The legendary 1073 wrote the book on mic preamps with personality. This venerable circuit helped define the energetic sound of '70s rock - and countless recordings and live shows since then. Today, that coveted tone can be yours for a song, with the Warm Audio WA73 mic/line/instrument preamp. In both design and performance, the WA73 pays homage to the revered lineage of British consoles that started it all. Across the audio industry, the 1073 is considered the holy grail of preamps, with a rich, sweet and bold tonality ideal for making bold statements with your music. After years of research and development, meticulous reverse engineering and countless hours of listening, Warm Audio have captured the sonic essence of this classic perfectly in their boutique WA73.

Handcrafted with premium quality parts

Boasting gun-grade build quality with discrete, hand-wired Class A circuitry and top-of-the-line parts like UK-made Carnhill transformers, the WA73 has 80dB of gain on tap so you can capture smooth sources with your favorite tape. Your tapes and condensers will sound heavenly; you'll be shocked to hear just how authoritative their dynamic mics sound. Engaging the input stage and lowering the output gain enhances your tracks with tasty vintage-style coloring. Rounding out the feature set is an instrument jack, polarity reversal, 48V phantom power, and switchable impedance for tonal variation and to optimally match a variety of microphones.

Optimize every source — and microphone

There's no source that doesn't sound amazing through the Warm Audio WA73. With judicious microphone selection and placement, the battery is larger than life; The bass DI and keyboards sound massive and the synths become trance-inducing; electric guitars soar; vocal rule. Pianos and guitars are resplendent. Orchestral instruments - strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion - reach an ineffable exuberance and dimension. You can even use the WA73 as a tone shaping tool to run full stems or mixes. Hear what the WA73 can do for your own recordings. It's transformative.

Hot left no stone unturned

A vital but little-discussed component of these classic British circuits are the different types of capacitors and output transistors used. To maintain the integrity of the original circuitry, Warm decided to use high quality tantalum and polystyrene capacitors in the signal path and an output transistor choice that provides smoother results at higher gain settings than commonly found in pre-amps. 1073 style amplifiers of today. All things considered, Warm Audio's monumental effort to design a no-compromise product paid off. You'll appreciate it every time you plug in the WA73 and record.

Features and Specifications

• British '73-style, single-channel, class-A mic preamp;
• Made in the UK by Carnhill Transformers;
• Wires connected by hand, handmade assembly;
• 80dB gain (step resistance gain switch);
• Totally discreet;
• TONE knob: Changes the transformer input impedance to vary the tone;
• Polarity switch;
• With phantom power: yes (48V);
• High-pass filter (high-pass) inductive base and 4 positions: 50, 80, 160 and 300Hz;
• XLR microphone inputs;
• TRS line-level input;
• TS send/receive jacks;
• XLR and TRS line level outputs;
• Instrument input, direct In;
• Output control;
• Level indication LED;
• Frequency response from 20Hz to 20kHz +/- 0.5dB;
• 19 inches, rack mountable;
• Internal 115V/230V IEC power supply input.