It turns out that fewer, not more, knobs and buttons are the key to incredible sound.  In the early days of recording, the overprocessing phenomenon didn’t exist.  Records were recorded to one or two tracks, and whatever was heard in the room during the performance was heard by the public – simple as that. And it sounded great — with no post processing at all.  The key was that the sound was preserved in all its natural glory before  recording.  It’s a lot like the difference between fresh food and microwaved food.

In a preamp, we are looking for a creative tool that complements the other main tools available: EQ, compression and time-based effects.  None of those tools can make one preamp sound like another.  So let’s get to what’s going on under the hood.

The sound of the SFP-60 is more clear, present and edgy than dark and creamy, and is specifically designed to make vocals sound forward and intimate.  We accomplish this by using tubes for what they are best at – accentuating harmonics that make sound more clear and pleasing to the ear and brain in the real world.  Different tubes have different properties.  Properly used, pentodes add third-order harmonic content that contributes the the “clarity” and “bite” associated with the sounds of the great early radio recordings.  Triodes contribute more second-order harmonic components, which add a richness, or “thickness” to the sound without sounding dark.  (Note: These are subjective impressions.  People can and do debate these adjectives for a lifetime).  The SFP-60 input tube is an EF-806 pentode, and the final 2 gain stages are high-current ECC82 triodes.  12AX7s, which are wonderful in guitar amps and form the basis of many mass-marketed tube mic preamp circuits, are nowhere to be found in the SFP-60.