300B Heresy

[toms wait]

Please send your unwanted 300Bs to me. I will carry your burden.

If you are serious and not kidding, it is for sale, at Kevin's.
PM me, but I suspect you're joshing

 

[nut]

By strident detail and analytical could that be overly bright?
I found the jsoundlab 300b power amp a little bright.

 

[toms wait]

By strident detail and analytical could that be overly bright?
I found the jsoundlab 300b power amp a little bright.

yes but just too much detail thrown out.
Now have an Accuphase E-650 A Class on home dem.

 

[Thetiminator]

yes but just too much detail thrown out.
Now have an Accuphase E-650 A Class on home dem.

And how do you find it’s sound compared to the valve amps….?
Cheers.
T.

 

[toms wait]

And how do you find it’s sound compared to the valve amps….?
Cheers.
T.

Compared to valve amps at home, series 500 and Triode 300B easily their equal. Less in your face detail, which is what I was trying to achieve and more flowing and musical than the Triode, as bouncy and fun as the 500. Good bass control and plenty of it. Sounds better at home with my speakers than the YG Talus at DB's, to these old cloth ears. With added controllability, tone controls! Loudness switch.

Only been on this evening so early for a judgement. Have until Saturday.

Compared to Argento at Kevin's which feels like being at a concert on judicious good quality recordings, whereas the Accuphase is like listening to a great recording, played on great gear, just not quite as inherently live sounding as Argento. Maybe actually live but from a different part of the auditorium.

What it is doing is having me dig out very random CD's, Madonna & Klaus Schulz tonight!

 

[toms wait]

By strident detail and analytical could that be overly bright?
I found the jsoundlab 300b power amp a little bright.

Bright as a result of too much detail. Strident and un relenting, TURN IT DOWN!!

 

[rabski]

Yup. Solid state, all detail and brightness. Valves, all lush and laid back. Funny old world

 

[dave]

A typical frequency response of a 300B SET using zero negative feedback.The green line is for a simulated 8 ohm speaker load .This was a Mastersound 300B.
A very long way from a flat response.

That's broken, the green wobblies, fine, in relation to the blue trace, no problem really, but the 2-3 dB drop below 1k?? that's just wrong.
I want to enjoy my 2A3, but I feel I need to reengineer some speakers to cope with the reduced damping factor. Interestingly my NS1000s really enjoy the slightly looser hand of tubes in the bass, they are a bit tight in the bass normally, and that reduction in damping is very nice if done in moderation. But the 2A3 a bit to much "euphony" and underdamping for the Yamahas.
My beloved ECL86 amp, before I tweaked it, due to its undersized internal coupling capacitors had output impedance that rose as the frequency dropped (50ohms by 50Hz). It really didn't work on some Goodman's Magnums, but the Magisters and original Maxims loved it. The Magisters made excellent deep effortless bass running into that mis matched 3 ohm output stereogram amp.

 

[Thetiminator]

Compared to valve amps at home, series 500 and Triode 300B easily their equal. Less in your face detail, which is what I was trying to achieve and more flowing and musical than the Triode, as bouncy and fun as the 500. Good bass control and plenty of it. Sounds better at home with my speakers than the YG Talus at DB's, to these old cloth ears. With added controllability, tone controls! Loudness switch.

Only been on this evening so early for a judgement. Have until Saturday.

Compared to Argento at Kevin's which feels like being at a concert on judicious good quality recordings, whereas the Accuphase is like listening to a great recording, played on great gear, just not quite as inherently live sounding as Argento. Maybe actually live but from a different part of the auditorium.

What it is doing is having me dig out very random CD's, Madonna & Klaus Schulz tonight!

Great info Toms! Cheers..

 

[THOMO]

That's broken, the green wobblies, fine, in relation to the blue trace, no problem really, but the 2-3 dB drop below 1k?? that's just wrong.
I want to enjoy my 2A3, but I feel I need to reengineer some speakers to cope with the reduced damping factor. Interestingly my NS1000s really enjoy the slightly looser hand of tubes in the bass, they are a bit tight in the bass normally, and that reduction in damping is very nice if done in moderation. But the 2A3 a bit to much "euphony" and underdamping for the Yamahas.
My beloved ECL86 amp, before I tweaked it, due to its undersized internal coupling capacitors had output impedance that rose as the frequency dropped (50ohms by 50Hz). It really didn't work on some Goodman's Magnums, but the Magisters and original Maxims loved it. The Magisters made excellent deep effortless bass running into that mis matched 3 ohm output stereogram amp.

Yes the NS1000s are tricky because the woofer really belongs in a much larger vented box.Its Qts is way too low to work properly in a smallish sealed box.

 

[antonio66]

Don't know whether I should throw this curved ball in since I don't have anything like the experience of valves as many have on here. I changed my KT88's for 6550's and found them a huge improvement for my ears, more body and soul, and could be worth trying an amp that would take these valves. I also have a 300B amp but haven't been able to compare the two side by side. Feel free to diss my suggestion.

 

[toms wait]

Don't know whether I should throw this curved ball in since I don't have anything like the experience of valves as many have on here. I changed my KT88's for 6550's and found them a huge improvement for my ears, more body and soul, and could be worth trying an amp that would take these valves. I also have a 300B amp but haven't been able to compare the two side by side. Feel free to diss my suggestion.

There is a new entry level Audio Research amp that uses 6550 valves that a phono stage can go in. Doug Brady have one but I didn't hear it, maybe soon.

 

[toms wait]

Time has marched on and another amp is in residency, 300B power amp with volume pot.

 

[avinunca1]

Time has marched on and another amp is in residency, 300B power amp with volume pot.

Hope you are enjoying the new amp. What did you buy?

 

[toms wait]

TRX P300S Triode Corp 300B power amp and Art Audio Vinyl One phono.
Kevin (Definitive) gave me full price against the integrated from him, which we didn't care for at all. After 6 weeks. Which is great customer service.
Had heard this at DA in Long Eaton and his Argento with the new Living Voice R80 speakers.

 

[Jazid]

Interesting. How is this one working for you, particularly contrasted with the other one?

 

[karlsushi]

So, you started out with a Triode Corporation 300b amp and you've ended up with...a Triode Corporation 300b amp.

Funny old game this hifi lark...

 

[klegind]

Sometimes you just need a Gordian cleaver. Get one decent push pull amp for driving the bass. Use the SE amp for mid and high frequency. Divide the spectrum by using a simple RC circuit breadboard. This can work well in conjunction with a regular crossover, but needs careful planning of the x-over frequency.
You acquire the liberty of having the amp for the kind of bass you like and you can tweak the highs by selecting an SE amp for that.

 

[pmcuk]

Divide the spectrum by using a simple RC circuit breadboard. This can work well in conjunction with a regular crossover, but needs careful planning of the x-over frequency.

An electronic crossover is tempting. I'm resisting because my SE amps are very big and on 2 chassis. But in general the top end doesn't need to be so big. I've never done this so don't know if a solid state amp like a Pass/First Watt would handle the bass as well as a tube amp.

The advantages are all in the speakers if you DIY. You can choose your favourite units and adjust the filter to your taste - hours of fun. I like high end ribbons, and it's one way to cope with a 3.5K crossover or higher. Passive crossovers are usually lower, around 2.5K, but the LS3/5A types are 3.5K and I'm curious about substituting a ribbon for the 3/4" tweeter.

 

[toms wait]

Interesting. How is this one working for you, particularly contrasted with the other one?

So, you started out with a Triode Corporation 300b amp and you've ended up with...a Triode Corporation 300b amp.

Funny old game this hifi lark...

The integrated was 21 watts push pull 300B with phono stage, not sure if that was valve powered or SS. TC advertise it as SE, but Kevin thinks the power is too much for SE and is therefore a PP amp. The power amp is SE 8 watts with volume control.

The integrated was very clear and detailed, too much so for me. Tonally it was forward and a little etched. The sound was quite 2D with little soundstage depth, probably not run in.

The power amp is more full and smoother, less etched but as much detail, deeper soundstage and has more bloom and joie de vive about it. I heard the power amp with a pre-amp at DA and that seemed to lose detail and bass and add veils or a bit of mist!

The power amp obviously has no phono, but an external phono, is mellowing as well. The phono and power amp were more expensive than the integrated (all new) so I would expect them to be better.

The best analogy I can give is that the integrated was like listening to a live concert on a recording, the power amp/phono is like being at the concert and having the room acoustics and ambience and spatial clues that make all the difference to listening to music.