Mercenary Audio - John Hardy M-1 Mic Preamp Single Channel

The majority of John Hardy product is built to order, so be forewarned, there may be a small wait time for you to receive your mic pre. We try to stock the Hardy pres, but the demand is such that as soon as our ‘stocking’ units are available, they have already been sold. Please contact us if you require any additional information.

John Hardy M-1 features

John Hardy M1 Mic Preamps ship with the VU-1 LED meter and Jensen output transformer options as standard features. If you would like an M1 without these options, please email us.

The M-1 has a 19" wide mainframe rack-mount chassis (1.75"H x 19"W x 8"D) and can be ordered with 1 to 4 channels. There are two meter options and the best Jensen output transformer (JT-11-BMQ) is also available as an option. Additional channels and options can be easily added later up to the total capacity of the mainframe.

The M-1 was introduced in 1987 and while sonically identical to the M-2 there are a few control differences. The M-1 has a two-section gain-pot providing continuously variable adjustment in two overlapping ranges that are selected by the "High Gain" switch. (The M-2 has a 16 position gain-switch with 1% metal-film resistors providing accurate and repeatable gain settings and since the "High Gain" switch isn't necessary it's available with either a 20 ohm mic switch OR a 20dB pad switch.)

JT-16-B Input Transformer
990 Discrete Op-Amp
Dual Range Gain Control And 'High Gain' Switch
Polarity Reverse Switch
Phantom Power Switch
All Front Panel Switches Are LED Illuminated
Gold Plated XLR Connectors
Ground Lift Switch
Toroidal Power Transformer
Universal Power Supply
Chassis Ground Isolation Switch
VU-1 20 segment LED meter card with separate peak LED for monitoring preamp output
JT-11-BMQ Output Transformer

I am interested in the John Hardy M-1 preamp. I have read that it can be ordered with an optional output transformer. I have a couple of questions--Do you sell this version?

It's pretty much the only version we sell... the transformerless output is a "special order" at our joint.

Can the output transformer be switched out of the circuit?

Nope.

If this is done, is the performance then identical to the "stock" version without the extra transformer?

Even if it were possible, a transformer output circuit will sound and perform differently than a transformerless output circuit.

What do you charge for the preamp with the output transformer?

Depends on the configuration [how many channels].

And one final question--does this modification offer a significant additional color to the sound to make it, in your opinion, worth the extra money? Oops, that was more than a couple of questions...

In my opinion it's pretty much mandatory... because John uses Jensen transformers there isn't significant coloration... it is, in my opinion, one of the two or three really "transparent" sounding pre's with transformer outputs.

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