We get this question a lot. Selecting transformers is a funny thing: You can get them ready-made, off the shelf, or they can be custom made to your spec.  We often choose the latter, but the choice is more complex than that. Let’s dive in:

Myth #1: The one transformer brand that you’ve heard of is the “best” to use in EVERYTHING

Through every single new product development cycle (22 products so far), we’ve proven this to be false. Knowing that there's no silver bullet in the transformer world, we take a simple, empirical approach: we hot swap and test every transformer available and select the best sounding model for each position (input, interstage, output, etc). For instance, our Opto Comp, ASA-6A and V-comp+ use input transformers with similar ratios, but they’re all different. This is an important part of the development process for us, sometimes it may delay a new product announcement, maybe for years. It’s not something we take lightly.

Myth#2: Transformers are the most important component and will instantly transform a bad product into a good one. 

Definitely false. A good product is the sum of all of its parts. Grabbing an aftermarket transformer and swapping it in may offer a different tonal variation, but will not magically turn it into a good, or usable device in the professional realm.

Have you ever seen crappy cars with ridiculously expensive big tires on them? (or lipstick on a pig?)

Myth #3: Vintage transformers are always better than new ones. 

This isn’t always the case, and I love vintage transformers almost as much as vintage tubes. A good example of this is the 1176 design. It used a tiny input transformer called the “Ouncer”. It’s about the size of your thumb, dinky in comparison to most vintage iron. This is a big part of the sound of the originals, no doubt, but in my experience their performance varies WILDLY between them. When developing the 76A, I was in contact with David Green from Cinemag and he had a special replica model of a UTC O-12 that he offered up for me to test out. This was based on a very special UTC O-12 from the original vintage manufacturer that was deemed to be “the best” O-12, in terms of bandwidth and saturation characteristics.

At the time I had ten or so vintage UTC and TRW O-12’s. I compared all of them, in the same build, to the CM-O12. There were only two UTC O-12’s I considered good, in terms of bandwidth and saturation, and,  in my opinion, the CM-O12 was better than both of them! In fact, it had the best characteristics of each of those two vintage transformers. Now mind you, the CM-O12 isn’t one of the “off the shelf" Cinemag transformers used in cheaper clone-type products, this one is custom-wound with a specific purpose; and they nailed it. I can say unreservedly that you are wasting your time throwing a vintage O-12 in any revision of our 76’s.

I’ve seen some other 1176 (and even 1178) style replicas advertising 1:1 circuit recreations using British transformers like Sowter and Carnhill. They may sound good and different from the sound of the US-made options for that circuit, but they are far from being vintage accurate.

(extra extra, read all about it: man throws British transformer in classic US circuit)

If I was reaching for an authentic recreation of a classic US compressor like the 1176, a Sowter input transformer would be the LAST transformer I would reach for. But if I was building a classic British circuit, a Carnhill or Sowter might be more appropriate. 

Everything should be considered on a case by case basis, of course, but this has been my experience. We truly curate every single transformer, transistor and tube selection so that every AudioScape unit you buy is plug and play, so you can focus on making killer records. End of story. Every product, from the design stage, to the build-out and final QC, is swinging for the fences.

Cheers, 

Chris