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Golden Age Audio PRE-73 MkIII  From Golden Age

The Pre-73 MkIII delivers the warmth, richness and musicality of a classic Neve 1073 in an affordable, single-channel preamp design.

Golden Age Audio

What We Think

The Pre 73 mk2 employs a fully discrete signal path, which is a must if it’s going to compete with other 1073 style mic pres out there. Of course its price certainly begs the question: How well does it compete? 

 

I took the time to record some vocals with it and was impressed with just how quiet this little pre is. I decided to really test the signal to noise and put a 15db attenuator on the front end. This really let me hear the input transformer do its thing. What I got was color - musical, rich color AND an essentially negligible amount of noise. This unit’s color really impressed me, despite the fact my ears are very used to the more expensive 1073 clones we very frequently use here (Vintech X73i and 573 for example). Now there’s no doubt that the higher-end clones have a bit more mojo going for them, but the Pre73 absolutely deserves to be in the same conversation. There’s nothing on the market that comes as close as this to embodying the essence of the 1073 sound anywhere near this price.

Golden Age Projct PRE 73 MKIII Video

  • Signal Chain
    • Golden Age Audio PRE-73 MkIII

Manufacturer's Description from Golden Age

The latest version of our PRE-73 bestseller!

The PRE-73 MKIII is a one-channel vintage style microphone-, line- and instrument preamplifier. The signal path uses only discrete components like resistors, capacitors and transistors. The in- and output is transformer balanced, using two different transformers, each one optimized for its purpose. This is the way audio components were built before integrated circuits became available.

 

The circuit used in the PRE-73 MKIII is similar to the preamp section in the classical 1073 module with a corresponding sound character that is warm, punchy, sweet and musical. These classic characteristics have 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 essence of this sound is now available at a surprisingly low cost, making it available to nearly everyone.

 

FEATURES

 ♦ Vintage Style electronics. No integrated circuits in the signal path.

 ♦ Maximum gain in MIC mode is 80 dB, enough to handle passive ribbon mics with quiet sound sources.

 ♦ GAIN switch range 20 – 80 dB. GAIN/LINE mode switch, gain is reduced by 30 dB in LINE mode.

 ♦ Selectable two position high frequency AIR boost eq, 3 or 6 dB @ 30 kHz.

 ♦ Selectable 6 dB/octave two frequency high pass filter at around 40 (HP1) and 170 Hz (HP2).

 ♦ Tantalum capacitors in the signal path.

 ♦ Switchable impedance in MIC mode, 1200 or 300 Ohms, will change the tone of most mics. The input impedance in LINE mode is 10 kohm.

 ♦ Switchable phantom power and absolute phase.

 ♦ A high-impedance instrument input for any sound module, electric guitar or bass.

 ♦ A simple but effective 4-step LED output level meter.

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

 ♦ Combo XLR/TRS input jack and separate output XLR and TRS jacks for flexible connections.

 ♦ Insert jack for inserting EQ´s and other units.

 ♦ Selectable 600 ohm output termination.

 ♦ The pcb is prepared for the Carnhill input transformer.

 ♦ External power supply to avoid interaction with the audio circuits and transformers.

 ♦ A solid build quality that will last many years of normal use.

 

 

 

NEW FEATURES COMPARED TO MKII

 ♦ Tantalum capacitors in the signal path.

 ♦ Selectable two position high frequency AIR boost eq, 3 or 6 dB @ 30 kHz.

 ♦ Selectable two frequency high pass filter, 6 dB/octave at 40 or 170Hz.

 ♦ The pcb is prepared for the Carnhill input transformer.

 ♦ Revised and less complicated GAIN switch with a separate switch for MIC/LINE selection.

 ♦ All GAIN settings can also be used in LINE mode

 

Golden Age Audio

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