Talk:Milbert Amplifiers

P3 Technology
P3 is NOT a form of phantom power, and it is unlikely that the patent would survive a legal challenge, as in fact there is nothing new at all in it. (That goes for a vast number of patents, especially in the US, because the patent system is broken, but that debate is best handled somewhere else, just suffice it to say that many bogus patents have been granted, and usually survive unless someone puts up a lot of money to mount a legal challenge. IANAL, so I can't be quiate sure about this, or any other patent, but my engineering instinct says that this as an exceedingly trivial "invention", and in patent legalese "obvious to anyone skilled in the art". It is also very unlikely to be new and original.) I rather suspect that the information has been added by someone with a vested interest, considering that there is a direct hyperlink to the Milbert web site. I suggest that, in the interests of fairness, we have some sensible discussion here, before doing anything too drastic about it. I would like to get rid of the hyperlink, and de-emphasise the alleged patent, without seeking to remove reference to the product itself. But let us stick to the technical aspects and the way in which we expect Wikipedia to work. I really want to see what other seasoned Wikipedians think before doing anything here. There is nothing "wrong" with the technology, just the way in which it is depicted here at present, and Milbert are only doing what other businesses do, so we should not do anything which discredits them. But, as it stands, I feel that it is not quite within the spirit of Wikipedia to leave it as is. Tiger99 (talk) 11:09, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for your opinion, engineering and legal judgments, and broad summary of the patent system. P3 Technology, however "obvious" you assert it was, did not exist in patent nor in commerce, before USPTO granted patent and then trademark. In the spirit of wikipedia, please provide documentation showing otherwise. TubeGod (talk) 12:23, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

4 Aug 2015 :: Tiger99 account has vanished from this site. What a shock. TubeGod (talk) 08:58, 3 August 2015 (UTC)

Against the effort to delete long-standing but "non-notable" small American manufacturer entries from Wikipedia
In the past month (Aug 2015), the entry for the David Berning Company, one of the oldest American audio manufacturers, has been completely eradicated from wikipedia, a victim of "speedy deletion", without warning or discussion. The Milbert Amplifiers entry survived an earlier attempted deletion in 2006, and the latest attempted deletion (Aug 2015) corresponds with an attempt to also remove the entry for Conrad-Johnson, another decades-old American audio manufacturing company. One was unlucky. Two was coincidence. Three is pattern. Has anyone else been targeted? -- Michael Milbert -- mike@milbert.com -- TubeGod (talk) 08:01, 26 August 2015 (UTC)

Below is Milbert Amplifiers wikipedia article archive from here, per "Any references lost in the trimdown which are reliable sources should be copied to the article's talk page for possible future use." by davidwr on AfD #2 2015-08 -- posted here on & by TubeGod (talk) 07:47, 26 August 2015 (UTC)

Milbert Amplifiers is a company which, in collaboration with The David Berning Company, manufactures vacuum-tube audio equipment using various patented technologies and high voltage SMPS power supplies. Its mobile vacuum-tube audio amplifiers were introduced in 1986. Milbert Amplifiers also produces vacuum-tube audio equipment for guitarists and musicians using unique impedance conversion that operates vacuum tubes differently than traditional methods.


 * That's a patently ridiculous claim! You removed most of the article in an attempt to salvage it after it was pointed out that the content was completely inappropriate. Company owners shouldn't be profiling their own businesses on Wikipedia at such a great length. Time to step back and let some neutral, non-involved editors to work on it instead? Sionk (talk) 18:09, 8 September 2015 (UTC)


 * That's not a "claim", it's a fact. TubeGod (talk) 19:46, 8 September 2015 (UTC)


 * We welcome the editing. But all that's ever been proposed is deletion. We wouldn't care much, except that google ranks this wikipedia thing very highly. TubeGod (talk) 19:48, 8 September 2015 (UTC)

BaM - Berning and Milbert Mobile Tube Amplifier
Introduced in 1986, Milbert's initial product offering, the BaM-230, a version of which is still currently produced (BaM-235ab), is based on David Berning's EA-230 high-end home audio amplifier, but designed and built for 12-volt automotive and mobile use. The basic BaM design is in continuous production for longer than any other car audio product. Jeff Dorgay, writing in The Robb Report magazine, identified the Milbert Amplifiers BaM-235 mobile tube amplifier as "the Holy Grail of auto sound".

TC - Tube Preamp / Subwoofer Crossover
In 1992, Milbert Amplifiers began producing the first in a series of electronic audio-frequency crossover devices. These devices, built to top quality and performance standards, are made to work with any audio equipment and to complement the BaM tube amplifiers in higher-power audio systems.

Liquid Mobile Tube Amplifier
In 2013 Milbert began shipping the Liquid mobile tube amplifier, an amplifier closely based on the design of its original BaM-230.

GAGA - The Guitar Artists' Guitar Amplifier
In July, 2009, Milbert introduced at the Nashville NAMM Show its GAGA (Guitar Artists' Guitar Amplifier), a nearly weightless, fifty-watt guitar and instrument vacuum-tube amplifier. Using patented technologies, GAGA eliminates the traditional audio output transformer and all traditional power supply magnetics. GAGA almost perfectly (and bi-directionally) mates power tubes, in any combinations, and speaker loads, resulting in transfer characteristics being—for the first time in musical instrument amplification—accurately and fully conveyed between tubes and speaker(s).

GAGA amplifiers are the first musical amplifiers to include patented P3 Technology (phantom power for guitar effect pedals) as a standard feature.

The GAGA 90 production model became available in November, 2011. GAGA D-60, a domestic version offering 120V/240V mains and lower audio power, was announced in April 2012, followed by GAGA D-30 in October, 2012. A 15-watt version is also available.

Writing in Vintage Guitar Magazine (January, 2014), Rich Maloof reviewed the 60-watt GAGA D-60: "'Lightweight and featuring an innovative, transformerless design, GAGA ... may even be unparalleled in matching versatility with satisfying tube tone. ... Well beyond [its] capacity for emulation is an opportunity to discover entirely new timbres and perhaps nail a sound that otherwise exists only in a player's mind.'"

Details, video interviews and press coverage links are available here.

DCJuiceBox Pedal Power Converter
The DCJuiceBox is a pedal power converter introduced by Milbert in September, 2013. It converts any 9-volt DC source into various DC voltages, including 18-volts, 12-volts, and an adjustable 6- to 12-volt output. DCJuiceBox allows guitar effects pedals requiring various different voltages to be operated from a single 9-volt source. DCJuiceBox works with any standard pedals and power supplies, and it is also P3-Ready: DCJuiceBox fully supports the patented P3 Phantom Powered Pedals and Pickups Technology.

Earl Zausmer's BMW
In the mid 1990s, Earl Zausmer built two competition car audio systems, one in a white 1992 BMW 540, and another in a red 1994 BMW 540i. These systems went on to win several national-level car audio titles. Via Knight-Ridder, more than 200 newspapers reportedly carried articles mentioning the cars, and the red BMW was highlighted in several major magazines, car audio and otherwise, including BMW's RONDEL and Time Digital Magazine. Technical information, photographs and newspaper- and magazine-article reprints are available here.

Technical Information

 * Tubes vs Transistors: Is There An Audible Difference (PDF scanned original)
 * Tubes vs Transformers: An Esoteric Exploration of Tubes, Transformers, Tone and Transcendence
 * AutoStylin Magazine TechCorner article ( HTML | PDF ) including information on speaker power and efficiency.
 * A schematic comparison of "tube" car amp designs.

Product Reviews and Independent Press Coverage

 * The Absolute Sound magazine
 * AutoStylin Magazine
 * Car Audio and Electronics Magazine
 * Car Stereo Review Magazine
 * International Audio Review
 * The Robb Report
 * Soundslike Magazine
 * Tone Audio