Tube-driven stereo audio enhancer
$5,699.00
Whitestone Audio Instruments P331 EVL Tube Loading Amplifier
Description
It’s A P331 – Just Less Polite
The Whitestone Audio Instruments P331 Tube Loading Amplifier was developed to bring professional tracking, mix and mastering engineers versatile, elegant, precise and repeatable audio circuit variation. There’s nothing like running a signal through a well-designed piece of analog gear, at “unity” gain without any “processing” applied at all. Simply exploiting the sound of some of these analog input and output gain circuits is often-times just the thing to bring subtle life or organic size and depth to recorded audio. The P331 is designed to enhance any audio signal…your individual tracks, on your mix-buss or in your mastering chain.
Like the original P331, the EVL version utilizes digitally controlled analog for all controls. Left/Right coherence is every bit as precise. The fully-differential solid-state output amplifier is unchanged. The LIFT circuit is also identical in both units, however, since the lifted frequencies are affected by the harmonics generated by the LOADING section…LIFT on the EVL will not sound exactly the same as the original P331.
The fully-differential tube LOADING amplifier in the EVL starts from a much different point. While the LOADING control is functionally the same as the original P331 in that it controls the 6SN7 tube’s operating point, it’s being pushed much harder from the start. It’s not like a distorted guitar amp…it’s still “mastering appropriate”. It’s simply a different, more forward “feel” than the original P331.
The XFORMER section is where the most differentiation occurs. We’re driving WAY more current at the EVL transformers …forcing them much further into saturation. The result is a more pronounced low-end presence, thrust and punch without becoming stuffy or losing clarity.
