Re: Joemeek VC7by Ted Fletcher » Tue Oct 16, 2012 10:32 pmHi Yves,I've been away from the forum for a couple of days and I'm trying to catch up......The VC7 was probably the most sophisticated mic amp we ever made..... it was always my favourite.Yes, it does sound and behave in a very similar way to the early 'bricks'. It is a class A discrete mic amp coupled from the mic by a quality transformer and with different transformer 'taps' so that the microphone can be properly matched.If you have found one I recommend that you grab it! Re: Joemeek VC7by Ted Fletcher » Fri Oct 23, 2009 6:11 pmThat's quite a rarity... I designed the VC7 to be the very best quality mic amp that it was possible to build. It's very conventional, with a high quality transformer input, and with switching to match different microphones; it was well ahead of its time. I remember the design very well.... it was a problem to keep the mic transformer in channel 2 far enough away from the mains transformer; I did it by putting both mic transformers together at the left hand end.I knew it would never be a big seller, but it was for my own benefit rather than purely commercial.I don't think we built more than 10 of those.... but it's a brilliant mic amp.Ted Fletcher Re: The Brickby Ted Fletcher » Sat Jul 04, 2009 7:20 pmI just had some other thoughts on this one.... The VC7 was a dual mic preamp with switchable impedance matching for the microphones. I designed it as an exercise to produce the best possible sound out of a variety of microphones; it was a very 'up market' piece and worked brilliantly. It was also very expensive.There is still a spec and some pictures of it on the original JoeMeek website, but it's certainly not available now! One notable feature of the VC7 was that it had a built-in M/S matrix designed for recording using a cardioid and a figure 8 microphone to achieve a complete stereo image from a single point. The thinking was not original, but it certainly led to my present work in amplifier and loudspeaker design.Not enough use is made of that system in recording.... it's possible to achieve superb depth and realism with no possibility of 'hole in the middle' problems.  There you have it folks, from The Man himself, on just how incredible, feature-packed, and rare this unit actually is. You can check out his forum at Tfpro , where he still today personably answers questions about all the great gear he designed and built during his time as owner of the Original Joe Meek brand. He also still repairs the Original Joe Meek gear for an amazingly flat fee of 25 pounds plus shipping. That's truly unheard of from a company in today's age and is a true testament of this man to the products he designed and built!His original "Brick" preamp has become the stuff of legend and coveted among top producers and engineers. It is very rare you find one for sale, and I've seen it sell for over $2000 here on eBay. Ted says there is only around 56 of the original "Bricks", so finding 2 "Bricks" for a stereo pair can get very expensive and certainly time consuming. Here is the dual channel version with more quality upgrades and features, and there is only 10 of these in existence! As stated before, this unit is in Excellent Condition, both operational and physical. The only minor flaw is the green LED for channel 2 has recessed some into the unit, it is still fully functional and perfectly seen when engaged. There is hardly any rack rash or scratches on the unit. As far as the sound, "WOW" is what first comes to mind. Your mics have never sounded sooo goood. Ted really knew what he was going after with this one, watch out vintage Neve and SSL, this unit is a Monster!