Introducing the 5401: Super Duper Silk Harmonic Enhancer
You asked for more Silk. Now you’ve got it.
About 20 years ago, the Silk circuit first debuted in our original Portico mic preamps, bringing the classic sound of Rupert’s vintage modules to the modern age. Then with the Portico II Channel, we broke it out into two distinct modes – Red and Blue – with a variable Texture control, to further fine-tune this desirable 2nd and 3rd-order harmonic color. By popular demand, in 2023 the Master Bus Transformer took it to another level with Super Silk’s ability to deploy simultaneous Red and Blue Silk, with individual controls for each separate flavor of saturation.
But you still wanted more – and we love to listen to our customers.
Just one of the thirty-two custom RND transformers inside the 5401.
New for April 1st 2024, we are proud to present the 5401 Super Duper Silk Harmonic Enhancer. With sixteen distinct Silk modes, each with an individual Trim control, Super Duper Silk allows the user to add incredible tone, vibe, personality & depth to their music, and to enhance its harmonic content like never before. We’ve also included master Output and Harmonics controls to further fine-tune the harmonic density and to compensate for any added level, which may be considerable at extremely high levels of Silk saturation.
The stereo 5401 contains 32 custom Rupert Neve Designs transformers – two per Silk setting – plus an additional pair of custom transformers for the output stage. Settings include Silk Red, Silk Blue, Silk Green, Silk Yellow, Silk Pink, Silk Mauve, Silk Taupe, Silk Chartreuse, Silk Vermillion, Silk Bisque, Silk Camo, Silk Abalone, Silk Vantablack®, Silk Cow, Silk Puce, and Silk Gamboge.
The 5401 Super Duper Silk Harmonic Enhancer is now shipping worldwide, April 1st, exclusively through Rupert Neve Designs’ authorized reseller network. Each unit costs $11,999 USD / €11,099 EUR, weighs 48 lbs (21.8 kg), and ships with a pair of our new Super Silk socks.
Happy April 1st, everyone.
