How to tell Starved plate tube products?

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jeff0633

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Hi guys. I was wondering how to tell these starved plate designs. Some companies say nothing about it, and no one else does eaither. Products like the DBX 376, isn't that tube? Is it starved plate? What about the fat man pre? Can a full load tube aamp even be fit into a single rack space unit? It just seems like there are a few 300 to 500 dollars units that say tube, yet no one ever says whether it's a starved plate design, but they never stop telling you that the Art Tube MP is one. Does dBX even make a real Tube amp? You would think that the pros would be all over companies like dBX for charging 300 to 500 hundred for a Starved plate design. At least Art is only asking a hundred bucks for their starved unit, and pros tell you how crappy they are, but you would think that the pros would get even more angry that some companies are trying to charge hundreds for starved plate designs. What are some mid priced units that are starved plate. Please expose some of them.

Jeff
 
jeff0633 said:
Hi guys. I was wondering how to tell these starved plate designs. Some companies say nothing about it, and no one else does eaither. Products like the DBX 376, isn't that tube? Is it starved plate? What about the fat man pre? Can a full load tube aamp even be fit into a single rack space unit? It just seems like there are a few 300 to 500 dollars units that say tube, yet no one ever says whether it's a starved plate design, but they never stop telling you that the Art Tube MP is one. Does dBX even make a real Tube amp? You would think that the pros would be all over companies like dBX for charging 300 to 500 hundred for a Starved plate design. At least Art is only asking a hundred bucks for their starved unit, and pros tell you how crappy they are, but you would think that the pros would get even more angry that some companies are trying to charge hundreds for starved plate designs. What are some mid priced units that are starved plate. Please expose some of them.

Jeff
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Just stick your finger on the connections to the tube. If it doesn't light your ass up or kill you, it's probably a starved plate design. :D
 
HangDawg said:
Just stick your finger on the connections to the tube. If it doesn't light your ass up or kill you, it's probably a starved plate design. :D
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That's excellent.

Looking at the size of the tranny should give you a pretty good hint. Full plate voltage takes a pretty good sized transformer. Or check the voltage rating on the power supply caps.
 
Why would "pros" give a crap either way how much companies wanna charge for a starved plate pre? Not something they have to worry about. I believe the only ART preamps that approach real tube are the Pro channel and the MPA Gold types. I think they are a little cheesy though. The Studio Projects VTB1 is starved plate. Pretty much anything where you can dial in the "toob sound" is going to be starved plate. The Groove Tubes Brick is about the cheapest real solid tube pre I know of at $399.
 
Yes, if you dial in 'tube' sound then it is starved plate. But perhaps the most obvious indicator is how much voltage is being run through the tubes. Starved plate designs run very little voltage through the tubes, while "real" tube gear puts a lot of voltage through them. So if you see tube gear that advertises 300 volts through the tubes, that is NOT starved plate! It doesn't have to be 300 volts, but any time you see voltages in the hundreds, whether it be 100, 200, or whatever, it's not starved plate.
 
scrubs said:
1) There's a Christmas-tree light behind the "tube"

2) The tube is visible (except for the BLUE Robbie, I guess).
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Yup. :D

Just about anything that tries to advertise or bring attention to the tube is going to be a starved plate. Anything that allows you to "dial in" the magical warmth will, likewise, be a starved plate. If it's got a wallwart power supply, then it's pretty much a given.
 
Reggie said:
I believe the only ART preamps that approach real tube are the Pro channel and the MPA Gold types.
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The MPA I believe puts about 48V on the plate, although my memory could be faulty. Starved, but not as bad as some of the other offenders. It's a decent sounding pre.
 
You didn't put a note saying

You didn't put a note saying that you are not responsible for any harm that may come to me by following your suggestion. I was almost killed when touching the connections on the tube as you suggest. I believe I have a huge litigation claim here. I'll soon be rolling in big money from my legal claim aginst you. You, on the other hand, will be in the poor house. HaHaHaHaha

Jeff



HangDawg said:
Just stick your finger on the connections to the tube. If it doesn't light your ass up or kill you, it's probably a starved plate design. :D
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jeff0633 said:
You didn't put a note saying that you are not responsible for any harm that may come to me by following your suggestion. I was almost killed when touching the connections on the tube as you suggest.
Jeff
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Then congratulations, you are the owner of a piece of REAL tube gear.
 
jeff0633 said:
I'll soon be rolling in big money from my legal claim aginst you. You, on the other hand, will be in the poor house.
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You can't get blood from a rock :p
 
mshilarious said:
That's excellent.

Looking at the size of the tranny should give you a pretty good hint. Full plate voltage takes a pretty good sized transformer. Or check the voltage rating on the power supply caps.
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Exactly what I was going to say. If you can't get in position to read the caps, the size should give you some indication. A 250V/500V electrolytic in the capacitance needed is going to be approaching the size of a C cell battery.
 
Either way, it looks like the only tube preamps you will be getting in the near future will be ART's after the lawsuit. :rolleyes:
 
Well now, you gotta take into account all the other gizmos attached with the price. You could say the Digi002 pres are $2000 pres.

BTW: anytime the manufacturer puts the tubes up in your face so they make sure you see them, it is a gimmick and probably not doing what you think.
 
arcaxis said:
I wouldn't say the price tag is a good evidence of a starved plate design. I took a look at Korg's TP-2 and it hints at starved plate through out, even with a $560.00 price tag. The 9vac power supply is probably a good hint.
I downloaded the users manual to browse through and in the back interestingly it states "Do not remove, replace, or change the tubes in the TP-2. The tubes are not a user serviceable part." Wonder how much Korg would charge to replace them?
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What kind of tube are they? There are some tiny tubes where they might not be starved.

Probably not, though.
 
I'm not sure. I have a tube or "toob" preamp. I takes two rack spaces, but I guess that doesn't tell me whether it's starved plate or not. It has something called a soft start circuit where the thing gradually increases the voltage to the tubes for about 2 or 3 minutes. Then a blue light comes on and it's ready to go. It's supposed to make the tubes last longer. The manual says if the unit is racked it needs adequate ventilation - no units immediately above or below are allowed. It sounds pretty decent. It has a blue face plate with lotsa knobs and switches. It's made by Pendulum Audio. Is it starved plate or full rail voltage?
 
Yes,touching the tube sockets with your finger might give you an indication of the plate voltage. But a far more accurate measurement would be to pee on it. If your tweeter' looks like a Jimmy Dean sausage afterwards....then it's a keeper!!!!
 
It's pretty damn easy. If a toob preamp costs less than $2000, it's a starved plate.



Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Light said:
It's pretty damn easy. If a toob preamp costs less than $2000, it's a starved plate.
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Uhhhh, not so much.

sdelsolray said:
I'm not sure. I have a tube or "toob" preamp. I takes two rack spaces, but I guess that doesn't tell me whether it's starved plate or not. It has something called a soft start circuit where the thing gradually increases the voltage to the tubes for about 2 or 3 minutes. Then a blue light comes on and it's ready to go. It's supposed to make the tubes last longer. The manual says if the unit is racked it needs adequate ventilation - no units immediately above or below are allowed. It sounds pretty decent. It has a blue face plate with lotsa knobs and switches. It's made by Pendulum Audio. Is it starved plate or full rail voltage?
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Aw, git outta here with that. Pendulum Audio is about as legit as they come.
Friggin' jerk with yer fancy preamp. :mad: :D ;) :cool:
 
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