SA-1A CL1A Emaculate Replica Stam Audio

Stam Audio SA-1A - Mint condition, ready to ship.

I’m offering my Stam Audio SA-1A in new condition. It was powered on and tested when it arrived, then safely stored. The unit remains covered by its 2 year warranty.

This is an exceptionally musical compressor, delivering rich warmth, smooth control, and a distinctive character that works beautifully on vocals, bass, and mix-bus material. Having owned and tested a range of high-end compressors, this is genuinely among the most impressive units I have come across.

The only reason for the sale is that Im changing project and need money. Ordering one directly involved a 1 year and3 month wait, plus approximately €150 in shipping fees and €400 in import duties. Here, you can avoid the production queue, extra costs, and uncertainty: the unit is available immediately for less than my total investment.

It has been packed with great care—arguably even more securely than the original shipment and is ready to be dispatched. I’m pricing it for a quick sale as I need to free up funds for my next project.

Legendary Danish Tube Opto Compression The SA-1A is a meticulously reverse engineered replica of the legendary Danish 1A opto compressor. Being a popular request for many years and it being long obsolete (10 000$ an original), it was time to accurately recreate this piece of history at an affordable price. The CL1A had different transformers, more character, a higher THD and a more pronounced top end than the later CL1B. Thanks to the careful selection of parts and a proprietary matching circuit stam have been able to make this unit an identical match to the original. The same frequency response, tone, top end and time constants were achieved. Stam do many things differently, and one of them is that our ears are the ultimate decision maker. We spent hundreds of hours listening to every component and how it affected this circuit so that we could fully reproduce the silky top end and “grabiness” of this vintage gem. Despite being famous for being a transparent compressor, the 1A circuit impacts a subtle but unique coloration and character thanks to the transformers, tubes and opto element, that when combined, produce an articulate, silky and smooth compression. The Iron Getting the correct transformers was a critical piece of recreating the tone of an original. After testing dozens of prototypes stam decided in favor of 2 different recreations. Each SA-1A is packed with a custom-made input and output transformer in the USA with the exact same specifications as the original which replicate the original ratios, frequency response and THD utilizing the same laminatorions and materials. The Gain Reduction Opto Element The opto element was the trickiest part to get right. After auditioning many variations and hundreds of hours of measuring and listening tests we decided to request a custom-made opto element to be created for Stam Audio. It was critical for the time constants to be the same. Stam also produced a proprietary circuit to match them so that each SA-1A has the same attack and release times as an old 1A comp. Added Features STAM took this opportunity to perform several upgrades to the original and added the following features: A Dry/Wet blend control (continuous) A 5 position side-chain high pass filter HPF Bypass Switch Stereo Link switch Hand-made Each SA-1A is 100% handmade by stam team in Chile. This allows us to audition each transformer, tube, opto element and capacitors so that every unit sounds exactly the same and the best it could possibly be. Handmaking analog gear is not the most efficient nor the most cost-effective, but always yields the best sound and ultimately every customer deserves that!. Technical Specs Original CL1A schematic Custom US-made Input Transformer Custom US-made Output Transformer Selected 12AU7 NOS Tube Selected 12AX7 NOS Tube 30dB of Gain Custom Opto Gain Reduction Element Continuously Variable, Fixed, Or Fixed/Manual Attack And Release Times Dry/Wet Blend Control 5-position High Pass Filter Original controls and Knobs Input, GR and Output Led meter Frequency Response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz ± 0.1 dB. Signal To Noise Ratio: >95 dB. Hand-made in Chile 2U (450ma consumption) 2-year warranty