Heritage Audio 8173 Microphone Preamplifier Module

The best 80 Series sculpting tool.
Leverage your 80 Series´s investment with the Heritage Audio 8173.

The 8173 module is a Heritage Audio unique design, which has been engineered to fill input module slots in the restoration process of vintage 80 Series sound mixing consoles.

It is also compatible with the Heritage Audio FRAME 8 and RACK 2 powered enclosures, and with any other rack, console or enclosure that follows the same mechanical and electrical protocol.

Don’t settle with the same old song, the 8173 offers what the vintage modules do plus more.
The 8173 is a 73-sized module, adding the 81 mid bands to the 73 classic design, creating an equalizer that is really hard to beat. It features a Baxandall type high shelf band, but with the addition of a high frequency selector switch offering 3 different frequencies instead of the fixed one at 12 kHz. The result is a 4-band tone monster that combines the best features of the vintage modules in an incredibly smart and tasteful way, at a price lower than most current offerings.

Vintage connoisseurs and plug-in users already know how cool the 81 mid bands are for sculpting sounds in a musical way. This level of flexibility has never been present in a 73 style module.

To get the desired results it´s necessary to use the right components.
Special care has been taken in sourcing the correct components that not only ensure that performance will be as close to a 1970´s unit as possible nowadays, but also gives your top-class studio the look and feel it deserves.

Custom polystyrene and film capacitors have been developed to closely match the Siemens styroflex and Mullard Mustard types of the late 60s and early 70s.

Carnhill input transformers are hand wound at its Oxford factory exclusively for Heritage Audio, enclosed in vintage correct green metal cases for the ultimate in detail nailing. The vintage character is indeed guaranteed and you won´t find them in any other brand´s products.

The Heritage Audio 8173 is entirely handmade and hand wired by only our most experienced technicians in our facilities in Spain, employing the same wiring and soldering techniques of the 70s. All its circuitry is held on 5 plug-in cards.

• Class A mic preamp with 80 dB of gain, plus a sweet-sounding 4-band EQ.
• Class A line-level amplifier with 10 dB of gain.
• Equalizer’s mid-bands cover nearly the entire audible frequency range.
• Low and high shelving EQs with Baxandall curves for smooth, natural-sounding response.
• High-pass filter, switchable between 50 Hz, 80 Hz, and 300 Hz.
• +48 V phantom power is supplied by your 80 Series chassis.
• Maximum output: Greater than +26 dBu into 600 Ω.
• THD: Less than 0.025 % at 1 kHz, Less than 0.05 % at 100 Hz.
• Frequency response: 20 Hz (+0.3 dB) to 20 kHz (-0.2 dB).
• Maximum Gain: Slightly greater than 80 dB.
• Noise: Less than -100 dBu.
• Power consumption: Less than 110 mA @24 V DC.
• Dimensions (W x H x L): 45 mm x 224 mm x 304 mm. (Standard Series 80 Module)