A tranformerless EQ known to have an incredibly sweet top end.
The Langevin All-Discrete Pultec EQP-1A is the solid-state version of Manley's Enhanced Pultec EQP-1A (#620887), their interpretation of the historic Pultec Equalizer as originally produced by Pulse Techniques, Inc. Manley has been building these Manley Pultec EQs since 1990, after hunting down the original Pultec designer, Eugene Shenk, in deepest darkest New Jersey, to ask for his permission and blessings to produce the Manley own version of his classic piece. The Langevin Pultec units employ Manley's own simple and clean solid-state all-discrete make-up gain block to reamplify the signal after the passive EQ circuit.
EQ may be set to flat positions or bypassed entirely. All Boost and Cut controls are continuously variable conductive plastic potentiometers for absolutely silent operation and long life. Manley single-rack-unit monoblocks occupy one-third of the space of the "antique Pultecs," an important consideration for allocation of outboard rack space. And, you'll notice, that Manley added a couple extra frequencies too. The rear-mounted input switch selects 0 degrees or 180 degrees Phase Invert for the balanced gold-pin XLR input or the transformerless unbalanced bridging input (1/4" jack) may be selected in that switch's middle position.
People often ask us if Manley Pultec EQ's sound like the old ones to which we reply, "Yes! But better!" The originals had three transformers in the signal path whereas this Langevin Pultec is completely transformerless. Manley's all-discrete line amp is really clean and natural sounding. The components Manley uses today just weren't available in the 1960's. So, if you want a project with crackling carbon pots, dirty open frame wafer switches, 5% and 10% tolerance noisy carbon resistors, exposed tubes sticking out the back of the 3U chassis, etc., go pay top dollar for an antique Pultec!
Kick drum? Bring on the Pultecs! You'll soon discover the power and magic of having those individual Low Frequency Boost and Cut controls in that LF shelf circuit... Need a little clarity or extension? Try that middle bell-shaped Boost dialing in the sharpness of the boost on the Bandwidth control. Something bugging you? Ease it off with the HF shelf control. You'll see: There's no substitute for a Pultec! The Langevin unit works the same way as the Manley unit but has an ALL-DISCRETE make-up gain amplifier instead, with both balanced and unbalanced inputs and outputs — all completely transformerless. It is known to have an incredibly sweet top end.
