AEA Stereo Bars & Arrays SMP-17 — a 17-inch (approx. 43 cm) anodised aluminium stereo bar with three SMP-S sliders and an AEA-CP coupler, designed for precise and repeatable positioning of two or three microphones in coincident and near-coincident stereo configurations on a single stand.
Standard stereo bars offer a fixed pair of mounts — functional as long as you always use the same microphones, in the same technique, at the same distance. The SMP-17 works differently: three sliders travel independently along the full bar length and lock at any point with a thumb screw. Microphone spacing changes without removing anything from the stand, each slider's azimuth angle is individually adjustable, and the engraved scale lets you reproduce a session's geometry to the millimetre. The 17" format covers the full range from tight XY coincident pairs to ORTF spacing of 17 cm between capsules, within a bar compact enough to fit in a bag alongside the microphones.
One Bar, Multiple Techniques
Blumlein on a pair of N22s or N8s — centre and two outer sliders, 90° angle, capsules on the same vertical axis. ORTF — 17 cm spacing, 110° between axes. Close-range spaced pair — sliders at the ends of the bar. The third slider adds a centre microphone to an A-B array or supports a three-mic wide-source coverage setup. The SMP-17 ships as the base bar in the AEA NUVO Stereo Kit for the N22 and N8, but it accepts any microphone with a standard 5/8" or 3/8" (via adapter) mount. Heavy large-diaphragm condensers hold as securely as slim ribbon microphones — the sliders provide sufficient clamping torque for professional-weight capsules.
Repeatability as a Working Tool
On multi-day sessions — orchestral recordings, live scoring, albums tracked in stages — the microphone array geometry must be identical from the first day to the last. The centimetre-engraved scale on the SMP-17 allows slider positions to be logged numerically and the array rebuilt in under a minute without a tape measure. The AEA-CP coupler mounts the bar to a standard 5/8" mic stand thread with no adapters and no play in the connection — vibration between takes will not shift the sliders.
KEY FEATURES
- Bar length: 17" (approx. 43 cm) — covers XY, ORTF, and close-range spaced pair configurations.
- 3 × SMP-S slider — continuous position adjustment, individual azimuth angle setting, thumb-screw lock.
- AEA-CP coupler — 5/8" mic stand mount, zero play in the connection.
- Engraved centimetre scale — session-to-session geometry repeatability without additional tools.
- Universal compatibility — accepts any microphone with 5/8" or 3/8" (via adapter) mount; standard bar in the AEA NUVO Stereo Kit.
- Anodised aluminium construction — lightweight, rigid, mechanically stable under load.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
- Bar length: 17" (approx. 43 cm)
- Sliders included: 3 × SMP-S (with individual azimuth adjustment)
- Coupler: 1 × AEA-CP
- Mount thread: 5/8" standard microphone stand
- Supported stereo techniques: XY, ORTF, Blumlein, spaced pair, Mid-Side (with compatible microphones)
- Material: Anodised aluminium with engraved centimetre scale
- Country of manufacture: USA (Pasadena, CA)
