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Re: OT: previous post about true inexpensive tube preamps



A quick comment on the ART Tube MP Studio Mic preamp and it's starved plate tube usage:
I opened up one of these puppies, and had an assistant (with very reliable ears) pop in about 40 different 12AX7s, 12AT7s, 12AY7's, etc. and write comments on the differing tonal qualities. These were everything from brand new Chinese tubes to old used Phillips, RCA, Radio Shack, whatever. The results were wide ranging (from very bright, hot, full, to okay, flat, to warm, dull, noisy, etc.) and had nothing to do with the brand of tube. So the tube WAS making a signifigant contribution to the tone, even if it is running in a starved plate configuration.
 
When I can afford to buy another tube pre that runs at full, hot voltage, I will make the same test and see what the difference is. In the meantime, I say "use your ears." The ART Tube MP Studio Mic preamp, at $30 from Musicians Friend, is a bargain of a preamp that also compresses/limits well, provides 48 volt phantom power and adds a very discernable coloration BASED ON THE QUALITY OF THE TUBE.
 
Just be really careful in your tube swapping - the multi-wire ribbons that connect the tube board to the main circuit board broke as I began phase 2 of my test. But at $30 a pop, I may not even repair it. I'll just buy another.
 
Douglas Baldwin, coyote-at-large
www.thecoyote.org
coyotelk@optonline.net
 
"The volume knob on your telepathy is your morality."        
- Stephen Gaskin, The Farm