Avalon Design U5
Instrument DI preamplifier / active direct box
DI / Reamp$1,040Manufacturer list price
Specifications
- Type
- DI / Reamp
- Description
- Instrument DI preamplifier / active direct box
- Topology
- 100% discrete, high-voltage Class-A; passive 6-position tone selector
- Signal path
- Analog
- Channels
- 1
- Channel format
- mono
- Form factor
- Half-rack desktop unit (rack mount kits available)
- Powered
- true
- Frequency response
- 5Hz-100kHz +/-0.5dB; 1Hz-500kHz -3dB (input band-limited)
- Impedance (Ω)
- Input 3,000,000 ohm unbalanced; output 600 ohm balanced
- Introduced
- 1995
- Country of manufacture
- USA
Details
Controls: Variable gain (switched 3dB steps to +30dB), 6-position passive tone-bank selector, high-cut switch, active/thru selector, ground-lift/isolation switch, headphone level
I/O: Input: high-impedance unbalanced instrument/DI jack (3M ohm) plus 400W-rated speaker-level input; Outputs: 2x XLR (mic-level and +4dB line-level), buffered instrument 'thru' output, headphone output (0.5W into 600 ohm)
Notable use: Manufacturer copy: "Avalon U5 DI-preamps have been in use around the world since 1995 ... featured on thousands of the best selling (and sounding) albums." No specific artist/album named. FLAG: general marketing claim, not independently verified.
Notes: Current production model per avalondesign.com/products (2026). No phantom power (instrument/DI-only unit, no mic XLR input) so phantom_power left blank rather than 'false' guess pattern — confirmed absent from spec sheet. price_usd = Vintage King MSRP $1,040 (sale price observed $936); Avalon's own site lists no price. year_intro '1995' taken directly from Avalon's own product copy ("in use around the world since 1995") — FLAG: this is the U5 lineage/product-family claim, current revision's exact release date not separately stated. country_of_manufacture inferred from site footer 'Made in USA' link, not an explicit per-product statement — FLAG.