Mercury M76m/1 Tube Mono Mic Amp

Studio Microphone Amplifiers

First, Mercury Recording Equipment Co. successfully recreated the original V72s with the highly regarded Mercury M72s. Now, with the Mercury M76m, we have brought to life the V72s’ “big brother” – the V76. The Mercury M76m is a recreation of the original German designed Telefunken / Siemens amplifier module used in many European broadcast and recording desks. The V76 modules, however, are more well known as an outboard rack mounted preamp and are highly sought after by studios and engineers all over the world. Of all the V76 amplifiers, the “V76m” has always been the most desired because of its useful variable gain control, (as well as no filters intended for broadcast use). Original V76 modules have not been available new for 40 years and working vintage units have become extremely rare and expensive. Furthermore, due to its overly compact modular design, the V76 modules are now, after four decades, not as mechanically sound as they once were which causes problems sonically.

With that in mind, Mercury Recording Equipment Co. has recreated the transformer balanced, four tube per channel, high gain amplifier. Keeping the integrity of the original circuit, the M76m has open, warm tonality. After many years in development, Mercury has now built what is quite possibly the ultimate combination of vintage sound and modern features.

We made it first priority to build a modern Studio Microphone Amplifier that sounds identical to the original. Which was successful, by drawing on years of experience, repairing, rebuilding, and most importantly listening to the Telefunken / Siemens V76 modules. We did not stop there, however. Mercury took it one step farther than a “recreation”. Using our years of professional service and taking note of what modifications and features the professional recording engineers wished their original V76 modules had Mercury added a few new features that the original studio microphone amplifiers and even the best “vintage” reracks never had.

The Mercury M76m has an Impedance Select switch for both high and low impedance devices. Secondly, a Level Control (which will work as a fader as well as add another 6dB (+ / -) from the second stage amplifier) and a Output Attenuation control (-0 to -10dB) has been added for even more control, including the ability to overdrive the amplifier in several different ways, if desired. The Gain control is 0 to +60dB in 6dB increments, that works in conjunction with the Level control and Output Attenuation Control. Also, all the staple features one expects from a modern piece of equipment were added: Phantom power, Phase Reversal (Polarity) , and an amazing sounding direct input on each channel. The M76m is truly a new classic for today as well as the benchmark in Studio Microphone Amplifiers for the next 50 years!

Mic Input Impedance: Approx. 2k Suggested Source Impedance: Approx. 200 ohms Input Impedance with -28dB Pad: Approx. 4k DI Input Impedance: 2M ohms Internal Output Impedance: 30-50 ohms (depends on gain setting) Suggested Minimum Load: 500 ohms Max. Mic Signal Input Level (@ 20 Hz): +34dBu with -28dB Pad engaged / +6dBu with Pad not engaged Max. Output Level: +22dBu Frequency Response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz +/- 0.5dB Harmonic Distortion: All musically related low orders of harmonics, with no significant order above 5th. More info

With it’s stellar sound, faithfulness to the original V76, unique tonal flexibility, and helpful array of modern conveniences, the M76m could very well be the ultimate ‘vintage-style’ mic preamp available today. Pete Weiss, TapeOp Magazine Read the review