For sale is a very rare one-of-a-kind custom Spectra Sonics Sidecar mixer console from the famous Ardent Studios in Memphis TN. Estimated build year 1969. Approximately 50 Spectra Sonics consoles were built during the period from 1967-1981, for The Record Plant NY and LA, as well as Michael Jackson and The Carpenters. It can be safely stated that during this period, a majority of Gold and Platinum Recordings produced during this time were crafted on Spectra Sonics gear. All the Spectra Sonics consoles at Ardent had recorded many Gold and Platinum and Grammy-winning records including Led Zeppelin III, Big Star, ZZ Top, The Staples Singers, Isaac Hayes, Leon Russell, The Bar-Kays, and countless more. Research more about Ardent Studios to learn about its incredible history and pedigree. This sidecar mixer is 16 channels of line amps into stereo output with no makeup amplifiers (passive summing so you'll want some active makeup gain to place after the sidecar, for instance, some of our in stock vintage Langevin preamps would work perfectly for this). Echo, cue, pan, and fader per channel, with cabling already installed in the rear. The Spectra Sonics 101 amplifiers could be converted into mic pres. Vintage Spectra Sonic mic preamps fetch upwards of $2000 - $2500 per channel now (so approximately $40k worth in value alone). It's fully functional and sounds fantastic. In the last photo of the listing you can see the Spectrasonics Sidecar next to the full-size Spectrasonics desk in Ardent Studios (with an MCI board in the background soon to replace it them). Estimated year of the photo is 1977-1978. Don't miss out on this one-time chance for an incredibly unique and historic piece!
