Manley Reference Silver is a valve condenser microphone whose capsule is built after the classic Sony C-37A. The transducer is made by hand in the USA by Josephson Audio, and a hand-wound nickel core Manley Iron transformer sits at the output.
C-37A voicing with modern manufacture
The Sony C-37A is responsible for the sound of a great many recordings from the fifties and sixties, but finding a working example today is a matter of luck and budget. The Reference Silver reproduces its concept: a single sided one inch diaphragm, edge tensioned, with a five micron evaporated gold layer on its surface. The result is a top end that does not sting up close and a midrange with character that modern flat response designs struggle to reach.
Two patterns switched mechanically
A selector at the rear of the body changes the pattern between cardioid and omnidirectional mechanically rather than by summing signals. The valve head amplifier runs a 5670 fed from a constant current source, which holds the operating point regardless of signal level. The microphone responds to 30 kHz and the amplifier itself to 60 kHz. A maximum of 150 dB SPL at the capsule allows placement on loud sources.
KEY FEATURES
- Large diaphragm valve condenser microphone
- Transducer modelled on the classic Sony C-37A
- Capsule hand made in the USA by Josephson Audio
- Single sided one inch diaphragm, edge tensioned
- Five micron evaporated gold layer on the diaphragm
- Cardioid and omnidirectional patterns, mechanically switched
- Valve head amplifier on a 5670 with a constant current source
- Hand-wound Manley Iron output transformer
- Nickel core in the output transformer
- External switch-mode supply, 90 to 250 V
- Hand assembled in California
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
- Type: valve condenser, large diaphragm
- Polar patterns: cardioid and omnidirectional
- Frequency response: 10 Hz to 30 kHz, amplifier to 60 kHz
- Sensitivity: 7 mV/Pa
- Maximum SPL: 150 dB at the capsule
- Self noise: typically -108 dBV, A-weighted
- Valve: 5670 in the head amplifier
- Power supply: 90 to 250 V, switch-mode
- Microphone dimensions: 2 inch diameter, 9.7 inches long
- Microphone weight: 1.5 lbs
- Power supply weight: 2.35 lbs
