Vicki,
hi there. I can't comment vv 99v/Lundahl, but i can ad my tuppence worth. i have just lashed together a few mic pre's with 2520's and a number of different trannies I've had lying around. Built like an API 312(ish) but with no output transformer. Firstly, I do not want much gain, as pre is for vocals,(with very hot Nuemann U48), kick drum, toms, gtr/bass cab, or DI, and I don't neeed to be balanced (short cable runs, and fwiw, my beloved, un-balanced Helioses rool!) I tried ex-Neve Belclere/Willesden 1:5+5 (using only 1 output winding), Marinair 31267 wired 1:2 using only one primary/one secondary ala JLM1272 . . Also tried Sowter 4652 600R:600R line transformer as parallel/series, and single:single. Every combination ROOLED - BIG TIME! I cannot say in a shoot-out, whether an individual tranny was better, since each required a different amount of gain from the op-amp, so who can say if the difference was solely the iron . . . anyhows, they all sound fan-tabulous, and I am no longer a subscriber to the belief that the sound is only in the Iron . . .All my buddies(un-prompted!) thought that the sound was that of an API (me too!). . . . even though NONE used API
(ie.Jensen / Profile / Cinemag) iron. Apart from the Sowter, all the iron was . . . . NEVE!
Basicly, I honestly believe that it is merely a personal choice, and that I don't think you can go too far wrong with ANY iron. The type of music you make really shouldn't dictate too much your final choice, unless you are recording purist, clinical, classical music. I struggle to accept that I prefer the (crap!)Belclere's best of all in the final analysis. My instinct in a shoot-out, is for the Marinair 31267, since it is cleaner, BUT - in da mix, the Belclere has a certain presence that is lacking with the technically "better" option. Just to add another curveball, I am passionately in love with my Helioses, which use unbelievably small, technically inferior, weedy little Beyer trannies. They are amongst the HUGEST pre's in my armoury . . . Sorry to say that, for once, size IS important . . . and that doesn't necessarily relate to either the weight or cost of transformers imho . . . OEP's are f@@kin' cool for peanuts btw . . . .
Perhaps I haven't helped, but I think you are thinking too hard about this. Beauty is, after all, in the eye of the beholder, and I can personally recommend the following - UTC, Triad, Sowter, Lundahl, Stevens + Billington, Marinair, Belclere, Willesden, OEP, Carnhill, St. Ives, Jensen, Cinemag, Op-Amp Labs, Profile, and these are just the few I have actually used, - I mean Actually USE daily . . . .
IMHO, you can't really go too far wrong!
All the best,
ANdy P
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