vari-mu limiting amplifier

the complete kit

a limited “176TT” edition of one of the rarest compressors of all times

Scroll down to preorder your full kit

Preorders ending in

Days
Hours
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Seconds

Video 1: 
return of the mojo
#buildyourlegends

Video 2: 
vari-mu magic
#meetthelegend

Video 3: 
The final countdown
#areyoukittingme

Build Your Legends Series No. 4

The Vari-Mu Limiting Amplifier featuring the legendary "176 TT"

If you ask a seasoned audio engineer about iconic compressors, the 176 Tube Limiting Amplifier/Vari-Mu Compressor will almost certainly come up. As the predecessor to the legendary 1176, the 176 was instrumental in shaping the modern sound design landscape. Its signature simplicity, two large, intuitive knobs, belies the vast potential for sonic sculpting it offers, thanks to its rich array of features.

The 176 provides fast, responsive compression without sounding overly aggressive, and its release control is nothing short of exceptional. The subtle harmonic coloration from its tubes and transformers brings a warm, natural enhancement to any signal passing through it. This is a true masterpiece, capable of taming or elevating any audio source you feed into it.

What’s more, the 176 is a rare and highly sought-after piece of equipment, a true collector’s gem. We’ve painstakingly recreated this iconic compressor to be as close to the original as possible. So if you’re looking for a compressor with unparalleled sonic performance, one so rare that even big money can’t easily buy an original, our faithful reproduction kit is available for pre-order. Don’t miss your chance to own a piece of audio history.

As with other projects in the past, we will again create a ton of easy to understand and well visualized content that will make building this piece of gear almost as easy as painting by numbers.

At the end you will know everything you need to know about this famous vari-mu compressor and – more importantly – how to get this legendary piece of gear in your studio by building one yourself!

Part I

#buildyourlegends

return of the mojo

In this video, I’ll give you a quick behind-the-scenes look at how the 176 project came to life. But more importantly, we’ll hear the 176 Vari-Mu prototype in action, straight from the analogvibes studio!

 

Plus, we’ve made some sound samples available, so you can check them out in the sweet spot of your own studio monitors!

„The best sounding
limiter ever made by anybody.“

Legendary producer & engineer Richard Kaplan

(Neil Young, The Temptations, Leonard Cohen, just to name a few)

Audio Samples

00:00
00:00
  • Male vocals - raw 00:00
  • Male vocals - 176 compressed 00:00
  • Upright Bass - raw 00:00
  • Upright Bass - 176 compressed, 8:1 00:00
  • Upright Bass - 176 compressed, 4:1 00:00
  • Nylon guitar - raw 00:00
  • Nylon guitar - 176 compressed, 12:1 00:00
  • Electric guitar - raw 00:00
  • Electric guitar - 176 compressed 00:00

As a professional interpreter, I work on rockets and I deal with precision-machined parts and finishes on a daily basis. The execution (sheet metal bending, cut-outs) and the paint job is absolutely fantastic! Way to go! Your hard work means a lot to us gear heads.

Part II

#meetthelegend

3 stages of mojo

In this episode we’ll dive into how the legendary 176 VARI-Mu Limiting Amplifier does its magic – how it actually works – we’ll also talk about how much the complete kit will cost to build and I’ll show you some modifications that make this wonderful piece of gear even more versatile without altering the original circuit!!

And because I believe it’s extremely important to know how the gear you use actually works, here’s „The 3 iconic knobs“ e-paper that explains the working principle of an 176 tube compressor in every detail!

It’s the third e-paper of this Build Your Legends Series and you can just download it – as always – for free!

You’re welcome 😉

Part III

#areyoukittingme

the real deal

As always, I really had a lot of fun shooting these videos and I hope you also had fun watching them – and more importantly will have even more fun Building Your Legend.
So now, your turn – plug out and play the real thing:

Vari-Mu Limiting Amplifier

the complete kit

Preorders for this DIY tube compressor end in…

Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds

What you get

High quality chassis + every single component
(click on the + for details)

  • silk screened anodized aluminum 2 pieces chassis made to original specs
  • stainless steel press in nuts
  • hinged face plate with thumbscrews (as in vintage units)
  • engineered and made in Southern Germany
  • 100% faithful re-creations of the vintage transformers made by AMI in the USA
  • custom high end audio pots by Blore Edwards (supplier for Neve)
  • custom knobs we recreated from the original
  • New Old Stock 6BC8 tubes
  • high end audiophile Mundorf film caps Made in Germany
  • high end Tubes for the signal path
  • all screws, nuts, terminals
  • original style hand made PCBs
  • high quality hook-up wires made by Alpha Wire
  • literally everything you need to complete the build

BOIM
(Bill Of Included Materials)

plus…

…the complete Build Your Legend Series e-paper collection
(click on the pictures to open)

plus…

…the ultimate Build Guide to make building your legend almost as easy as painting by numbers

How we’ll make it happen

pre ordering together = GROUP BUY

As mentioned in the videos we can only make a new project happen together – meaning we are going for a GROUP BUY. We have done this several times in the past for all our available projects. It has proven to be the best way to bring these projects to life which otherwise wouldn’t have been possible.

  1. 2015 TUBE OPTO COMP V1
  2. 2016 TUBE OPTO COMP ROUND II
  3. 2016 TUBE PROGRAM EQ
  4. 2016 ULTIMATE TUBE MIC PSU
  5. 2017 TUBE OPTO COMP V2
  6. 2017 TUBE PROGRAM EQ ROUND II
  7. 2017 TUBE MIDRANGE EQ
  8. 2018 ULTIMATE TUBE MIC PSU V2
  9. 2018/19 VARI-MU 176
  10. 2018/19 TUBE OPTO COMP V3
  11. TUBE PROGRAM EQ COMPLETE KIT
  12. TUBE OPTO COMPRESSOR
  13. VARI-MU LIMITING AMPLIFIER

Important notes & conditions

please click on them & read thoroughly!

As we face minimal order quantities for several parts of the kit we’ll need at least 30 kits pre-ordered to make it happen. If we should somehow not reach that goal (I really don’t think so) the group buy is off and we will refund the preorders that have already been paid for. 

Global logistics are under great pressure since covid and are only recovering slowly. So we estimate rather generously.

Estimated time depending on your location:
Germany: 4-7 days
EU: 5-10 days
World: 10- 30 days, depending on your location & and on customs clearance.

These are the shipping times only – not the manufacturing lead time (see roadmap below) – just to be clear 😉

If your are located outside the EU there may be additional costs for import duty & taxes.

The HS Code for the Kit is:
Best to check with your local authorities. You can also try to check your customs here.

Please note that analogvibes is not responsible for your import taxes and duties.

With your pre-order you agree to opt in to the analogvibes newsletter so we can keep you up to date with the progress.

The already finished e-papers will be sent to you with the order confirmation. The upcoming ones follow via email once the kits are ready for shipping.
We highly recommend though, that you create an account during checkout, so you have all the e-papers in their latest versions – always accessible in one place. 

Roadmap to your Kit

For better understanding & transparency we have set up a small roadmap for you. To be more on the safe side, the timeframes for each phase are generously estimated so if everything runs smoothly we may be quicker. But although we prepared this very carefully, if unforeseen obstacles arise (and experience tells there’s quite some possibility for that) it is also possible that it may take a little longer. 

176 tube compressor
Phase I – BYLS & Group Buy

Open cart for collecting group buy pre-orders -> Oct. the 31th 2024

Phase I – BYLS & Group Buy
Phase II – Getting started

Obtain final quotes and place orders until the end of the year.

Phase II – Getting started
Phase III – Manufacturing & global sourcing

Production of the chassis, the face plates, manufacturing custom made parts & getting all parts into stock.
estimated time: 16-18 weeks -> februar 2025

Phase III – Manufacturing & global sourcing
Phase IV – Putting together your Kits

Preparing & assembling of the kits for shipping
estimated time: 2-3 weeks

Phase IV – Putting together your Kits
Phase V – Shipping

Shipping your Kit (yesss – finally ;-).
estimated time depending on your location:
Germany: 4-7 days
EU: 5-10 days
World: 10- 30 days, depending on your location & on on customs clearance

Phase V – Shipping
Phase VI – B U I L D I N G

Building Your Legend
estimated time: your call

Phase VI – B U I L D I N G
All the time – keep you posted

Of course we will keep you in the loop constantly & well informed about the progress of our project.

All the time – keep you posted

Any questions left? If yes, put them in the comments for me, so I can reply to them. Maybe some others have the same questions (praise is also welcome ;-).

All set? 

Well, then go for it!

& also let others know about our analog passion:

We hear you

Your Questions, Feedback & Comments are highly welcome…

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