NAMM: MANLEY: USE THE FORCE
22 January 2015
![MAN-force_[WEB]](https://www.audiotechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/MAN-force_WEB.jpg)
Manley Labs’ Force is a four-channel high-voltage vacuum tube microphone preamplifier carrying a retail price of a reasonable US2,500. Force borrows the same ‘Manley Iron’ mic input transformers from its Core channel strip along with 12AX7 vacuum tube amplifying stage operating from ‘don’t stick your screwdriver here’ 300V rails. Each channel includes a high-impedance, ¼-inch instrument input as well as an XLR microphone input. On the front, each channel features a 120Hz high-pass filter, variable input-level pad, phase invert, selectable +48V phantom power, and a high/low gain switch. As with all Manley gear, each unit is hand-wired using silver solder and audiophile-grade components, and hand-built in Cali. And what about the question of ‘how so cheap?’. EveAnna Manley explains: “We achieved this by prioritising what really matters – delivering that signature Manley sound – and by engineering it to build efficiently. We really paid attention to how it pops together.”
Price: US$2500
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