Heritage Audio has released the Symph EQ, a single rack space master bus-/mastering equaliser
With its full Stereo Asymptotic Equalizer name taken from the shape of its shelving curves, which replace the Baxandall shelving topology to which the European pro audio manufacturer turned for inspiration.
Baxandall equaliser topology was devised in 1952 in a paper published in Wireless World magazine by British audio and electronics engineer Peter J Baxandall on what would become better known as the Baxandall tone control circuit, offering a means of obtaining high and low shelves with boost and cut option without using rotary switches. An affordable circuit, it was adopted by both hi-fi manufacturers and mixing console manufacturers, mainly for its simplicity since parametric options are not necessarily needed or wanted.
Shelving with ‘surgical yet musical precision’ is what the Symph EQ promises, with a maximum boost/cut of 10.5dB in 0.5dB steps; the main rotary switch sets 1dB steps while the +0.5 button adds 0.5dB to the main reading, and the cut button turns the boost amount into cut. Six frequency choices per band are available – 8kHz, 10kHz, 12kHz, 15kHz, 20kHz and 24kHz on the high shelf, and 470Hz, 360Hz, 220Hz, 110hz, 60Hz and 20Hz on the low shelf.
There are also high-pass and low-pass filters available on dual concentric rotary switches at 12dB/octave in order to keep the sub-low and ultra-high frequency content under control. Five frequency choices – 10kHz, 12kHz, 18kHz, 22kHz and 30kHz on the low-pass, and 160Hz, 82Hz, 47Hz, 20Hz and 15Hz on the high-pass – plus ‘off’ are available on each one.
The Symph EQ input transformers are as those found in Heritage Audio’s Successor (Stereo Bus Compressor); its outputs are driven by 73-type class-A output amplifiers, built with the same Carnhill output transformers – this time manufactured in St Ives, Cambridgeshire – as the rest of the European pro audio manufacturer’s rackmount products; and boast built-in M/S capabilities.
The Symph EQ is shipping via Heritage Audio’s global network of dealers with an SSP of €1,549.00 (including VAT) in the EU and a MAP of US$1,499, US distribution being handled via RAD Distribution.
