Pultec EQP-1A

Note: the mods/upgrades listed here are a guide to services we offer and should not be undertaken by novices.Valve gear contains high voltages which can cause death .

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PULTEC EQP-1A

LUCAS MILES AUDIO

AUSTRALIA

The Pultec EQP-1A program equaliser is one of the most highly desireable pieces of vintage studio gear .Good examples of these units now fetch US$4000+. They are highly sought after by studio boffins for there sound which is at the pinnacle of analog sound , a quality characterised by warmth and vintage tonal character.

Why do they sound so good.Its the components, the point to point wiring (no circuit boards ),the transformers , vintage tubes and they were built in an era when quality was more important than profit.

So if you cant afford one or a pair, what do you do?

Well at the request of a mastering studio we'll go about building a pair .

	With the availabilty of vintage parts and Pultec transformers by Sowter UK it is possible to replicate the original Pultec or something close. The unit produced here was built into a 2 rack space case with transformers and valves mounted internally. All the wiring was point to point.

The layout is, the front board is the eq filter capacitors ; behind that is 3 sowter units: 2 transformers and 1 inductor.The next turret board is all the operational electronics and at the rear we have the o/p transformer on the left.The i/p and driver tube , then to the right we have the power transformer with the blue Sprague filter caps and the rectifer tube.

This picture shows further wiring and the inclusion of more components.The large green cap on the eq filter board is a 1.5uf Russion PIO which is part of the 20hz filter circuit.The 2 large orange caps on the rear board are the generic Sprague orange drops polyproplene capacitors.These are the coupling caps between the 2 preamp tubes and have huge bearing on the final sound. They will be changed later on to something that is reference quality.

On the left we have a picture showing the rear to front.

On the right , the inclusion of the front panel and controls.

	Here we have the completed units .After a few minor adjustments and the inclusion of the teflon V-cap coupling caps and Mullard & GEC vintage tubes the units are now sounding quite the business. Incredibly pure and natural with the character and warmth that comes from quality valve gear.

A couple of months on and the units have well and truly burnt themselves in. The teflon V-caps have really come to the fore.The level of detail and resolution in the soundstage is 3 dimensional . Placement of instruments is now precise and the vocalist is right there performing in front of you . Beautifully balanced and musical.

Our playback gear includes the heavily modded Denon 3910 player (also featured on our mods page ) , a pair of Bryston 7BST power amps, and Focal Audiom speakers .