Milbert Amplifiers


The Most Musical Amplifiers. Made in USA since 1986.

Don't overlook the SQ page on Sound Quality.


Gerald Costa's 11-year Otherworldly pursuit of mobile audio excellence

"A very different install...from anything." An hybrid mix of high-end home and mobile audio components. Video interview gives detailed presentation and description of components, installation: 13-pound ribbon tweeters; kevlar-cone midranges; sub-bass speakers in box-floating-within-box. Motorized sliding/floating driver/listener chair. Top-grade materials throughout. Eclectic, choice componentry with attention to every detail; built to allow easy tuning, comparison of various cables, sources, etc.

Two BaM-235ab amplifiers, one drives tweeters, second drives midranges. ~ 2:56 into video.

Interviewer: "Kind of a surround-sound with only two channels... Definitely not a normal two-channel system; it presents [soundstage] as much larger..." ~1:35 into video.

2023 EMMA, IASCA, & MASQ Finals Competitor Spotlight by ResoNix Sound Solutions.

"In the beginning I was a Cable Denier. The reason I was able to achieve something that sounds different and unique was because I experimented with cables and found that they make a big [audible] difference." ~ 5:25 into video.

Car MiZa -- Mike Michne's rebuild of Earl Zausmer's BMW 540i, 25 years on

Follow along here with Mike Michne and Earl Zausmer as they rebuild this car audio legend from bottom to top, 25 years on.

May 2022 -- "CarMiza Introduction" by Mike Michne

April 2022 -- Earl Zausmer interview by SQology

Mike Young's Volkswagen Beetle

Best install MECCA; at IASCA / MECCA, West Virginia 2019-07-27

Two BaM-235ab amplifiers sit side-by-side, grills facing forward to show off the warm glowing tubes inside, in a fabricated, well-ventilated custom enclosure. Variable illumination helps set the musical mood.

One listener reported: "I have been in the [car audio] industry ... for over 18 yrs. I have gained a very big liking for your amplifiers [having listened closely] to them over the past... I do feel they are 'special'. I have a large inventory of old school amplifiers and demo cars [for SQ comparison]..."

Installation, pictures, write-up courtesy of Edric Taira, Audio Architechs (808fsi@gmail.com).

Earl Zausmer's BMW 540i

Sony ES II, Milbert BaM-235 amps, Zapco sub amps, B&W 801 Signature Series speakers with 15" woofers in front floorboards using fenders as enclosures, StraightWire Maestro interconnect and speaker wire.

Earl's first car had two 13" woofers mounted up front, under the dash, using the fender cavities as enclosures. His second car had two 15" woofers mount up front, under the floorboard, using the floor and other cavities as enclosures. This was done at least ten years before the 2005 patent mentioned below. Other subwoofer-up-front leaders included Harry Kimura's Acura and the SpeakerWorks Buick Grand National. It's no new idea.

Did Earl's car show Mercedes how to do bass? "...the frame utilizes an unconventional body structure that enables the 'front bass' music system design, and indeed the 2012 'SL' models will be the first to feature mercedes's 'front bass' audio system, which provides clearer bass and dynamic range...instead of featuring bass speakers installed in the doors, the system places them in the footwell in front of the driver and front passenger...cavities behind the speakers act as resonating chambers, while the location at the vehicle's front, framed by the floor and underside of the dashboard, funnels and concentrates the sound." designboom

Sep 2012: "...Mercedes-Benz has created a novel technique for greatly improving the sound of car audio. The technology, called FrontBass, moves the woofers from the door panels to the footwells and uses the car's structural beams as enclosures behind the woofers...The primary reason for this unusual placement was the opportunity to load the woofers in the 'longitudinal beams,' two hollow rectangular structural members that run parallel to the ground from the footwell toward the engine compartment. Loading the woofers in relatively large sturdy metal chambers of just over half a cubic foot each instead of the doors confers significant sonic virtues, as you might imagine." The Absolute Sound

Christian Korbel's Audi A3

"It sounds detailed, brilliant, homogenous, smooth. The list could be longer. But to be honest: The system plays with a fascinating precision through all frequency ranges, every smallest detail is presented accurately. ... Extraordinarily good, period. Absolute High End, yet even better; however, we just can not award more than 100 of 100 points for musicality."" -- Car & HiFi Magazine [German], Jan 1999, pp. 10+

Dale Fontenot's Ford Thunderbird

Dale Fontenot's Thunderbird : 99 IASCA expert 1-600 winner: Milbert BaM-235 amps, Pioneer head/proc, Focal speakers & subs, Optima, AlumaPro, Straight Wire.

Johnny's Audi

Tweeters, honkers and woofers in stock locations. Custom passive crossovers. Two Milbert BaM-235ab tube amps.

Rickie Linn's car

Milbert TC-4R tube preamp+crossover, Milbert BaM-235ab amps, TubeDriver amps (on subs).

Autobacs Japan

Autobacs Porsche Cayenne

1979 Silver Trans Am

Stealth and Stock with Power & Realism: Nakamichi TD-1200-II tuner/tape, FMS-blue interconnects, Milbert BaM-230 amps, JBL T545 6x9s thru Live Wire Brown. Totally discreet, powerful, lively.

Suchart Mahantakhun's AMG Mercedes Benz

Waveguides in the dash; woofers in the kickpanels. Two Milbert BaM-230 tube amps. Focals on the rear deck. Zapco xo + Infinity transistor amp for sub power.
Milbert Amplifiers, The Most Musical Amplifiers. Made in USA since 1986.
Milbert Amplifiers
The Most Musical Amplifiers
Made in USA since 1986

8051 Citation Drive #C
Gaithersburg, MD 20877 USA
phone 202-558-5502