Cartec recreate the Pultec EQP1A

The Pultec EQP1A is one of the most famous EQs in the world, and with good reason. A passive, valve-driven mono EQ, it is famed for its sweetening tone and ability to cut and boost at the same frequency, thereby creating a resonant shelf. Indeed, the unit is so sought after that both Waves and Universal Audio have created software emulations of it, and with increasingly rare vintage units fetching silly money, there’s certainly room for a hardware remake.

Cartec are a new British company, and have stepped in to create an accurate remake. The Cartec EQP1A includes an all valve gain stage and valve power rectification, as well as transformer balanced input and output, and point-to-point wiring (there are no circuit boards inside). The transformers are authentic hand-wound British Sowter models, and the sealed switches and control pots are military grade Grayhill and PEC models respectively. In terms of reliability and performance, this means the EQP1A should be extremely hard wearing, and re-create the sound of the original Pultec faithfully.

The Cartec EQP1A is available from KMR, and costs £1995.