HISTORIC, HUGE AND SONICALLY OPULENT VARIABLE-MU COMPRESSION

Tons of Tone

When RCA introduced its BA6A in 1951, they actually cited the nine-tube design as economical, yet “high-quality”, “employing only 9 tubes…”. But it’s all those tubes and all the iron in the transformers that made it sound so great when saturated. Not so good for radio broadcasts, but incredible for the acoustic guitars on “Tangerine” from Led Zep III! 

AudioScape’s ASA-6A is a faithful resurrection of that all-tube vari-mu heavyweight from the early 1950’s. The thickness and weight it imparts is due partly to the monstrous amount of gain it adds. But, owing to its variable-mu design, the compression never suffocates the track even with all that gain; the ratio increases only as the input gain increases giving it a gentle, soft-knee slope. But the harder you hit it, the thicker it gets. In fact, one of the modern touches we added to the ASA-6A is an extra stop on the BAL-LIM rotary switch. In the OFF position, the limiting circuit is hardwire bypassed, allowing the user to run their track through that fat line-level tube amplifier, driving it as hard they want, and adding all that thick wooly box-tone without the compression.

Gobs of Gain

On top of all that gain, we’ve added the front-panel NFB switch which reduces the negative feedback and drives the front-end with another +5dB of gain, saturating the input and output transformers, and lighting up its gain-stage tubes. You can really take advantage of the ASA-6As sonic weight with this new feature. 

Better Dynamic Control

Another modern-workflow update is variable control of the Attack and Release times. Mostly fixed in its original iteration, now the user can dial-in these parameters themselves making the ASA-6A as ripping for warming up a vocal or bass track as it is for fattening up more percussive tracks like snare or acoustics.

Vintage Vibe Meets Modern Workflow

In an effort to make the ASA-6A more versatile when used in modern recording environments, many improvements and modifications have been made to the original circuit from the 1950’s. But there is no finer example of vintage tube tone. And if you want the stock sound of the original BA-6A you can set the controls on the Attack, Release and Threshold dials to ‘stock’ and it will be the same as the original. The best of both worlds!

FEATURES & SPECS:

TRANSFORMER & TUBE COMPLEMENT (9 Total Tubes):

• 6SK7 (x2)

• 6J7 (x2)

• 6H6

• OD3

• 6V6 (x2) Matched Pair

• 5R4

• Hammond Choke

• Hammond Filament Transformer

• Hammond Dual-primary Power Transformer

• Proprietary, Custom-Wound Input, Output and Interstage Transformers, All Sonically True to the Originals

FEATURES & BENEFITS

•  NFB toggle switches between the original “Stock” mode and the new “Drive” mode, which boosts input gain by 5dB 

• 3 Time-Constant options via the Bal-Limit rotary switch: Single or Dual, or Off, which bypasses the compressor entirely, but still passes a fat signal through all those tubes

• Custom 20 position stepped Input and Output Controls, tweaked for maximum usable range; allowing for countless saturation options

• Attack, Release and Threshold controls added with stock BA-6A designations on each scale plate

• 120Hz Sidechain HPF for more nuanced triggering

• PIO AUDIO Capacitors 

• Allen-Bradley Carbon Comp Resistors in Key Areas of the Signal Path

• Authentic Vintage Replica Knobs

• Umber Gray Front Panel with vintage style scale plates

• Electronically Balanced +4dBu circuitry

• Custom stepped switches, Allen Bradley and Alpha Potentiometers 

• Custom Vintage-Styled Lighted VU Gain-Reduction Meter 

• Neutrik® XLR Input and Output Connectors 

• Dual Primary 120v/240V Power Supply (prewired for region of purchase)

DOCUMENTATION:

ASA-6A QUICK-START

ASA-6A MANUAL

USER PHOTOS:

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