{"id":19164,"date":"2024-12-24T12:22:48","date_gmt":"2024-12-24T12:22:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/masteringmansion.com\/pro-audio\/?post_type=product&p=19164"},"modified":"2026-07-02T13:25:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T13:25:17","slug":"sa-1b5","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/masteringmansion.com\/pro-audio\/categorias\/serie-500\/sa-1b5\/","title":{"rendered":"SA-1B5"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Legendary Tube Opto Compression<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The SA-1B5 is a meticulously\u00a0reverse\u00a0engineered replica of the legendary Danish 1B opto compressor. Being a popular request for many years and with many companies attempting to recreate it, we decided it was time to bring this piece of history into a 500 series format operating at the same voltage and with the exact same sound as its big brother.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the careful selection of parts and a proprietary matching circuit we have been able to make this unit an identical match to the original. The same frequency response, tone, top end and time constants were achieved.<\/p>\n

At Stam, we do many things differently, and one of them is that our ears are the ultimate decision maker. We spent hundreds of hours listening to every component and how it affected this circuit so that we could fully reproduce the silky top end and \u201cgrabiness\u201d of this vintage gem. Despite being famous for being a transparent compressor, the 1B circuit impacts a subtle but unique coloration and character thanks to the transformers, tubes and opto element,\u00a0that when combined, produce an articulate, silky and smooth compression.<\/p>\n

The Iron<\/b><\/h2>\n

Getting the correct transformers was a critical piece of recreating the tone of an original. After testing dozens of prototypes we decided in favor of 2 different recreations. Each SA-1B5 is packed with a\u00a0custom-made\u00a0input transformer in the USA and a\u00a0Swedish-made\u00a0Lundahl output transformer, both which precisely replicate the original ratios, frequency response and THD.<\/p>\n

The Opto Element<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The\u00a0opto\u00a0element was the trickiest part to get right. After auditioning many variations and hundreds of hours of measuring and listening tests we decided to request a\u00a0custom-made\u00a0opto\u00a0element\u00a0to be\u00a0created\u00a0for Stam Audio. It was critical for the time constants to be the same. We also produced a proprietary circuit to match them so that each SA-1B5 has the same attack and release times as an old 1B\u00a0comp.<\/p>\n

Added Features<\/h2>\n
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We took this opportunity to perform several upgrades to the original and added the following features:<\/p>\n

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  • A Dry\/Wet blend control (continuous)<\/li>\n
  • A 5 position side-chain high pass filter HPF<\/li>\n
  • A bypass switch<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    Hand-made<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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    Each SA-1B5 is 100% handmade by our small team in Chile. This allows us to audition each transformer, tube, opto element and capacitors so that every unit sounds exactly the same and the best it could possibly be. Handmaking analog gear is not the most efficient nor the most cost-effective, but always yields the best sound and ultimately every customer deserves that.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    100% satisfaction guarantee \u2013 if you don\u2019t love your SA-1B5, we\u2019ll refund you<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    We\u2019re extremely confident the SA-1B5 will put a big smile on your face every time you use it. However, if you\u2019ve never touched the original before, as gear lovers ourselves we understand that the only way to really know if this compressor is for you, is to put it through its paces. That\u2019s why the SA-1B5 comes with a 30 day money back guarantee. This allows you to get it into your rack and see how it impacts your recordings. If you love it (and we think you will!), great\u2026keep the unit and create amazing music with it. If not, no problems. Just send it back to us and we\u2019ll fully refund your purchase.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Technical Specs<\/h2>\n
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    • Original circuit and schematic<\/li>\n
    • Custom Lundahl Output Transformer<\/li>\n
    • Custom US-made Input Transformer<\/li>\n
    • Selected\u00a012AU7 Tube<\/li>\n
    • Selected 12AX7 Tube<\/li>\n
    • 30dB of Gain<\/li>\n
    • Custom Opto element<\/li>\n
    • Continuously Variable, Fixed, Or Fixed\/Manual Attack And Release Times<\/li>\n
    • Dry\/Wet blend control<\/li>\n
    • 5-position High Pass Filter<\/li>\n
    • Original controls and Knobs<\/li>\n
    • Input, GR and Output Led meter<\/li>\n
    • Frequency Response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz \u00b1 0.1 dB.<\/li>\n
    • Signal To Noise Ratio: >95 dB.<\/li>\n
    • Hand made in Chile<\/li>\n
    • 2U (450ma consumption)<\/li>\n
    • 2-year warranty<\/li>\n
    • 30-day money back guarantee<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Tube Opto Compressor<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":19165,"template":"","meta":[],"pwb-brand":[341],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[1032],"product_tag":[957,958,658,466],"class_list":["post-19164","product","type-product","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","pwb-brand-stam-audio","product_cat-serie-500","product_tag-compresor-optico","product_tag-sa-1b5","product_tag-serie-500","product_tag-stam-audio","first","outofstock","taxable","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-simple"],"brands":[{"id":341,"name":"STAM AUDIO","slug":"stam-audio"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/masteringmansion.com\/pro-audio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/19164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/masteringmansion.com\/pro-audio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/masteringmansion.com\/pro-audio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masteringmansion.com\/pro-audio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/masteringmansion.com\/pro-audio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"pwb-brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masteringmansion.com\/pro-audio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pwb-brand?post=19164"},{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masteringmansion.com\/pro-audio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=19164"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masteringmansion.com\/pro-audio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=19164"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masteringmansion.com\/pro-audio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=19164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}