BAE Audio is known for manufacturing high-end microphone preamps and EQs that are faithful to original vintage designs from the 70s and earlier. BAE prides itself on using high-end transformers for their products, and everything is kept as close to the vintage philosophy as possible. Not only does BAE choose the highest quality components, they also insist that everything is hand-wired/soldered using discreet electronics and not economized on a circuit board.

The BAE 1023 is completely hand wired using Carnhill (St. Ives) transformers. It has the exact same mic/line preamp as the 1073, but with significantly more frequencies in the mid and high sections. Aside from simply offering more frequency settings to play with, these expanded EQ sections also allow you to play the mid bell curve directly against the high and low shelves where they overlap. This capability opens the tone shaping possibilities in very interesting and musical ways.