Golden Age Project PRE573-PREMIER – 1073 Style Premier Microphone Preamp

?The PRE-573 PREMIER is a one-channel vintage style microphone, line and instrument preamplifier. The signal path uses only discrete components like resistors, capacitors and transistors. The microphone and line input and the line output are 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 subjective sound quality delivered by vintage equipment is often prefered to the one delivered by modern units, a situation that is even more obvious now when music is recorded with clean sounding digital audio equipment.

The circuit used in the PRE-573 PREMIER 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.

• <> Vintage Style electronics. No integrated circuits in the signal path.
• <> UK-made Carnhill in- and output transformer. The output is balanced and fully floating and can drive a 600 ohm load up to level of about 28 dBu.
• <> Maximum gain in MIC mode is 80 dB, enough to handle passive ribbon mics with quiet sound sources.
• <> The total gain range goes from -10 to +80 dB. The 20 to 70 dB range (in MIC mode) is handled by a turn switch and a toggle switch selects an additional 5 or 10 dB gain.
• <> Switchable impedance on the mic input, 1200 or 300 ohms, will change the tone of many mics.
• <> The input can be configured to accept line level signals by another switch, the level is then lowered by about 30 dB and the input impedance increased to about 10 kohm.
• <> A selectable two-position 6 dB / octave highpass filter with fres of about 45 or 180 Hz.
• <> A flexible front panel instrument input for electric guitar or bass that can be switched between a high impedance active or a mid-Z passive mode. These two DI-options makes it possible to get different tones from instruments. Mains connected sound modules or other signal sources should be connected to the MIC/LINE input of the 500-rack, unless they have a fully floating, transformer balanced output stage.