MANLEY LABS WINS 2016 TEC AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
Chino, CA — The Manley FORCE has been awarded a 2016 Technical Excellence and Creativity Award, recognized for Technical Achievement in the category of Microphone Preamps.
Celebrating its 31st year, the TEC Awards are presented by the NAMM Foundation in celebration of finest in professional audio and sound reproduction. Chosen by a select panel of pro audio and music industry professionals, this year’s winners were announced Saturday, January 23 during the NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA.
The Manley FORCE is a four-channel high voltage vacuum tube microphone preamplifier incorporating proprietary hand-wound Manley Iron® mic input transformers and a 12AX7 vacuum tube amplifying stage. Each channel includes a high-impedance, ¼” instrument input as well as an XLR microphone input. As with all Manley gear, each unit is painstakingly hand-wired using silver solder and audiophile-grade components and hand-built in California.
“With the FORCE, we set out to build a mic preamp that would blow the doors off the price-to-value ratio, while retaining every single ounce of Manley quality, reliability, and integrity,” remarked Manley Labs President and co-founder EveAnna Manley. “This award is testament to our success, and to the hard work of everyone at Manley Labs. Every entry in this category is a worthy contender, and it’s an honor to be named the winners.”
Earlier the same day, in a separate ceremony, the Manley VOXBOX was awarded to the NAMM TECnology Hall of Fame. This year’s nominees also included the Neumann KM84 and Shure SM58 microphones, Auratone Sound Cubes, Eventide H3000 UltraHarmonizer, Lexicon PCM41, and Roland RE-201 Space Echo, and the Decibel.
Don Was, one of music’s most significant artists and executives, received the evening’s highest honor, the Les Paul award and performed live. Jeff “Skunk” Baxter along with Record Plant’s Chris Stone and the late Gary Kellgren became the newest inductees to the NAMM TEC Awards Hall of Fame.
For more information, visit www.tecawards.org.
