Altec 250T3 Tracking Consolette - Custom Coil Audio Modification (Used)

Incredibly cool early rotary console! Perfect for extra tracking preamps, a cool and different centerpiece to your DAW, or as a sidecar to a larger console. Direct outs are post-fader and work well for feeding A/D converters directly. Awesome early 1960s feel and sound without breaking the bank!

The console is designed to track 16 channels of mic pres with direct outs, while mixing/monitoring 16 channels of your recorder at the same time. Since all the rotary attenuators are stepped, it works great as a very recall-able hybrid mixing environment with 8 mono, and 4 stereo inputs feeding a classic LCR or LR mix buss. While mixing, you can run your line level signal back into the console clean through peerless transformers, or run back through the 9475 amps and into the console for extra flavor. This is the same mix topology and amplifiers used in the famous Altec 9200 consoles you see at Electric Lady in NYC, and Dan Aurbach's Easy Eye Sound in Nashville.

The package consists of one main 16x3 LCR mixing console (highly modified 1960s Altec 250T3), and two custom sidecars. The "Attenuator Sidecar" contains custom input pads, line input transformers, stepped output attenuators, and routing for the 8x 9475 Mic amplifiers inside the main console. The other "8x Channel Sidecar" is a separate stand-alone consolette with 8 channels of Altec 9475 modules, with custom input pads and stepped output attenuators. The 16x input selectors on the sidecars allow you to run dynamic mics, condenser mics, or line levels into the 16x 9475 amplifiers. There's also a three position pad for taming hot levels ahead of the preamps (-6, -12, -19), and a 12 position output attenuator (1.5db per step) for trimming hot outputs.

There are a total of 23x Altec 9475 modules, 16x wired as preamps, 6x in the mix busses, and 1x as a spare/backup. There are 19x Peerless and coil line input transformers through out the setup for line inputs and monitor outputs. There are also 2x custom racked Acopian linear power supplies included, one for the main console, one for the 8X channel sidecar. All 9475 modules have been completely recapped with Sprague TE caps and re-resistored with precision matched PRP audio resistor pairs. Any out of spec transistors were replaced with NOS mil spec replacements, and the package comes with a large set of extra transistors for the life of the console. They have also been updated/modded with John Hall's (designer of the 9475/9470) original hand drawn mod notes that stabilize the amps.

The main console has its own Green formica with metal edge banding desk, and the two sidecars sit on top of two separate black 13u steel racks with matching green formica tops.

MAIN MIXER AND LCR BUSS

Main console has 16x inputs that mix into the 3x channel LCR master mix buss. Its comprised of 8x mono, and 4x stereo rotary attenuators and assign switches for the placement of the 16x inputs to L (left) C (center) or R (right) master outputs. Each of the 3x master mix busses uses 2x 9475 amplifiers. The first amp is used as a booster for passive mix make up gain, and the second as a program amp for driving the output. Each buss has a "master gain" stepped attenuator in between the two amplifiers for lots of gain staging flexibility, super clean/classic hi to yummy blown out distortion. There's also a "master attenuator" that trims all three channels at once.

Each of the 3x master mix busses have switchable inserts between the two amplifiers that are patchable on the rear break out box, and switched in and out with three pushbuttons on the front of the console. There's also a second switchable insert point that bypasses the internal first stage 9475 booster amps, and allows the use of external preamps as boosters for different flavor (basically any mic pre). The 3x Master Mix busses each have their own output for fully discreet 3x channel LCR mixing. You can also run it in "Stereo Mode" by turning the Center master attenuator fully counter clockwise. This disconnects the Center channel output and routes it to a splitter matrix that feeds it equally to the left and right main outputs, giving you standard two channel stereo out.

CHANNEL DESCRIPTION

The 8x Mono channels feed a mono stepped attenuator, and can be assigned Left, Center, or Right on the mix buss with the LCR toggle switch over the attenuator. -Each mono channel can be feed by a mic pre (9475 amp), or a Line Level input (through 15095 transformer). Routing for this is handled by the "Preamp to Mix/Pre amp to Direct" switch on the Attenuator Sidecar. In "Preamp to Mix", the preamp (9475) feeds directly to the channel attenuator, and then into the LCR mix buss.

In "preamp to direct" mode, the preamp gets re-routed to a separate direct out through a custom stepped attenuator, while routing a secondary Line Level input (15095 transformer) to the channel attenuator, and then into the LCR mix buss. The 4x Stereo channels are line input and are fed by a pair of 15095 transformers, and into the stereo rotary attenuator. Each can be routed "Stereo Left/Right" or "Dual Mono" with the mix assign toggle switches above the attenuator. "Stereo Left/Right" routes left to L-buss, right to R-buss, and "Dual Mono" routes both channels to the C-buss.

FEATURES:

• Mixer/consolette featuring flexibility of design
• Solid state circuitry throughout
• Frequency response = 0.5 dB, 30 Hz to 20 kHz
• 99 dB microphone input to line output gain
• Three channel stereo operation