Description
HIGH END U-47 STYLE TUBE MICROPHONE WITH ADDED FLEXIBILITY
Are you looking for the same great sound as in the GA-47 but with some added flexibility? The GA-47 Extended has a removable capsule head in the same format as the vintage U47, meaning that you can use vintage heads on the GA-47 Extended or one of GAP heads on a vintage U47.
It also has the polar pattern switch on the front of the microphone below the grille and an aviation style cable socket for an even stronger vintage vibe.
The standard capsule head is the GA-47 Extended HV, using a M7/K47-style vintage style capsule (our model name = S47d) with a darker tone, giving the GA-47 Extended just about the same sound as our standard GA-47 model. It also ships with the GA-47 Extended HM capsule head using the K67-style capsule (our model name = D35d) that has a brighter and more modern tone, or with both capsule heads.
Features
- High End, no compromise components and build quality
- A -10 dB PAD switch on the power supply for high SPL instrument recordings like kick drum
- Capsules selected with very tight tolerances
- All soldering points made with Mudorf Msolder Supreme SilverGold solder (Sn88, 6Cu, 1,8Ag, 9,5Au)
- Built in many details according to the vintage U47 including the polar pattern switch below the grille
- Hand Made in small series
- Point-to point wiring with silver-plated copper wire, a printed circuit board is only used for the ground connections
- Solid wood microphone box, tweed style system flight case. Every mic, box and psu has a badge with the serial number
The Neumann U-47 microphone is one of the most highly revered and sought after microphones of all times. Being a true classic, the U-47 really needs no further presentation. Due the high cost and low availability of vintage originals, especially ones in good condition, a number of manufacturers are producing U-47 clones. The selling price of the clones are covering a broad price span, several of them are sold at high price points.
Any manufacturer putting a U-47 clone on the market is bound to get the same question: “Does it sound like a U-47?”
My take is that this is the wrong question to ask, I would like to rephrase the question to: “Does it offer the classic qualities and advantages that a vintage U-47 in perfect condition do?”
The Neumann U-47 was produced between 1949 and 1965 meaning that the vintage original units are now very old and their performance do differ a lot depending on their condition. The different clones all have their specific sound character too. So, it´s not easy to say which sound is “the right one”. As always, not the least as far as microphones goes, it will ultimately be a matter of taste. "Does the world need one more U-47 clone?" Since we are now presenting the GA-47 microphone as the first product in Golden Age Projects new high end line, changing “Project” to “Premier” for this product range, the answer is “Yes!”.
After a lot of experimentation and valuable feedback from pro users testing prototype units, we did feel that it was indeed possible to bring something new to the table.
The Golden Age Premier GA-47 has been born from a lot of hard work and real world testing. The end result is a microphone with a very sweet character that should appeal to a great number of users and a microphone that can be used for the most demanding recording tasks. It has proved itself to be a great allrounder, this is not a “vocal-only” microphone.
The GA-47 is not a product that will be built in huge quantities on a big assembly line. It´s a product that is built by hand, fifty units at a time in a small workshop by a skilled and dedicated staff. It uses very high quality components all the way to achieve the desired goal, allowing me to answer “yes!” to the rephrased question mentioned above.
I believe that the level of quality and dedication that the GA-47 provides normally comes at a very high cost, also in the world of U-47 clones. To make it available to many more users, we have decided to sell the GA-47 at a very competitive price.
Bo Medin, December 2017
MIC BODY AND GRILL
- The microphone body is made of brass, the grille is made of iron.
- The grille, which is a critical component affecting the sound character, is similar to the one in the U47.
TUBE
- The GA-47 uses a NOS Telefunken 800 series super low noise pentode tube connected in triode mode in order to decrease distorsion and noise.
- This tube is modern glass derivative of the VF14M used in the vintage U-47.
OUTPUT TRANSFORMER
- The GA-47 transformer is especially designed with a 6.5:1 dual bobbin transformer by a reputed transformer factory,
- It is a replica of the BV8 transformer used in the vintage U47. It uses a high quality core material.
MICH INTERIOR AND CABLING
- The electronic circuit is uses point-to point wiring, only the ground connections uses a circuit board
- Teflon insulated, silver-plated copper wire is used for the internal connections
MIC CABLE
- The cable is specially produced using 4n pure oxygen-free copper, Teflon insulation, tin foil and 98% kitmesh, ie with a very high braided density of the cable shield
- It has a very open and smooth sound
POWER SUPPLY, TRANSFORMER AND ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITORS
- The vintage style power supply PSU uses a high power R-style transformer with a low noise level and a minimal stray field
- The electrolytic capacitors are of a high quality, audio quality type
- A simple but effective circuit uses dual-stage filtering for the filament voltage. The high voltage is precisely filtered and stabilized using a Telefunken semiconductor zener diode
- A ground lift switch is included to help solving mains ground loop noise issues in some environments
- As an additional feature, there is -10 dB PAD switch on the GA-47 Extended power supply, so that it can be used for recording high SPL instrument such as kick drum
CAPACITORS AND RESISTORS
- The coupling capacitor is a SOLEN one, made in France
- It is an axial capacitor made from MKP material with copper pins
- It has a delicate, full sound and a wide frequency response
- Other used capacitors are SIEMENS low loss polystyrene film capacitors
- The resistors are ALLEN BRADLEY carbon film resistors made in the USA with vintage and warm sound
CAPSULE HEADS
- In order to get a good consistency between units, for each production run of GA-47 capsule heads, approximately four times the needed number of capsules are evaluated in order to find capsules with specifications that lie within the tight tolerances
- The sensitivity of the front and back side of the capsules do not differ more than 0,3 dB
- The sensitivity between different capsules do not differ more than 0,5 dB
- The tight manufacturing tolerance lead to a very good consistency between different GA-47 Extended units
- The capsules are dual-sided ones, providing the GA-47 Extended with both cardioid and omni polar patterns
