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Post by obladeeobladoodle on Jan 20, 2020 13:02:32 GMT -6
I've been sampling WA47's ever since my roommate turned me on to them. As others have commented in related threads Warm's qc is substandard to put it mildly; I got to try and send back two 47s before I discovered and opted for the original — the first fully functional WA47 as you know them today. And it was less than a new one? Sold. Unfortunately the part that retained the capsule broke in transit. The seller gave me two options, I could either return it, or, if I would trust him (which is a big ask in this day and age), he'd send it to his friend Chad over at Signal Art Electronics and have it repaired, even have Chad do his standard WA47 upgrade for the trouble. From my experience, you never say yes when the possibilities for further issues multiply, but it seemed important to him —he had just had a kid and needed the money— so I decided to not be a calloused human being and said ok.
That was the right choice. Not only does this thing sound incredible, Chad fixed every single thing in the box. With a regular WA47 I doubt he would even have had half the work, but this thing had loose sockets, dislocated light on the PSU, that busted capsule, etc. Just numerous wears of a well loved and used WA47. Nothing terrible, nothing you'd return it over (capsule aside), but regardless he went through it with the finest of fine tooth combs (believe me, I did too when I got it the first time and the second). All the while, he's communicating everything to me, keeping me up on his progress, answering questions, and giving me info about the exact provenance of this mic. I have never had this quality of service in any field. I've met plenty of people who care about the craft, and a fair number that care about service and talking shop, but never have I found them both in one person. Now this mic blows a stock WA47 out of the water. I loved the warmth and darkness of the stock ones, but they have flabby low ends that get pretty pronounced in certain roles, and their mid ranges are not as punchy as the U47 their partially modeled after. Chad's upgrade fixed all of that. The bump in sound quality and value added far exceeds the price in my opinion. And it makes sense, he developed them in the first place, so who better to take them a step further?
Has anyone else modded their WA47, or had an experience with Signal Art Electronics?
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Post by kcatthedog on Jan 20, 2020 13:29:32 GMT -6
Did you buy your mike used or new?
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Post by Vincent R. on Jan 20, 2020 15:40:07 GMT -6
I was literally about to recommend cdkelly before fully reading your post. He designed the Warm Audio WA47 for warm when he worked there. He has mods for them too. I just had his very good sounding SAE48 in here. |
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Post by chessparov on Jan 20, 2020 15:42:33 GMT -6
Chad (& Cave) both are super cool!  Chris |
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Post by hadaja on Jan 20, 2020 16:25:14 GMT -6
Yes i have bought a SAE47 from chad and although it was a little more costly then Wa47 i felt i was getting a much better product. I had had a couple of 47 incarnations from Beesneez which all suffered from breakdown issues over time and Chads 47 was head and shoulders above those mentioned mics.
The fact that the mic and everything with his mic has been inspected numerous times by Chad to be working 100% and up to his standards and will continue to work in the future is what sold me.
I hate it when i go to use a mic that i may have not been used in 6 x Months to find it not working.
The SAE47 is super quiet, sounds in the realm of a 47 signature sound, and has extra features like, high quality parts, paper in oil caps etc. These extra features and his craftmanship make me confident to buy again from Chad whatever he produces that interests me.
My only fear is that he will be in too much demand and This may have an effect on delivery times but nothing like other manufacturers we may know.
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Post by obladeeobladoodle on Jan 20, 2020 17:39:23 GMT -6
Did you buy your mike used or new? The first was B stock. I saw my error there (though really, the "B" shouldn't stand for broken), and bought the second brand spankin new. |
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Post by kcatthedog on Jan 20, 2020 17:49:29 GMT -6
Ya, you really have to trust a retailer to by B stock, they make it sound so innocuous, I look for some other statement like factory certified or something? |
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Post by Martin John Butler on Jan 20, 2020 18:11:04 GMT -6
Chad modded the WA47 my buddy Dusty Wright bougt. It sounded good originally, but now it sounds pro. Chad couldn't have taken more care and his communication was exemplary. I'd trust Chad with any mic he said he could work on.
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Jan 20, 2020 18:50:48 GMT -6
If I were going to bite on a 47 clone in this price range Chad would probably be my first call but a couple of things, first while I trust Chads judgement when it comes to the capsule I would probably find my self leaning towards a Thirsch or Heiserman even if this would crack the price point.
Second as much as I trust Chad, at this price I hold no illusion that I’m going to get everything I want from a 47, this is what would probably make me personally look at any number of mics that make no claims to be based on any of the classics. There are plenty of great used FET mics out there at or below this price point.
I’ll admit though if I had the $$ to do an all out clone of any of the classics Chad would be one of my first calls, because if he can deliver this physical and sonic quality at this price imagine what he can do with twice the budget!
Oh yeah from the conversations we have had here over the years he’s a nice guy.
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Post by obladeeobladoodle on Jan 20, 2020 22:36:41 GMT -6
Yes i have bought a SAE47 from chad and although it was a little more costly then Wa47 i felt i was getting a much better product. I had had a couple of 47 incarnations from Beesneez which all suffered from breakdown issues over time and Chads 47 was head and shoulders above those mentioned mics. The fact that the mic and everything with his mic has been inspected numerous times by Chad to be working 100% and up to his standards and will continue to work in the future is what sold me. I hate it when i go to use a mic that i may have not been used in 6 x Months to find it not working. The SAE47 is super quiet, sounds in the realm of a 47 signature sound, and has extra features like, high quality parts, paper in oil caps etc. These extra features and his craftmanship make me confident to buy again from Chad whatever he produces that interests me. My only fear is that he will be in too much demand and This may have an effect on delivery times but nothing like other manufacturers we may know. Yep, after I got my 47 back my first thought was "If this is what he can do to a mic, I really should have bought one of his in the first place." He also mentioned he's got a new brand with a new mic of his coming out, a fet47, and it looks really good. And yeah, I'm afraid of that too! |
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Post by obladeeobladoodle on Jan 20, 2020 22:39:01 GMT -6
Ya, you really have to trust a retailer to by B stock, they make it sound so innocuous, I look for some other statement like factory certified or something? Right? At this point "comes with the manufactures warranty" might as well say "don't throw away the box we shipped it in." |
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Post by ericn on Jan 21, 2020 7:54:25 GMT -6
Ya, you really have to trust a retailer to by B stock, they make it sound so innocuous, I look for some other statement like factory certified or something? Then you have to trust the manufacturer or distributor. You have to understand b- stock means it’s not new! At least you know the box has been open. I remember at one point nobody would buy a certain DAT machine as A stock because they’re was an issue, but everybody wanted a b-stock because all the b-stock had the issue fixed. There was also all the stuff used at the Olympics, now who would consider gear that had been used at a Winter outdoor venue for 2 weeks a bargain at a 20% discount? B- Stock is what it is a crap shoot, you don’t know who QC’ed it, why it was open, but that’s why it’s discounted. |
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Post by kcatthedog on Jan 21, 2020 8:32:06 GMT -6
All good. no offence to the OP, but I had the impression the first mike was new. I have a new wa47 and was very impressed with it’s build quality. I have also built Max’s mk-u47 with a Thiersch blue cap.
I had a wonky tube in my wa47, they sent me 2 new replacements. I think it’s important to remember warm stuff is built to a price point. If I recall correctly my diy kit with blue cap and better tubes and other things you had to buy came in at about $12-1399 usd over 5 years ago.
The Warm built is under a grand and Chad’s and Stam’s are much more, If you send your mike for modding your are adding what $3-400 usd including shipping. So, you have increased your cost by about 1/3rd, it should and better sound better !
I think it’s great to have options at different price then you can educate yourself and choose the right option for you.
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Post by cdkelly on Jan 21, 2020 21:08:47 GMT -6
Chad (& Cave) both are super cool! Chris It was great meeting you in person, Chessparav! Chad |
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Post by cdkelly on Jan 21, 2020 21:16:10 GMT -6
If I were going to bite on a 47 clone in this price range Chad would probably be my first call but a couple of things, first while I trust Chads judgement when it comes to the capsule I would probably find my self leaning towards a Thirsch or Heiserman even if this would crack the price point. Second as much as I trust Chad, at this price I hold no illusion that I’m going to get everything I want from a 47, this is what would probably make me personally look at any number of mics that make no claims to be based on any of the classics. There are plenty of great used FET mics out there at or below this price point. I’ll admit though if I had the $$ to do an all out clone of any of the classics Chad would be one of my first calls, because if he can deliver this physical and sonic quality at this price imagine what he can do with twice the budget! Oh yeah from the conversations we have had here over the years he’s a nice guy. I think you're right. I definitely never discourage anyone from using the best capsule they can afford, for sure. I try to be price-conscious. I developed a really good K47 replica with the small shop I work with for the baseline edition handmade Signal Art mic, which I think is pretty darn good for the money... it is tuned to work in the original circuit, its a 65v polarization capsule, unlike many other lower cost reproductions which are 80v parts and brighter, or something else will be a bit off, etc. It's the same shop who manufacture the 'HZ-series K47' for United, that Eric designed and worked with them on for us. Both came out really well. That being said, I love when folks want to put a handmade Eric Heiserman 'HK47' capsule in their mic, or a Dany Bouchard M7, or (soon to be, I think, an awesome third option if Eric makes available his own M7). I also love it when folks want to put in an historic BV8 transformer, preferably the AMI BV8R, even though the 'T47B' part that I developed with AMI for the baseline edition Signal Art 47 is really really darn good too. |
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Post by cdkelly on Jan 21, 2020 21:20:57 GMT -6
Ya, you really have to trust a retailer to by B stock, they make it sound so innocuous, I look for some other statement like factory certified or something? Then you have to trust the manufacturer or distributor. You have to understand b- stock means it’s not new! At least you know the box has been open. I remember at one point nobody would buy a certain DAT machine as A stock because they’re was an issue, but everybody wanted a b-stock because all the b-stock had the issue fixed. There was also all the stuff used at the Olympics, now who would consider gear that had been used at a Winter outdoor venue for 2 weeks a bargain at a 20% discount? B- Stock is what it is a crap shoot, you don’t know who QC’ed it, why it was open, but that’s why it’s discounted. Eric, the best B-Stock deals in the world are the ones that can sometimes be had on Sunday afternoon as NAMM winds down if you go hunting for them. LOL The gear 'had' to work or the manufacturer wouldn't have brought it, and often there is nothing wrong except a hundred fingerprints and the manufacturers didn't want to have to pack it back up and slug it back home. haha |
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