Talking Points About Kludge Audio Products


506 Equalizer

 - It is a general tone-shaping equalizer, not surgical.
 - It was initially designed for classical music so it is super clean.
 - It has inductors but is quieter and cleaner than competing inductor 
   equalizers because it was designed with modern inductor technology.
 - You can make aggressive changes without the sound coming apart.
 - It can be set to well above the audible band for "air band" boost or to cut
   ultrasonic noise when recording at high sample rates.
 - It is built to last a lifetime.
 - It costs $799 until the current production run sells out, then it is
   likely to rise due to higher prices on gold and tariffs on European parts.

510 Transwarmer

 - It is a board that adds a distinctive but subtle transformer sound.
 - "Classic transformer sound without the classic transformer hassle"
 - It is based on a specially-designed transformer whose coloration does
   not change as much with level as typical vintage transformers, making
   it much easier to use.  Set it and forget it.
 - It has a termination switch.  Set it however it sounds best for whatever
   you are doing and don't get all concerned you're doing something wrong.
 - Unlike vintage transformers, they are very consistent and any two off the
   line will sound the same.
 - It costs less than a vintage transformer, and is far more convenient in
   every way.
 - It is built to last a lifetime.
 - It costs $249 until the current production run sells out, then it is
   likely to rise due to higher prices on gold and German transformer steel.

508 Phase Rotator

 - It has been replaced by the 509 Rotating Limiter which sounds the same
   and is easier to use.

509 Rotating Limiter

 - It replaces the old 508 Phase Rotator with a combination rotator and limiter
 - The limiter is very fast, like a broadcast limiter, with a very sharp knee.
 - It is based on an opto element, but the opto is much faster and harder than
   a traditional 1176 or the like.
 - The limiter attack was as fast as we could make it and the decay depends on
   how aggressively you limit; more aggressive limiting gives you longer decay
   time.
 - The limiter overshoot is almost zero because the attack is so fast and it
   is so well-controlled.

 - The phase rotator takes asymmetric waveforms and makes them symmetric, so
   you can limit them more without hearing distortion.
 
 - Voices and brass instruments are especially asymmetric, but drums and bass 
   guitars can be too.
 - Phase rotation has been in use for broadcast processing for decades but 
   is difficult to use unless it's integrated with the limiter like with the
   Model 509.
 - The rotator and limiter parts are individually bypassable so you can use
   just one or the other.

 - If you want to use it for tracking you might instead consider the 511
   Germanium Preamplifier which is the same price, gives you more mellow 
   limiting and 60 dB of gain in the bargain.  But you can limit more 
   aggressively with the 509.

 - It costs $529 and is expected to remain at the same price this year.


511 Germanium Preamplifier

 - It is intended as a highly colored preamp rather than being super-clean
   like the EQ.
 - It is a modern design with a high performance IC output stage and 
   a front end based on Soviet germanium transistors.
 - The transistors are supplied to us from Ukraine
 - The topology is vaguely based off a German design of the sixties but
   it uses a typical British input transformer and was not designed to
   sound like anything else.
 - It can be hit very hard and will limit in a very classic germanium
   way rather than sounding like it's being overloaded.
 - They are noisy but they are less noisy than the other guy's germanium
   preamp and they cost a lot less too.
 - It costs $529 until the current production run sells out, then it is
   likely to rise substantially due to higher tariffs on British and
   Japanese components.  It will likely be available for a few years yet,
   given the current supply of Ukranian components.

About Kludge Audio

 - We are working engineers and we designed these things to do what we
   needed.  We didn't design them based on focus groups or based on what 
   we thought we could sell easily.  
 - We have been doing custom electronics in-house for nearly forty years.
 - Scott Dorsey, the engineer and designer, has a long history of designing
   products made by major audio manufacturers.
 - Everything is hand-assembled in the US.  Even major modules like the
   inductors and switch assemblies.