Simply the Best
We
make some very good tube preamps, and we are confident that you enjoy
using them. But the ADL 600 is at another level. Rumor has it that some
people are willing to sell their left eyeball to get one. And while we
don’t accept eyeballs as payment, we do agree that the ADL 600 is the
finest tube preamp money can buy. Not the finest for the price. The
finest—period.
Designed by famed tube-circuit designer Anthony
DeMaria, the ADL 600 employs a distinctive Class A, discrete design with
three military-grade vacuum tubes per channel, operating with ±300V
power rails for maximum headroom and superb tone. The dual-transformer
design also ensures low-noise operation, with maximum common-mode
rejection.
We use only the finest components, including switched
attenuators, analog VU and LED meters, and custom-designed, proprietary
transformers. There are no op-amps or ICs in the signal path. We went
high-end all the way, right down to the last polypropylene film
capacitor.
The result is an ultra-low-noise tube preamp with a
big, warm, smooth, clear, distinctive sound. It produces big, smooth,
and articulate vocals; deep and tight bass guitars; and rich, full
mixes. It makes virtually anything you run through it sound better.
Maximum Flexibility
Beyond
superb sound quality, the ADL 600 is special because of its ease of
use and flexibility. Each of the two input channels has mic, line, and
instrument inputs, and you can select among four mic-input impedances,
so the preamp works great with any type of microphone. The high-pass
filter employs a rotary switch with three filter settings (40 Hz, 80 Hz,
and 120 Hz at 6 dB/octave) for controlling room rumble and
low-frequency noise.
The input-gain attenuator is a
military-grade rotary switch that provides 5 dB stepped increments and a
total preamplifier gain of over 73 dB. The output stage is controlled
by a fully variable attenuator that delivers ±10 dB of fine-tune trim
adjustment, enabling you to dial in the perfect gain structure for any
application. And of course, you get 48V phantom power and a 20 dB pad,
controlled by big, sturdy, military-grade switches.
We didn’t
skimp on metering either. Fast-acting, eight-segment LED meters
accurately detect fast transients and peaks. Large, backlit analog VU
meters display output levels, and a -6 dB switch lets you meter
particularly hot signals.
Technical explanations are well and
nice, but hearing is believing. Try the ADL 600 yourself and experience
the thrill of using the world’s finest tube preamp. That will tell you
all you need to know.
- 2 input channels, each with:
- Mic, line, and instrument inputs
- High-voltage, Class A, dual-transformer, vacuum-tube preamp
- 3 military-grade vacuum tubes per channel
- Input-source select
- Variable mic-input impedance (150, 300, 900, 1,500Ω)
- Variable high-pass filter (40, 80, 120 Hz)
- 8-position Gain switch
- Variable Trim adjustment for final stage
- 48V phantom power
- -20 dB pad
- Polarity-reverse switch
- Backlit VU meter (output level) with -6 dB switch (for metering hot signals)
- 8-segment, fast-acting LED metering (peaks and transients)
- > 73 dB of gain
- Input/Output
- 2 unbalanced ¼” instrument inputs (front panel)
- 2 transformer-balanced XLR line inputs
- 2 transformer-balanced XLR mic inputs
- 2 transformer-balanced XLR line outputs
- Physical
- 2U 19” rack-mountable, rugged steel chassis
- Internal power supply with standard IEC connector
- Chassis ground link connectors (lift chassis ground)