The Thermionic Culture The Swift is a two-channel valve equaliser designed to excel both on individual instrument tracks and across a stereo mix bus. Its name honours Britain’s fastest bird in level flight and reflects its ease of use and clear, logical labelling of all controls. Inspired by two classic designs from the golden age of valve recording, The Thermionic Culture The Swift combines extended bass and treble response with modern enhancements and proprietary features.
The core electronics draw on a nineteen-fifties EMI mixing desk design, retaining its Baxandall-style active equalisation while adding a Presence switch for a broad boost in the mid and high frequencies, as originally conceived by Vic Keary in nineteen sixty-three. The passive mid-lift controls follow a Pultec topology with four selectable centre frequencies and three bandwidth settings. Unique passive features include a high-pass filter, a mid-cut control and an Air circuit. By selecting the high-pass filter’s final position, which combines a shelving bass cut with a very low-frequency filter, and then applying substantial bass lift at fifty or one hundred hertz, users can achieve the classic Pultec boost-and-cut effect.
All gain controls are switch-based for quick A-B comparison, and continuously variable potentiometers provide smooth operation without indentations. A bypass switch disengages the electronics entirely to preserve the unadulterated input signal. With an output capability of +20 dBu before audible distortion and virtually no noise, The Thermionic Culture The Swift performs at the highest professional standard. Each channel uses only two valves to minimise unwanted colouration, and custom-designed Sowter transformers together with selected valves deliver both superior sound quality and outstanding technical specifications.
Features
- All-valve signal path using NOS and new production valves;
- Combines features of the best USA and UK equalisers with Thermionic magic;
- Quick and easy to operate, clearly labelled front panel
- Shelving Bass and Treble lift /cut Controls at 2 frequencies each;
- Mid Cut and Lift at 4 Frequencies each with Three ‘Q’ combinations;
- Our own Presence and Air Controls;
- A Switchable High Pass Filter with a Special last position which used in conjunction with the Bass lift can be a very interesting combination;
- Adjustable gain in .75 dB steps;
- Frequency response from below to well above human hearing with miniscule phase shift;
- Virtually no distortion unless driven beyond DAW capability and practically noiseless;
- Typical Thermionic Culture warm, natural sound;
- Equally superb as mix buss eq and for individual instruments/tracks;
- Lovingly hand-made and tested in Harlow, England
