Golden Age Project Premier GA-8000

Description

The GA-800G has been replaced by the GA-8000 that uses a new  power supply. The new psu uses a FET based stabilization circuit for the  high voltage rail resulting in an even smoother top end.

The GA-8000 microphone is a tube microphone equipped with a  semiconductor active cooling system that results in a higher  signal-to-noise ratio compared to most other tube microphones. It has a  very high-quality performance and modern sound character.

The GA-8000 uses a ROGERS ceramic circuit board that has superior  insulation parameters and offers a more stable performance. The coupling  and bypass capacitors is of a very high quality, resulting in a deep  and exact low frequency performance and a delicate and transparent high  frequency reproduction.

The semiconductor active cooling and external cooling system is used  in the GA-8000 ensures that the GA-8000 has the highest possible  signal-to-noise ratio. The tube (a 6AU6) is mounted in an aluminum  casing, with the semiconductor cooling chip being attached to the bottom  of the case.
The temperature of the tube in the GA-8000 is the effectively kept down  when the GA-8000 is in it´s working state, the heat generated by the  tube is actively dissipated. The heat that the tube generates is  transferred to the reverse side of the semiconductor and transferred to  the effective outer aluminum alloy heat sink at the rear of the  microphone. This heat sink will then dissipate the heat from  semiconductor cooling chip to the air surrounding the GA-8000.

PCB board:
A ROGERS ceramic gold-plated circuit board is used. This type of circuit  board is usually used in high-end aerospace communication products, the  cost is about twenty (20!) times higher than an ordinary PCB board.

Capsule:
A manufacturer with more than twenty years of microphone capsule  production experience are producing a capsule that have a modern sound  character. The capsule used in the GA-8000 can handle a high sound  pressure level.

Tube:
In order to ensure the tube will have a long life, we are using  a NOS CIFTE 6AU6 tube from France, it has a maximum anode voltage  rating of about 300V. The tube in this circuit has an anode voltage of  90V and will generate more heat than tubes in many other tube  microphones that typically uses voltages between 35-50V. The higher  voltage used in the GA-8000 increases the heat dissipation so the  semiconductor active cooling system is an important element in the  design.

Power supply:
The GA-8000 uses a modern power supply with solid  state rectifiers and a FET based stabilization circuit for the high  voltage rail.
After a lot of listening tests comparing a tube rectifying circuit with a  solid state one, we found that we did prefer the sound of the latter so  this is what we decided to use. The additional advantage is that there  is no need to worry about replacing tubes in the power supply.

Capacitors, resistors and solder:
The metal resistors and electrolytic capacitor from Japan are  of special audiophile audio types. The coupling capacitors are Siemens  EPCOS from Germany.
The connecting wires inside the GA-8000 are oxygen-free copper wires  from Japan. The solder is FELDER silver/copper-containing solder from  Germany.

Shockmount:
Rycote USM-VB

Features:

• Designed for the highest possible sound reproduction quality.
• Suitable for vocal recording in studios and film post production houses.
• A high sensitivity of -33dB/Pa.
• Low noise and low distortion due to built-in cooling system.
• Large diaphragm capsule.
• Electronically selectable directivity, Omni and Cardioid.

Tech Specs

Microphone Type:            Tube Condenser
Polar Pattern:                  Cardioid, Omni
Frequency Response:       20Hz-20kHz
Max SPL:                         137dB (Cardioid), 140dB (Omni)
Output Impedance:          100 ohms
Signal to Noise Ratio:       76dB
Self Noise:                      18dB (A weighted)
Tube:                             6AU6
Color:                             Black

Check our Christian Svedin´s video review
Check out the MusicTech review
Check out the Tobitech review
Check out the Sound on Sound review
Check out the bonedo.de review
A user quote from A. J. in Germany:

“Just received the mic and recorded the first song with the g-800 into a  1073 and i have to say it exceeds all my expectations. just blown away  by the resolution, ultra low noise and insane crisp but smooth top end. It takes compression and eq so well its fantastic.  cant say enough good things about it.  thank you for building it ;)”

https://goldenagemusic.se/wp-content/uploads/GA-8000-side-150x100.jpg 150w, https://goldenagemusic.se/wp-content/uploads/GA-8000-side-768x512.jpg 768w, https://goldenagemusic.se/wp-content/uploads/GA-8000-side-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://goldenagemusic.se/wp-content/uploads/GA-8000-side-1320x880.jpg 1320w, https://goldenagemusic.se/wp-content/uploads/GA-8000-side-300x200.jpg 300w, https://goldenagemusic.se/wp-content/uploads/GA-8000-side-600x400.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px">

https://goldenagemusic.se/wp-content/uploads/GA-8000-psu-front-1534x1920.jpg 1534w, https://goldenagemusic.se/wp-content/uploads/GA-8000-psu-front-120x150.jpg 120w, https://goldenagemusic.se/wp-content/uploads/GA-8000-psu-front-768x961.jpg 768w, https://goldenagemusic.se/wp-content/uploads/GA-8000-psu-front-1227x1536.jpg 1227w, https://goldenagemusic.se/wp-content/uploads/GA-8000-psu-front-1637x2048.jpg 1637w, https://goldenagemusic.se/wp-content/uploads/GA-8000-psu-front-1320x1652.jpg 1320w, https://goldenagemusic.se/wp-content/uploads/GA-8000-psu-front-300x375.jpg 300w, https://goldenagemusic.se/wp-content/uploads/GA-8000-psu-front-600x751.jpg 600w, https://goldenagemusic.se/wp-content/uploads/GA-8000-psu-front-scaled.jpg 2046w" sizes="(max-width: 863px) 100vw, 863px">