods do you offer?

We offer secure checkout options like Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Zip Pay and Bank Deposit.
American Express payments are also accepted, although most AmEx transactions will require manual authorization after payment (Someone from the team will contact you to confirm the transaction after checkout)

Can I cancel my order?

If you need to cancel your order it is best to give our online team a call on (02) 6282 3199
On weekends our online team may not be operating. Either give us a call monday morning or reply to your order email and we will endeavour to stop goods leaving the store.

Need Assistance?

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  • (02) 6282 3199
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  • 18 Salamander Court, Phillip 2606, ACT
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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 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 WA73 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 WA73 was born!

The WA73 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 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 day '73-style preamp sound as sweet and musical as does our WA73 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 WA73! 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 WA73 is hand-wired and hand assembled, including the pcb components that are all populated by hand.

Technical Specification

  • 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 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
  • OUTPUT CONTROL
  • LED LEVEL INDICATION
  • 19" RACKMOUNTABLE
  • GROUND LIFT SWITCH
  • INTERNAL IEC 115V/230V POWER INLET
More Information
Brand Warm Audio
Got bluetooth? No
Built in effects? No
Chris

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