Anybody have a 300B Tube Amp?

Ray, you may find this amusing. I mentioned that my finish was darker and I attributed it to differences in pictures online and in the real life appearance. I went to their website again and I swear my finish looks exactly as what they have as Rosewood. A quick check on images.google.com proved that my finish is really Palisander. It has to be dark and smooth. Not even close to your picture. As a matter of fact, all their finishes are messed up. Here's what I found about:

Their Palisander - Actual Tulipwood
Their Tulipwood - Actual Rosewood
Their Rosewood - Actual Palisander

I didn't check other finishes. There may be more errors.

 

Congrats Sergey!

I have owned an Audio Note Meishu Silver Phono for almost one month. I have made several changes, just like you. I have an AN-S2/H coming in about a week, to go with my new VPI Classic 3/Dynavector 20X2Lo (I had a Classic 1. Before).

I have also ordered AN-E SPE HE speakers in high gloss Makassar. The darker finish suits our floors and furniture much more. I haven't seen it in person yet, but have these two pictures to go by:



Im using my daughter's Epos M12 speakers until the new AN-E SPE HE speakers arrive. They are nice for the money, but don't hold a candle to high end speakers like the AN-Es. I'm looking forward to learning and adjusting as I go along, just like you have so far.

Enjoy your new setup

Don

 

Don, I'm sure you're going to like your AN-Es. The SPe adds internal silver cabling, which adds a bit more details. HE ones have silver voice coils too. As to the color, my local dealer has Makassar AN-Es in his listening room. It looks similar to the picture, but not the same. The separation between light and dark stripes is more prominent. It could the different kind of Makassar wood they used, a different tone. It's possible that the high gloss layer of lacquer adds that darkness. Post some pictures when you get them.

The one in the picture is the HEMP model. Hemp drivers are blue. My dealer advised against them because hemp is heavier than paper. Although it provides a slightly tighter bass, it it not as dynamic as a paper cone.

A word of advice, get some AN Lexus speaker cables. Or at least get a demo pair from your dealer to try at home. I did and I was surprised how good they were. I also got Lexus RCA interconnect. Quite funny. I tried only AN interconnect or AN speaker cables while using generic speaker wire or generic RCA cables, but the best sound is achieved when they are used together. And pricewise they aren't too far from Audioquest, quite the opposite, less expensive, but better quality to my taste.

 

I own an unknown Japanese audiophile made 300B SET with all Tamura transformers. I got it at a japanese online auction, and slightly modified.
I also own WE 300B tubes (80's last production, also bought in Japan), but I keep them in the box and use recent Chinese 300Bs, which sound OK.
I use this amp for my library room system with vintage Fostex.
(First Watt Aleph J (clone) for my main speakers.)

 

I would choose First Watt (FET amp) over my DIY 300B amp, if I have to choose one, but my 300B amp certainly has its own charm. Nelson Pass designed FET amps sound unbelievably good even for tube SET lovers. Please check 6 moon review.

 

That's all good advice. I am surprised to hear that about the hemp as its my understanding that the HE (high efficiency) models all have the hemp driver and that helps bring the efficiency up to 97 dB. One would expect those to be lighter and quicker.

The cables come a little later after some more saving up : ) Probably AN-Vx interconnects from TT to integrated. I will try that out and go from there.

Having fun

 

Probably the strength of the magnetic field and the size of the voice coil have more impact on the high effeciency designs than the weight of the cone.

 

If the funds were available to purchase the high efficiency hemp cones over the paper standard version, there is no comparison between the 2, just as there is no comparison between the copper wired and the silver wired versions. The gain in weight and definition is well beyond differences in paper vs. hemp. With the right amplifier driving the speaker it becomes even less of a discussion. It always amuses me how people describe the sound of a speaker when in fact a speaker stands mute until energy is applied to a resistive load and how the delivery of that energy, less distortion, whilst maintaining complex structure and harmonics, is generally deemed a secondary requirement, which is probably easy to understand as very few listeners have ever heard a truly extraordinary amplifier controlling a speaker and what that relationship brings to reproducing recorded music.
[my humble opinion only and all mileages are respected]

 

HE models may or may not have HEMP drivers in them. It depends on how you configure them. HE usually are $2k more expensive at the entry level models. HEMP adds about $400 only from what I saw in the price list.

 

I guess that says it all