Warm Audio WA73 1-Channel British Microphone Preamp w/ Cables

Warm Audio WA73 1-Channel British Microphone Preamp

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 has been 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.

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.

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.

Warm Audio PREM-XLR-20 Premier Series Studio & Live XLR Microphone Cable, 20'

Introducing Premium Cables by Warm audio

At Warm, we always put customers front and center in our decision-making. You are the reason that we put so much time and effort into ensuring that the products we bring to market sound amazing, are as affordable as possible and inspire endless creativity - we’re serious about this stuff!

We’re also serious about recording as an art, and we’re always looking for ways to help our customers achieve their sonic goals. With that mission in mind we partnered with Switzerland-based Gotham AG - Europe’s top producer of premium cable - to provide the cable stock for our entire new line of interconnects, and the results have exceeded our expectations!

Highest Quality Possible

With Warm Cables we knew that we wanted to offer the highest quality possible at a price low enough for everyone to afford, with construction robust enough that we could offer a lifetime warranty. Well known as the original supplier to some of the industry’s elite manufacturers (their 3-conductor wire was known simply as “the Neumann Cable” for decades), Gotham’s cable construction techniques and technology now represent the current state-of-the-art. We couldn’t be happier to partner with them on these new cables, and we can’t wait for you to use them!

Premier vs. Pro

Warm makes two lines of cable - Premier and Professional - in order to offer the largest number of options possible in two different price ranges. Both lines take advantage of Gotham’s state-of-the-art construction, offering absolutely stellar audio performance, near-perfect signal transfer and the ultimate in reliability (which is why they both feature a lifetime warranty!). Both cable lines produce fabulous results, but the Premier line adds above-and-beyond features like gold-plated connectors, four-conductor Starquad construction for powerful rejection of EMI and Double-Reussen shielding for increased rejection of RFI. There simply is no better-sounding or more reliable cable on the planet, and Warm Cables don’t come with a gold-plated price tag - these are wires that everyone can afford!

Warm Audio Premier and Pro cables are offered in XLR, XLR to TRS, TS to TS, and TS to angled TS varieties.

What does “StarQuad” mean?

A traditional balanced cable uses three cores of wire to carry the audio signals: one shielded core for the hot/positive leg, one shielded core for the cold/negative leg (which is wired in reverse polarity to the positive leg), and a plain outer wrap that functions as the ground. A balanced audio system effectively rejects most induced noise encountered along the cable’s length by removing signals that are common to both the hot and cold legs.

StarQuad construction takes that concept even further, by using four cores instead of two: two cores each for the hot/positive and cold/negative legs and a single ground. This helps to further shield the audio from RFI (radio frequency interference) even more than a traditional 3-conductor cable.

What is Double-Reussen Shielding?

Most cable construction techniques use an outer wrap of wire to act as the ground. Some manufacturers braid this wire, while others simply wrap the wires in a highly uniform way to shield the interior wires from interference.

Double-Reussen shielding goes much further than more traditional techniques in two ways: First, the cable is wrapped with not one but TWO separate shields, and second, the outer shield is wrapped in a contrary direction to the inner shield. This creates a stronger and more complete shield from RFI for the internal cores, and can result in an astounding reduction of interference. Double-Reussen shielding is a tad more expensive to manufacture, but for those who will accept nothing but the best it represents the pinnacle of current balanced cable technology.