Universal Audio 610 VK Racked Pair - (Vintage)

Extremely rare tube mic pres, mounted in a custom wooden enclosure, with PSU.


The Universal Audio 610 pre-amplifier is a modular unit that was originally used to create custom mixing consoles in the late 1950s and 1960s. While there was never a "610 console" made available as an off-the-shelf product, a couple dozen custom boards were made with these units, for the likes of Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra.

Bill Putnam made a number of custom consoles in the early days, and the 610 unit was the result of those designs, with a switchable line pad, low and hi EQ, and echo send. The unusual triangular shape of the 610 pre-amp is due to the fact that it was made as a modular plug-in unit to fit directly into a chassis for use on the console. Thus it was conveniently angled for use on the board, rather than being designed for rack-mounting. Very few of these units were made, and most of them are still in their custom consoles.

Today's modern 2-610, M610 (mono) and 6176 channel strips from Universal Audio all owe their heritage to the original 610 mic pre.