Pultec MEQ-5 Midrange Equalizer

Pultec MEQ-5 Midrange Equalizer in its standard version deals only with the band from roughly 300 Hz to 5 kHz, where most of the energy in program material is concentrated and where hearing is most sensitive. Across that range even small resonances from room acoustics, a microphone or a monitor translate directly into whether a recording is comfortable to listen to. The MEQ-5 provides three independent sections working at the same time and a class A tube stage on 12AX7, 6AQ5 and 6X4.

Lifting and cutting the midrange in one pass

The three sections are independent, so you can boost on a peak curve between 200 and 1000 Hz, boost a second peak curve between 1.5 and 5 kHz, and dip anywhere from 200 Hz to 7 kHz, all at once. That is exactly what an electric guitar with too much 400 Hz and not enough 3 kHz asks for: body added below, presence added above, and the resonance between them removed with the dip. A conventional band equalizer would need three separate filters and careful Q choices to get there; here it takes three pairs of knobs on one panel.

Built for guitars, vocals and anything with a crowded midrange

Jack Douglas, who worked with John Lennon, Aerosmith and Alice Cooper, named the MEQ-5 as his go-to equalizer for guitars of any kind. The same logic applies to vocals, horns, strings, keyboards, snare and toms, anywhere the midrange is dense and needs complex contouring rather than one broad move. The ranges are deliberately limited to keep the work inside the band that actually determines timbre: 10 dB in the low midrange, 8 dB in the high midrange and 10 dB of dip. Equalization stays passive, with level restored by the minimalist class A stage.

KEY FEATURES

• Passive midrange equalizer with a minimalist class A tube stage
• Three independent sections operating simultaneously
• Low-midrange peak boost across 200 to 1000 Hz
• High-midrange peak boost across 1.5 to 5 kHz
• Dip attenuation from 200 Hz to 7 kHz
• Working range focused on the region carrying most signal energy
• 600 Ohm input and output transformers
• The same output stage as the EQH-2

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Type: passive midrange equalizer with tube line amplifier
• Low-midrange peak boost: 200, 300, 500, 700, 1000 Hz, 0-10 dB
• High-midrange peak boost: 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5 kHz, 0-8 dB
• Dip attenuation: 200, 300, 500, 700 Hz and 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 kHz, 0-10 dB
• Input transformer: 600 Ohms
• Output transformer: 600 Ohms
• Noise: below -75 dBm
• Distortion: 0.15% max at +10 dBm into 600 Ohms
• Amplifier response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz, +0 / -1 dB ref 1 kHz
• Tubes: 12AX7, 6AQ5, 6X4 (one each)