$500 range preamps that arent starved plate

jckinnick · Post by **jckinnick** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 4:44 pm

What are some good preamps in this price range that are not starved plate?

thethingwiththestuff · Post by **thethingwiththestuff** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 4:51 pm

every solid state one, that's for certain.

jckinnick · Post by **jckinnick** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 4:55 pm

What about the Groove Tubes Brick or the RNP. Right now I have an Art Pro MPA Gold.

thethingwiththestuff · Post by **thethingwiththestuff** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 5:01 pm

google.com

type in starved plate, and learn what it means in preamp design.

b3groover · Post by **b3groover** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:45 pm

Roll your own: http://www.prodigy-pro.com/forum/viewto ... 11&start=0

PublicMelody · Post by **PublicMelody** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 9:52 am

Summit Audio: 2ba-221

You can find them used all the time for less than $500.

BTW, I don't own one so I can't comment on the sonics, but it's definitely NOT starved plate.

thethingwiththestuff · Post by **thethingwiththestuff** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 10:57 am

ok, i'll be the one to say it...

the rnp is a solid state pre. that means it uses transistors as amplifiers, not tubes. there are no plates to starve without vacuum tubes.

the concept here is that designers of cheap mic pres sometimes throw a tube somewhere in the path, and underpower it with less voltage than it should normally operate with in order to induce "tube-like" artifacts on the audio. these units sometimes even have an amber LED behind their prominently displayed tube purely for marketing trickery!

the reason you don't want a starved plate design is that vacuum tube technology actually produces very high fidelity audio, not the muddying distortion Guitar Center catalogs refers to as "warmth."

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:23 am

PublicMelody wrote:Summit Audio: 2ba-221

You can find them used all the time for less than $500.

BTW, I don't own one so I can't comment on the sonics, but it's definitely NOT starved plate.

I used to have one, and it's not bad on lots of stuff, and very nice as a bass DI.

djimbe · Post by **djimbe** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:29 am

I'm sure you could find one of the dbx Silver Series amps like the 386 or 586 for under 5 bills. I wouldn't recommend it, as I think you could do much better for your money, but those amps are not truely starved plate designs.

I hate the way they're built inside though and they're far better as "effect" amps, rather than a real "go to" box. Save yer dough and buy a Hamptone, that's what I say...

Ryan Silva · Post by **Ryan Silva** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 12:13 pm

Trident S20's About $450 each, but you have to buy them in two's.

Great Snare/Electric Guitar Pre

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 7:50 pm

2BA221, its not starved plate. It has a send between the solidstate pre and the tube. I use it to feed a comp so I can smack the daylights out of the tube. It sounds really good on guitar and/or bass. You can DI and mic at the same time. If sweetwater says $600 you can surely find it for less. I got mine for well south of that brand new. Its a half rack too.
Presonus Eureka is SS but transformer based.
A couple of my friends swear by their DBX 386/376's.
Somebody is always selling a racked PM1000 pre on ebay for $200 or so.

PS 2ba221's name is deceiving. Its only one channel. no matter how many 2's they have in the name!

xSALx · Post by **xSALx** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:59 am

I have an S20. Don't like it much. Sort of murky. I like my Altec 1589B better for that sort of sound-has more character (yes yes I know about the previous thread on Altecs, but it looks so pretty) . Oh, never mind...Altec 1589B pres just shot up to $1500 a piece.

Sean Sullivan · Post by **Sean Sullivan** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 6:01 am

You can probably find a Universal Audio Solo 610 for around $500. The Summit Audio also sounds like a good deal. Once in a blue moon the single channel Sebatron VMP-1000 show up on eBay and they sell for around $400. That's the only tube stuff I can think of. The Groove Tubes Brick as well, as previously suggested.

JohnDavisNYC · Post by **JohnDavisNYC** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 6:16 am

Electro Harmonix 12AY7 Pre is a true tube design....

j

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 7:33 am

xSALx wrote:I have an S20. Don't like it much. Sort of murky. I like my Altec 1589B better for that sort of sound-has more character (yes yes I know about the previous thread on Altecs, but it looks so pretty) . Oh, never mind...Altec 1589B pres just shot up to $1500 a piece.

Yeah, 1589b...love it.

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$500 range preamps that arent starved plate

$500 range preamps that arent starved plate

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