Collins 26W

Designed for applications in radio and television broadcasting and recording, the Collins 26W was popular in the late 1940's and early 1950's.

This high-quality limiter was spec'd at 30-15,000 Hz, +/- 1.0 dB. Overall gain was 53 dB max. It's compression ratio was 20/1 in dB above verge of compression. Operating time was adjustable from .1, .3, 1.0, 3.0 or 10.0 millilseconds. Release time for 90% gain recovery was also adjustable at 1.0, 2.5, or 5.0 seconds. Harmonic distortion was below 1.5% rms at any frequency and output level within its operating range. It weighed 45 pounds.

The limiter used high quality transformers and resistance-capacitance circuits to produce a ture high fidelity frequency response with low distortion and noise.