Thermionic Culture The Snow Petrel reveals the true character of ribbon microphones with astonishing clarity, from shimmering highs to harmonically rich lows. Originally conceived as a super-clean, low-noise preamplifier for the Coles 4038, extensive field tests in the United Kingdom, Norway and France have shown that it excels with any microphone, including classics such as the Neumann U 87.
The Thermionic Culture The Snow Petrel employs extra-low-noise valves so that no solid-state circuitry contaminates the audio path and features exceptionally special Sowter input and output transformers. Its unusually high input impedance preserves detail and may be tailored to individual microphones using hi/lo and pad switches. Gain is switchable from forty decibels to seventy-five decibels, while a high-pass filter reduces proximity effect and an air control adds luminous top-end clarity. For those who enjoy valve saturation, fine and coarse attenuators permit progressive, musical overdrive.
Every Thermionic Culture The Snow Petrel is carefully handmade and rigorously tested in Harlow, England, to ensure both reliability and the finest sonic performance.
Features
- Extra-low noise valves with NO solid state impurities in the audio path;
- Sowter’s VERY special balancing transformers for the inputs and outputs;
- Higher than usual input impedance to preserve clarity;
- Hi/Lo and Pad switches to tailor the input impedance to suit individual mics;
- +48V Phantom power available;
- All valve Class A amplification;
- Controls include Switched Gain, from 40 to 75dB; HPF to reduce ‘proximity effect’ and ‘Air’ to add that extra clarity;
- Housed in a 2U 19″ rack mounted unit.
