Custom Disc Mastering/ Transfer Console (original desk from CTS Studios London) For Sale

Documented CTS provenance · Peter Harris engineering documentation · Neumann electronics · Custom four-channel Neve EQ · Marinair transformer coupling

A genuinely rare survivor: a purpose-built disc mastering and transfer console originating from the legendary CTS Studios in Wembley, London. This is not a repurposed mixing desk fitted out for cutting — it was engineered from the ground up around the specific demands of professional disc mastering, with dedicated preview and modulation signal paths, custom filtering, and cutter control facilities built into its architecture from day one.

The console survives complete with period CTS photographic documentation and the original hand-drawn engineering drawings attributed to Peter Harris — an archive that lets this desk be traced directly back to its working life on the CTS mastering room floor.

Provenance

Period CTS Studios promotional literature confirms the disc-cutting room was equipped with a custom-designed desk, and multiple period photographs show the console installed and in active use in that room. The distinctive control layout, meter section and mastering controls of the surviving console correlate directly with those period images.

Alongside the desk itself, the sale includes:

• The original Peter Harris hand-drawn system schematic and wiring documentation
• The original hand-drawn four-channel filter diagram, explicitly labelled MOD L, MOD R, PREV L and PREV R
• Further original paperwork, drawings, plans and partial schematics from the console’s working life

Mastering & Transfer Architecture

At the heart of the console is a four-channel preview/modulation mastering signal path (MOD L, MOD R, PREV L, PREV R), supported by an additional stereo tape return/capture path. Six matching transformer-balanced input paths and six Marinair LO1166/A output transformers handle the four main program paths and two tape-capture paths, with every primary input and output transformer balanced throughout.

The desk carries dedicated mastering monitoring, metering, phase, source, EQ, cutter and tape switching, along with a lathe remote/control interface and its own +24V, 20A power supply.

Neumann Electronics

• 5 × Neumann OV46D amplifier cards (two input, two output, one tape-output/control)
• Original Georg Neumann OA10 discrete plug-in amplifier modules retained on the OV46D electronics, with two photographically confirmed in situ
• A separate monitor amplifier card
• 2 × Neumann VU70 meter cards
• 1 × stereo Neumann EE66 elliptical equalizer

Custom Four-Channel Neve Mastering Equalizer

Rather than four stock 1073 or 1084 modules, the console houses a bespoke four-channel equalizer built from 16 vintage Neve B-series cards — 4 × B284, 4 × B205, 4 × B211 and 4 × B283AM — coupled through 4 × Marinair input transformers (marked E.W. T1444 and LI. 10366/5) and 4 × Marinair LO1166/A output transformers, with stepped frequency selection and dedicated channel controls. This should be understood as a purpose-built mastering EQ implementation, not an assembly of standard console modules.

Marinair Transformer Complement

Ten Marinair LO1166/A output transformers are confirmed across the complete console: four in the custom Neve EQ, four on the main program outputs, and two on the tape-capture outputs. Further Marinair coupling appears in the four-channel passive mastering filter network.

Four-Channel Passive Mastering Filters

Dedicated passive LP/HP filtering serves the stereo modulation and preview paths, with Marinair transformer coupling throughout. The original hand-drawn filter schematic, identifying MOD L, MOD R, PREV L and PREV R and the switched filter networks, is retained with the console.

Master Transfer & Monitoring Controls

• Meter-source selection: PREV IN, MOD IN, PREV OUT, MOD OUT, PU/FB, T2 IN, T2 OUT
• Monitor-source selection: MOD OUT, PU/FB, METER
• Mono/stereo input monitoring
• Normal/reverse channel and phase selection
• Dolby in/out switching
• Output, EQ and cutter selection
• Preview Offset and Relative Disc Level controls
• Independent stepped left/right Input Gain controls
• Elliptical EQ switching (OUT / 150 / 300)

Additional Hardware & Facilities

• Stereo P&G 1522 fader on the modulation channel
• Neve mono oscillator
• 2 × Neve VU meters and a stereo Neve phase meter
• Stereo NTP-177-300-2-E meter
• Four switchable quad EQ inserts and switchable Dolby inserts
• Long-frame patchbay with XLR input/output interfacing, plus rear XLR patching
• 31 documented patch cables
• Custom 50-series Neve frame and mechanical assembly
• MOD split facility for depth information at the lathe

Why It Matters

This console’s significance lies in the combination of its specialised disc-mastering architecture, its documented CTS Studios history, the survival of original engineering drawings, and an unusually concentrated complement of period Neumann, Neve and Marinair electronics. It survives as a complete, intact mastering system — not a collection of vintage modules assembled after the fact — preserving the engineering context in which every component was originally built and used.

Enquiries: sales@mjq.co.uk