Samar Audio VL373 Stereo Ribbon

The brand new VL373 is the latest addition to the highly acclaimed Samar Audio MF65—VL37 family.

The mission statement for the VL373 was to create a ‘true to life’ stereo image and this we have achieved by placing two ribbon elements in very close proximity to each other effectively minimizing any phase distortion up to very high frequencies. The VL373 is essentially two VL37 microphones in one chassis; a genuinely high performance stereo ribbon microphone ready to capture your finest performances.

Like the VL37, the motor structure and tuning of the VL373 are based on our flagship Samar MF65, all the microphones in the range use the same components.

Another unique feature of the VL373 is our special swivel mechanism not found in any other modern stereo ribbon microphones, this allows the user to change the angle of stereo spread. The angle can be changed from 60 to 120 degrees thus facilitating a wide range of setups from big classical orchestras, where the last rows of instruments usually get cancelled in Blumlein configuration, full choirs, to smaller ensembles, drum overheads, and single instruments, recorded in stereo.

As with our other range of ribbon microphones, the VL373 comes in passive and active VL373A versions. The passive version is a proven classical design for engineers with excellent hi gain - low noise preamplifiers. The active version is designed for extremely low noise and opens up a new territory of applications, notably classical music, broadcasting, movie, and studio recordings. Because of a condenser-like output level, and due to the optimized load on the ribbon and perfect impedance integration, the active version VL373A puts much less stress on the preamplifier and cable choices, making it a perfect and very affordable solution for projects and professional studios.

As with all of our microphones, the VL373/A is entirely handcrafted and meticulously assembled using parts made exclusively in house in our US shop.

It has a Stainless Steel body and comes in a US made wooden box and anti-vibration shockproof clip.

The VL373/A high SPL handling, built in pop filter and symmetrical polar response is perfect for demanding producers, musicians and engineers in recording studios and for live sound reproduction.

Whether it is Blumlein, MS, or XY, the VL373 is ideal for stereo recording of wide spectrum of sources, from orchestra, choir, piano, vocals, violin, brass instruments, to acoustic and electric guitar, drum overheads, room microphones, among other recording, broadcast, and classical music applications.

Featuring:

• one of the kind highly innovative design incorporating the positioning of motors as physically close to each other as possible for very low phase distortions and ‘true to life’ stereo image

• unique swivel mechanism to allow to adjust stereo spread

• extremely low noise (active VL373A has 4-5dB lower noise than already very quiet VL373)

• balanced ruler flat frequency response down to 20Hz (-0.43dB) and unprecedented top end beyond 25kHz

• low noise, low distortion, made in-house amorphous core toroidal transformers

• sophisticated motor with shortest front-to-back path ever seen in ribbon microphones

• low-mass ribbon with a unique fine tuning adjustment to assure for consistency from unit to unit

• proprietary corrugation process to maintain ribbon’s integrity without special handling

 

• Handcrafted in the USA

• 5-year parts-2-year ribbon replacement warranty