Up for sale is a pair of extremely rare Siemens ELA 75-15 Universal Equalizers for mastering or any application where stereo matching and/or the highest grade components are required.
Unknown to most the 75-15 was built to the highest standard possible with gold plated switches, all gold plated PCB traces/pads(!), gold plated switches, fully modular, fully discrete, transformer balanced, 1.25% film capacitors and 1% metal film resistors throughout. I've never seen any other piece of vintage audio equipment manufactured with gold plated PCB traces/pads. This was Siemens "money is no object" response to the excellent Klein + Hummel UE100 and UE1000 mastering equalizers. When I discussed the 75-15 with John Peluso, of Peluso Microphones he said "The EQ is Fantastic one of the best sounding units I have ever heard in my 30 + years in Pro Audio." Less than 20 of the 75-15 Universal Equalizers were manufactured and one is featured at the Museum of the Science and Technology in Milan.
According to John Peluso most of the early Siemens ELA 75 series modules were designed by Dick Swettenham of Helios - and operate off the same -24VDC (positive ground) as the early Helios modules/consoles. From the manual:
"The difference in the levels of two different filter units does not exceed +/-1 dB and the frequency accuracy is in the order of 1%. The filter units can therefore be used in stereophonic chains since they make it possible to apply the same correction in both stereo channels by identical settings of the controls of the two filters used. In view of the characteristics mentioned, the filter will serve well for measurements in which tolerances must be kept as small as possible." These particular 75-15's are in excellent condition with 220V AC plugs, and XLR I/O. There are a few extremely minor cosmetic blemishes on the panels, and a couple of the metal handles are slightly bent - but there is nothing that detracts from the overall appearance or functionality of the units. These have not been modified or altered in any way but have been recapped with new high quality 105 degree electrolytic capacitors, all EQ sections calibrated (0db gain/attenuation = 0db gain/loss), matched for gain (0.00 dBu input = 0.00 dBu output), tested for phase/thd/noise with Audio Precision test equipment and are both fully functional. The only difference between the two units is one unit has a "440" frequency button and the other has a "400" frequency button on the low-mid band EQ section. These test out exactly the same, match for gain perfectly and are ready to use for mastering. Both units test extremely flat (+/-.25db) from 20hz-40Khz with no noticeable variation in frequency response between the two units. Please note the AC input plugs are for 220VAC only, so if you are located in the US you will need a step-up transformer for these to work properly. Please ask any questions prior to purchase. Shipping is fairly high due to the weight and insured value. Thank you!
