A Letter From Bill Putnam, Jr.
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Thank you for purchasing the 1176LN Solid-State Limiting Amplifier.
My father designed the original 1176 back in 1966, and he was very pleased with his accomplishment.
He was also very gratified by its reception by his peers in both the recording and broadcast industries.
As a recording engineer, the 1176 was a device he himself used extensively. In making our version of
this legendary piece of gear, we have taken great care to manufacture a compressor/limiter that my
father would have been proud of. Throughout the development of this product, our philosophy has
remained clear: Stay true to the original. There are good reasons why certain pieces of gear have
become classics, and we wanted to make sure that we captured the feel and sound of the original
1176LN accurately.
There were actually many versions of the 1176 produced throughout the years. This reissue is
patterned on the highly recognizable blackface sound of the D/E versions, which were characterized by
the transformer input stage, LN circuitry, and a Class A (1108 style) output stage. Later versions
replaced the Class A output stage with a push-pull Class AB output stage, and eventually replaced the
transformer input with a differential op-amp circuit, but most engineers agree that the D/E versions
best represented the “vintage” sound that has become treasured the world over.
Most of us at Universal Audio are musicians and/or recording engineers. We love the recording process,
and we really get inspired when tracks are beautifully recorded. Our design goal for the 1176LN was to
build a compressor/limiter that we would be delighted to use ourselves—one that induce that
“a-ha”
feeling you get when hearing music recorded in its most natural, inspired form.
Developing the 1176LN —as well as Universal Audio’s entire line of quality audio products designed to
meet the needs of the modern recording studio while retaining the character of classic vintage
equipment—has been a very special experience for me and for all who have been involved. While, on
the surface, the rebuilding of UA has been a business endeavor, it's really been so much more than
that: in equal parts a sentimental and technical adventure.
We thank you, and we thank my father, Bill Putnam.
Sincerely,
Bill Putnam, Jr.
