1939 Collins 26C pre-war tube limiter compressor Western Electric 110A Fairchild 660

Up for sale is a near mint and extremely rare 1939 Collins 26C tube limiter in pristine, like new condition. The Collins 26C was the predecessor to the Fairchild 660 and released shortly after the first tube limiter (the 110A) was released by Western Electric in 1937. The Collins 26C was built like a tank with 7 tubes, 6 transformers (7 transformers if you include the PSU transformer) and a push-pull class A output stage. All the separate amplifier sections are transformer coupled through 6 audio transformers and feature a combination of 6J7 metal tubes for the input and interstage gain and two 6K6G tubes for the class A output stage.

I'm normally not a huge fan of limiting/compression as it has a tendency to kill the dynamics of a track, but the Collins 26C is musical, rich sounding, and almost tape-like in the way it saturates peaks and drum transients. The only limiter I've used that sounds close to the 26C is an original Fairchild 660 - but even then the 26C has a sweeter harmonic distortion profile with the early 6J7 tubes and slightly rolled off high-end that works so well with digitally recorded tracks. Unlike many limiters from the 1940's and 1950's with absurd amounts of gain the 26C has a transformer tap for a 10,000 ohm bridging input which reduces the input gain by 23db and allows you to use the 26C during mixing on a mono buss with much lower self-noise. 

This unit is in mint, like-new condition with no chassis corrosion, no rust, no modifications and all original components with the exception of a new power cord and new electrolytic capacitors. All the original carbon resistors and film capacitors tested within spec and the unit operates with extremely low noise with no audible hum or buzzing in the audio path. I can run a mono mix buss through this unit for subtle limiting and the frequency response stays more or less flat from 30hz to 15K. The 26C was made for recording/broadcast and is not some frequency limited device like some of the limiters made for AM or military purposes. Since this unit is pre-war the build quality is fantastic. The original Collins metal case, and the original manual with the frequency response plot of this unit are both included in the sale. 

Please email any questions prior to purchase. Shipping will be costly because of the insured value and the weight - this unit with the case and PSU will be at least 80lbs once packed. For a video demonstration of this unit in use go to instagram.com/folieaudio