Golden Age Audio - Pre 573 Premier

The Golden Age Audio Pre-573 Premier is an analogue preamplifier in the 500 series format that takes up the technical foundations and sonic philosophy of the famous 1073 module. Designed around an entirely discrete signal path, with no integrated circuits, it uses traditional electronics based on resistors, capacitors and transistors, faithful to the studio design methods of the analogue decades.

The mic and line inputs, as well as the line output, are transformed using UK-made Carnhill transformers, each optimised for its function. The output, which is fully floating and balanced, is capable of driving a 600 ohm load up to around 28 dBu, providing a comfortable headroom for today's professional environments. The sonic character is immediately recognisable: dense bass, present midrange and a smooth but detailed top end, without harshness.

In microphone mode, the Pre-573 Premier offers up to 80dB of gain, making it perfectly compatible with low-level passive microphones, including ribbons. Total gain ranges from -10 to +80dB, combining a main rotary selector with an additional switch to add 5 or 10dB. This approach facilitates rapid, reproducible adjustment while retaining a high degree of control finesse.

The microphone input has a switchable impedance (300 or 1200 ohms), allowing the load to be adapted to different microphones and subtly influencing sound colour. Switching to line level attenuates the signal by around 30 dB and raises the input impedance to around 10 kΩ, opening the door to multiple routing configurations.

On the front panel, the instrument input offers two distinct signatures thanks to a high-impedance active mode and a passive mid-Z mode, suitable respectively for guitars, basses or electronic instruments. The output level control lets you deliberately boost the internal gain stage to obtain more character, then reduce the level sent to the output stage.