Chandler Limited REDD.47 Special Edition

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SKU: APA2026-01088

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36 Instalments
2 Years Warranty

Chandler Limited REDD.47 Special Edition

Free Shipping
36 Instalments
2 Years Warranty

3.975 €

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Description
Specifications

The Abbey Road preamp, built with genuine period components

The REDD.47 began life as the microphone amplifier of EMI's REDD.51 console at Abbey Road, and its character — dense, forward, with a controlled aggression through the midrange — became one of the recognisable signatures of the recordings made on it. The Special Edition is not a cosmetic variation on the current REDD.47: Wade Goeke builds each unit around 53 vintage components collected over years, including Piher, ISKRA, Beyschlag and ERO/Roederstein resistors and Siemens, Wima and Mullard «tropical fish» capacitors — the same parts found inside original EMI equipment.

What it adds over the standard REDD.47

The front panel layout follows the logic of the original REDD console cassettes and carries the new lighted EMI sign. Beyond the aesthetics, this edition incorporates three sections taken directly from the REDD.51 console: Input Sensitivity, Line Input and Bass Lift with 10 dB of low-frequency boost. The signal path remains the core REDD.47 path — EF86 and E88CC valves, transformer-balanced input and output on custom wound transformers, +57 dB total gain with stepped Pre Amp Gain from 16 to 52 dB and Fine Gain of ±5 dB.

From the REDD.51 console to the rack

When EMI designed the REDD consoles for the Abbey Road studios, the REDD.47 was the unit responsible for bringing the microphone signal up to the console's working level. It was never designed as a transparent transfer circuit. Its particular valve topology, combined with transformers on both input and output, adds density to the signal and a characteristic forward push through the midrange, which the engineers of the era learned to use as a tool rather than treat as a side effect. A vocal or an electric guitar passing through it immediately sits at the front of a mix, without needing equalisation or compression to get there.

The signal path

The input is transformer balanced, pin 2 hot, and feeds an EF86 valve. The output stage is built around an E88CC and a second custom wound transformer. Between them, gain control is split into two stages: a stepped Pre Amp Gain covering 16 to 52 dB in 6 dB increments, and a Fine Gain offering plus or minus 5 dB in one-decibel steps. Total available gain reaches +57 dB, which is enough for low-sensitivity dynamic and ribbon microphones. The output control is continuous and works independently of the gain, so you can drive the valves as hard as you like to get the colour you are after, then set the level arriving at your converter separately. The unit occupies two spaces in a 19-inch rack and its power supply is internal, wired at the factory for the voltage of the destination region.

The 53 components that make the difference

The point at which the Special Edition departs from the standard model is not the circuit design but the materials. Each unit contains 53 components from the 1960s and 1970s, either new old stock or genuine vintage parts that Wade Goeke has been collecting systematically for years. This is not a collector's detail. The tolerances, the dielectrics and the way these components behave at operating temperature differ from their modern equivalents, and that difference is audible at the edges of the frequency range and in the way the circuit approaches saturation.

What is inside

The resistors include Piher types, the sort found in old EMI and Neve equipment as well as Marshall amplifiers, ISKRA parts from early English-built amps, and German Beyschlag and ERO/Roederstein resistors that were common in European designs of the period. The capacitors include Siemens and Wima, familiar from vintage EMI and Neve units, ERO and Roederstein types, and the sought-after Mullard «tropical fish». Assembly uses through-hole components and hand soldering at Chandler's workshop in Shell Rock, Iowa, in the same way the original units were built. Because the stock of these parts is finite and cannot be reproduced, production is by definition limited. The REDD.47 Special Edition is the first product in Chandler's Super Vintage line; future models built with period components will carry the corresponding marking on the rear panel.

Input Sensitivity, Line Input and Bass Lift

The Special Edition is not limited to a component swap. The front panel has been rearranged to follow the logic of the original REDD console cassettes, and carries the lighted EMI sign that characterised many of the company's consoles. Along with the new layout came three sections taken directly from the REDD.51 console that do not exist on the standard model: Input Sensitivity, Line Input and Bass Lift. These are precisely what give the unit a wider range of use than a plain microphone preamplifier.

How they work in practice

Input Sensitivity operates ahead of the gain stage and lets you change the point at which the circuit begins to work, which alters the character of the distortion independently of the final output level. Line Input gives access to the same valve path for line-level sources, so you can run an already recorded track, a stem or a mix output through it and get the same colour at the mix stage. Bass Lift adds 10 dB at the low end and is particularly useful on sources recorded at a distance, where the natural roll-off of the low frequencies needs replacing, and equally on vocals that need more body. The front panel also carries a 1/4" D/I input for guitar or bass that feeds the valves directly, while 0/180 degree phase reverse and +48 V phantom power are selected by switches. Output level is set on its own continuous control, independent of the gain structure.

Specifications

Single-channel valve microphone preamplifier in 19" / 2U format
53 vintage and NOS components from the 1960s and 1970s per unit
Input Sensitivity, Line Input and Bass Lift sections from the REDD.51 console
Lighted EMI sign and a layout inspired by the original REDD console cassettes
+57 dB total gain: stepped Pre Amp Gain 16–52 dB plus Fine Gain of ±5 dB
Bass Lift providing 10 dB of low-frequency boost
Continuous output control
Switchable 0/180° phase reverse and +48 V phantom power
Front-panel 1/4" D/I input
Transformer-balanced XLR input and output, pin 2 hot
Hand-built in Shell Rock, Iowa
First product in Chandler Limited's Super Vintage line

Components & Internal Specifications

Circuit type: EMI REDD, valve
Valves: EF86 at the input, E88CC at the output
Transformers: custom wound, balanced input and output
Period resistors: Piher, ISKRA, Beyschlag, ERO/Roederstein
Period capacitors: Siemens, Wima, ERO/Roederstein, Mullard «tropical fish»
53 vintage/NOS components per unit in total
Through-hole construction, hand soldered
Power: internal, factory set per region (115 V / 230 V marking on the rear panel)

Performance Specifications

Channels: 1 (mono)
Total gain: +57 dB
Pre Amp Gain: stepped, 16–52 dB (6 dB steps)
Fine Gain: stepped, ±5 dB (1 dB steps)
Bass Lift: +10 dB low-frequency boost
Output control: continuous
Phase: 0/180°, switchable
Phantom power: +48 V, switchable
Inputs: XLR mic/line (pin 2 hot), 1/4" mono D/I
Output: XLR, transformer balanced
Format: 19" / 2U (48.3 cm wide, 8.9 cm high)
Impedance, frequency response, THD, weight and depth are not published by the manufacturer