Description

Meet The WA273

Warm Audio has once again hit it out of the park with their amazing and affordable pieces of quality studio gear that sounds great. The WA273 is a stereo preamp reverse engineered from Neve’s 1073. The British sound that helped shape the history of recorded music is now available to all engineers. This product bred of meticulous research and tests is made of high-quality components such as tantalum and polystyrene capacitors, custom Carnhill transformers, all hand wired and assembled while still meeting the Warm Audio philosophy of accessibility.

WA273 In One Take:

• Tested for sonic accuracy to the 1073s
• Fully discrete
• Hand wired, hand assembled
• +48v
• Polarity switch
• Tone button for impedance switching
• Low-cut filter
• Line level inputs
• TRS inputs
• 22 position gain knob with 80dB of available gain
• Output control knob for total tone control
• Inserts (send and return)

Tone Button

The tone button on each channel will make the impedance of the input much lower when engaged, resulting in more coloration. It can introduce an extremely desirable and pleasing saturation that is both warm and lush. Aggressive, punchy sounds that saturate in a very appealing manner are driven by custom Carnhill transformers, at either the input or output of each channel independent from one another. The lowered impedance from the Tone Button is great for ribbon mics, which normally have a much lower output than dynamic or condenser microphones.

Under The Hood

The WA273 has custom, UK made Carnhill input and output transformers. With knobs for both input and output, the saturation possibilities are endless, and when cranked, sound punchy and exciting. Tantalum and polystyrene capacitors were chosen for this unit both for their reliability, as well as their high-quality sound. Under the hood, the signal path is hand wired, with hand assembled components that are the result of an immense amount of research, love, and passion.

Made Out Of Need

Warm Audio has in a 19” rackable unit packed a sound that revolutionized audio engineering for all audio engineers. The WA273 is also available in mono, stereo with no EQ, and mono with no EQ as well. This array of ‘73 style recreations will provide engineers of different budgets with a viable Warm Audio ‘73 style preamp. All of these options are available without Warm Audio ever compromising their unit’s sound quality and component quality. Finally, engineers can get classic sounds without the huge price tags.

Specifications:

• 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 inputs (front & back)
• Line level TRS input
• TS Send/Receive insert jacks
• XLR & TRS line level outputs
• Direct In, instrument input
• Output control
• LED level indication
• Freq response 20Hz – 20kHz +/-.5 dB
• 19” rackable
• Internal IEC 115v/230v power inlet