Thermionic Culture The Snow Petrel
2-channel extra-gain valve mic preamp, optimised for ribbon mics (e.g. Coles 4038) but usable with any mic
PreampPrice not published
Specifications
- Type
- Preamp
- Description
- 2-channel extra-gain valve mic preamp, optimised for ribbon mics (e.g. Coles 4038) but usable with any mic
- Topology
- all-valve/tube, Class-A
- Signal path
- Analog
- Channels
- 2
- Channel format
- dual mono
- Form factor
- 19-inch rack
- Rack units
- 2
- Powered
- yes (mains powered)
- Country of manufacture
- United Kingdom
Details
Controls: Gain (switched, 40–75dB), HPF ('proximity effect' reduction), Air, Hi/Lo & Pad input-impedance switches, +48V phantom
Notes: Housed in a 2U 19" rack unit (explicitly stated — the only current model with a stated rack-unit height in the fetched materials). All-valve Class-A amplification, no solid-state in the audio path; special Sowter in/out transformers; higher-than-usual input impedance for clarity with ribbon mics. No dedicated numeric spec-sheet PDF was located (only a manual), so precise frequency response/impedance/MOL figures are left blank rather than estimated. Country confirmed: 'carefully hand made and tested in Harlow, England.' Official site thermionicculture.com is currently unreachable/broken (root returns an empty Apache directory listing, product URLs 404) as of research date 2026-07-19; all data below sourced from Wayback Machine snapshot dated 2025-05-16 (and linked official spec-sheet PDFs) of the live Joomla/VirtueMart catalog, cross-checked against the current Independent Audio (US distributor) product listing, which also shows no USD pricing.