Relaunching the WA-251 custom power supply!

Over the years, we've been approached by customers who either lost their power supply or obtained a second hand WA-251 that they wanted to send in for modification but lacked the power supply. I've had to make a couple 'one off' or modified-off the shelf power supplies to fit the WA-251, as well as to make a few replacement cables. This, along with the already comprehensive modifications we do to the WA-251 power supply led us to where we are here. "What if we took this to its highest level?" Thus our own replacement WA-251 power supply was born. Using only the best components from end to end, We set out to improve the WA-251 supply in every way that makes sense, starting with a more rugged steel enclosure and using a higher quality insulated rotary switch,with a separately split output from the heater voltage rail in order to provide the relay network a proper 6.05v voltage while the tube filaments still get 6.25v, and our own custom 20ft Gotham cable fitted with IP66 connector on our end and a Neutrik 7 pin XLR on the WA-47 end. We used only the highest end components throughout, including our own custom made Sparkos Labs discrete regulator for filament supply, and a heatsink so ridiculous that the PSU now literally runs 'cold' and can run forever without producing heat. We improved upon the existing fixed discrete circuitry, adding bypass capacitors where appropriate and a low level bleeder resistor circuit on both voltage rails to ensure safety, so that the unit will safely discharge over time even if disconnected and put away in an improper order.  Aside from those improvements and using parts that will last a lifetime, this supply should provide cleaner, cooler, more consistent power and the rotary switch transitions are more buffered and with mechanical redundancies to reduce the chance of popping, noise, or dropouts while changing polar patterns.  

We're very proud of this replacement PSU and happy to add it to the Signal Art portfolio of handcrafted products. I would like to stress that this PSU is intended for those who do not have a PSU for their beloved (and hopefully upgraded) WA-251 microphone. If you have an existing PSU and it needs to be fixed, please have it fixed (by us or the manufacturer) and if you have sent in a WA-251 complete system for upgrade, then the modifications we do to the WA-251 PSU already get you most of the way there. This product is really intended to serve those who lost their PSU and need one to get their system back to working order.

Now that we have the WA-47 and WA-251 ultimate power supplies available, we’ll be checking the demand to see if there is a need to go further and produce our own take on the WA-CX12, WA-C800G, or WA-67 supplies, and will go from there to see if there is a demand for further power supplies. Enjoy!