Korg Forums

[gdh]

My Speakeasy Stereo Vintage Tube Rack Preamp arrive yesterday, since my wife and I had backstage passes to see Genesis in Toronto I didn't put it through its paces until this afternoon. I called up a friend who mngs a concert hall and brought just the Radias, Voyager, Speakeasy and Art Tube Pac. I brought the Art just to be able to compare a very good tube pre designed for kybs to the inexpensive ART gear. I will say this that for its price (@ $60 - 100 used) the ART is a great little piece of gear but when compared to the more expensive and boutique Speakeasy there just is no comparison. The Speakeasy allowed the Radias Hammond patch I made to growl, the treb and bass controls on the front panel work very well so I felt I had more immediate control of my sound not rely on the main bd. The gain control is fantastic, as you can really add just the right amt. of tube distortion. The front of the Speakeasy is based on the Blackface Fender twin with the back on the Hammond amp for Leslies. I could use it in stereo as it has channel A & B with separate controls for each on the front panel, or put the R through channel A and Voyager through the B channel. Just for shitz n giggles I played Rush's Subdivisions with and without the pre. I won't play live without the Speakeasy from here on in. I have given the ART to my son.

[davc]

i understand and appreciate the limitations of the Tube Pac .... but i installed a pair of vintage Mullard 12AU7 ( 30% lower gain ) . they are much quieter and open sounding than the cheaper original Solvtek tubes ... i've been using the Tube Pac on the Fx send of my keyboard submixer .... to send a warm/level slightly compressed signal to various fx units ...

the Speakeasy sounds cool for stereo operation ....

but i do get a little extra warmth from my Art Dual tube Eq .... it has older GE JAN12ax7 which came in it ..!! nice choice of tubes .. ( JAN stands for Joint Army Navy, they were built to military specs and are very good tubes ).. then into the DBX DDP or Focusrite for a little polishing ....

i've always thought these type of tube gadgets worked nice for electric pianos, organs, fatter synths and strings ....

and it's nice to hear about other peoples gear experiments ..!!

Dave C.
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Korg Kronos 88 , Yam MODX , Dexibell S7 Pro , Emu Proteus 2000 , various fx pedals/racks ...

[nemmo]

I run my MC-505 through an ART and it sounds pretty good.

[gdh]

I will give the GE tubes a go, I also like to experiment with tubes so will try them in the Speakeasy as well. ---- good info on the GE's thank-you