Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5211

The Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5211 is the 2-channel version of the Portico 511 and has exactly the same specifications. It achieves up to 65 dB of gain in 6 dB steps, plus +/-6 dB via a continuously adjustable output trimmer. The switchable high-pass filter can be continuously adjusted from 20 Hz to 250 Hz.

The in-house Silk circuit has, of course, also been incorporated into the Portico 5211: Turning the control clockwise gradually drives the output transformer into saturation and reduces the negative feedback of the output stage, thereby significantly reducing the amplifier’s linearity. To compensate, the user is treated to precisely those wonderful saturation artefacts, that silkiness and the character traditionally expected from a Neve preamp. This feature successfully compensates for the absence of an input transformer: instead, impedance matching at the input of the Portico 5211 is carried out electronically, thereby significantly improving signal fidelity, phase response and transient response.

The Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5211 is more than just a reissue or a copy; it is a further development of one of the most successful analogue designs in studio history and offers the user an impressive range of creative possibilities, from classic to clean.