Telefunken V76/80 valve mic amp

Items 055 :

1 x Telefunken V76/80 valve mic amp
Serial number : NR3093
Condition : Very good, fully working
Includes : custom adapted casing, power cable
Extra info : Reconditioned by Electric Eel, Dates circa 1950

: General information :
The V76 was designed by the Insitut fur Rundfunktechnik and built from 1958 basically by TAB/Germany (Tonographie Apparatebau, Wuppertal/Eberfeld). Engineering standard and technical quality at this time was so high, that it would be impossible to build this preamp today for its current market price. The V76 was designed for applications where the ‘standard’ V72 could not provide enough gain (ie for dynamic mics) and where it was essential to have a switchable variety of gain steps plus some selectable high and low frequency pre filtering. The circuit of the gain selector works in a quite unique way of combining variable input attenuation and variable feedback. This results in very good noise figures at all gain settings. There are 3 controls at the front panel: The 12 step gain selector (+3dB up to +76dB), a 3 kHz rolloff switch and a four step low cut filter. The unit is fully self contained, it includes its own 220V power supply and all connections as the mains supply and the balanced input and balanced output are accessible through a single 12pin Tuchel connector. The high quality balancing transformers at the signal input and output and the mains transformer are shielded with multi layer mumetal/copper technique. Pentodes Telefunken EF804S and E83F used in the V76 are common types and are still easily available.

: General information :

The V76 was designed by the Insitut fur Rundfunktechnik and built from 1958 basically by TAB/Germany (Tonographie Apparatebau, Wuppertal/Eberfeld). Engineering standard and technical quality at this time was so high, that it would be impossible to build this preamp today for its current market price.

The V76 was designed for applications where the ‘standard’ V72 could not provide enough gain (ie for dynamic mics) and where it was essential to have a switchable variety of gain steps plus some selectable high and low frequency pre filtering. The circuit of the gain selector works in a quite unique way of combining variable input attenuation and variable feedback. This results in very good noise figures at all gain settings. There are 3 controls at the front panel: The 12 step gain selector (+3dB up to +76dB), a 3 kHz rolloff switch and a four step low cut filter.

The unit is fully self contained, it includes its own 220V power supply and all connections as the mains supply and the balanced input and balanced output are accessible through a single 12pin Tuchel connector. The high quality balancing transformers at the signal input and output and the mains transformer are shielded with multi layer mumetal/copper technique. Pentodes Telefunken EF804S and E83F used in the V76 are common types and are still easily available.

: Technical spec :
The V76 was designed for Germany’s Radio broadcast only, so it is specified for exact 220V +/- 5% . Mains voltage higher than 230V increases the noise figures, heat development and reduces life of tubes. In countries with lower mains voltage (i.e. USA) a step up transformer has to be used. Power requirement per unit is only between 16 to 20 Watts, so you can run up to 10 units V72 or V76 on a single 100W step up transformer. The V76 has an impressive response from 10Hz to 35kHz , +/- 0.5 dB

: Technical spec :

The V76 was designed for Germany’s Radio broadcast only, so it is specified for exact 220V +/- 5% . Mains voltage higher than 230V increases the noise figures, heat development and reduces life of tubes. In countries with lower mains voltage (i.e. USA) a step up transformer has to be used. Power requirement per unit is only between 16 to 20 Watts, so you can run up to 10 units V72 or V76 on a single 100W step up transformer. The V76 has an impressive response from 10Hz to 35kHz , +/- 0.5 dB

: Alan's comments :
“A V76/80 microphone preamplifier is one of the key pieces in any studio collection and this one sounds exactly as it should, adding unique warmth and presence. Used in the 60s on classic albums by The Beatles, Pink Floyd and many many others, these units are highly sought today. This one has been custom housed and refurbished by Kevin Van Greene. I have used it extensively at my studio since 1996 mainly to record vocals for the ‘Unsound Methods’, ‘Liquid’ and ‘subHuman’ Recoil albums”

: Alan's comments :

“A V76/80 microphone preamplifier is one of the key pieces in any studio collection and this one sounds exactly as it should, adding unique warmth and presence. Used in the 60s on classic albums by The Beatles, Pink Floyd and many many others, these units are highly sought today. This one has been custom housed and refurbished by Kevin Van Greene. I have used it extensively at my studio since 1996 mainly to record vocals for the ‘Unsound Methods’, ‘Liquid’ and ‘subHuman’ Recoil albums”