UPDATE: Ditched the GL 300B. Bought a quad of NOS Sophia Electric Mesh Plates, also now using EL34 Mullard XF2 NOS for my driver tubes.
Most of the music I listen to on "Daytime" are on physical media mainly cassettes and reel to reel which all originally came from a vinyl. I also have a few digitized.. And on daytime again if I'm really in the mood and wants to listen to an excellent sounding music like selection I have below, my #1 choice will always be reel to reel. 2nd will be high grade recordings on a nakamichi auto azimuth tape deck. Both formats are originally from vinyl. The only reason why I don't play vinyl, because I'm a lousy player and I had my fair share of messing up so much records when I was young. In years I learned and I found a way how to copy a vinyl to the highest level so I don't have to worry about record scratches in time. On winter, I have a habit of sleeping at night with the stereo on and can be a bit loud just like last night. This is probably one of the best sleep I had and this music was all in my dreams. I was listening to a digital format this time. My tube amp was so warmed up for 7 hours running. Its a good thing I have a fan pointing directly at the amp and at the same time that warm air gradually controlling the temperature up here in our bonus room (pretty much in the attic) where I have a view from above. It all works out. When the song "You and Your Friend" - On the Night live album came out, these are the type of music that I want more than 14 watts of power. Besides the new mono block that's coming, I don't think I should be running that amp all night and its gonna be eating a lot of power too. Now I'm thinking about looking again on another amp with atleast 22 watts of pure "musical" power, (minimal numbers of tubes so it wont heat up the room a lot). If you run SET amp, you need a lot of tubes to get that wattage. Any ideas? Triode setup? What tubes?
I’ve just gotten into tube amps. My first, el34 push pull, and just purchased my first 300b. Wow! Came with 4 Gold Lion300b, 2 Sylvania 6v6gt’s and 2 Hytron 6sn7’s. Sounded fabulous. I wanted back up tubes so I ordered 2 Western Electric 300b’s, 2 more Sylvania’s and 2 Linlai’s. I put the WE’s in first and oh my! Just hugely different. I don’t see buying any other 300b’s. Will probably order 2 more in the spring. The Linlai’s only have about 10 hours on them so I will hold judgment. So far though, very good. A lot of clarity
I have now added a signalgroundsolutions grounding device using signal ground and connected to a spare RCA post on the back of my Simply Italy, and a big wow here as the soundscape is just opened up much further here with details and 3D , and more clout to the bass too.
Tannoys are certainly efficient enough, but a SET amp may not have enough juice to move those big woofers. Theirs spec sheet always recommend at least 20W amps.
Just wanna give you guys a heads up.. Today is the 2nd year of my 300b amp. This amp has been running like a MoFo since day 1. A lot of times I leave it running the whole night when I sleep till the next day I work from home. I have a small fan pointing directly to the amp, especially the 3 output tubes. The good news is my tube still haven't physically blown up and still reads like a brand new tube. I didn't know this was possible so I thought Id share it with you guys.
that's the only hesitation I have on my next tube venture. I wanna follow the sound of the 300b or get close to it. But I need more than 8 watts. Ideally 20 wpc or more in SE mode... If I can. I'm trying to convince my builder to push a single 6c33c-b tube on SE mode close to a "respective" 20 watts. (atleast the tube will not burn fast and still sounds great) He said I'm talking about a miracle.
Thanks for making me aware of this manufacturer, very nice looking pieces and choices of good transformers to go with them.
Happy Holidays Car guy and I remember your amp now the Fluxion that looks great but man 4 300Bs! I swore off $$ tubes the day a WE 300B died on me prematurely, many years ago.
Oh the new Fluxion 6C33C-b amp. Still on the way. I need to do a post office X'mas rant like everyone. According to this tracking, its on its way here next year..
That would be 211 or 845 tubes. I’m one week in testing a 211 amp and it’s really good, has all the detail (maybe a little more) and sparkle as my 300b but with more robust lower end (this could just be the extra power to the not ideal speakers for 300b). Haven’t been able to test soundstage very well yet as I need to re position the speakers but it was very good on a friends system we listened.
No I didn't it was in my amp at the time 300B Cary Sig monos and just died quick flare up and dead as a doornail. Those were in my early days so it never occurred to me to reach out to WE they were a pair of the late 90s reissues I picked up used for, to me at the time, a very expensive $500. Oh the naivete!
I share youre enthusiastic with exotic tubes. I have to admit that when it comes to broadcasting tubes or anything above 650 volt plate voltage, I'm a bit scared.. Just to be honest. Like what I was doing sleeping on a 300b tubes. It can turn out to be a nightmare if I'm careless.
Okay.. Sorry for what happen... But I know what you mean.... Since youre already adjusted to your 2A3. Strictly speaking, I saw your setup with the AN. That is the ultimate match! I wish I can afford to buy an AN speakers. That's what I really want. Mr. Casey from ZU audio, he wont touch 300b. He prefers 2A3.
With two pair of 300Bs in your Fluxion amp, isn't it making 15-16W per channel? The difference between 16W and 20W is only 1db - you'd have a hard time noticing this small increase.
I drive his Omen DWII speakers with a 300B SET amp - sounds great. I don't know what his problem with the tube is. I will admit, though, that I want a 2A3 amp, too. Maybe some day...
Nothing wrong. All personal preference. I'm not sure if you still remember that I mentioned to you 2 years ago, there was a pair of 2A3 monos in my area. It came out again so I bought it. It sounds "Very Warm and Natural" on my listening. Excellent amp. I just prefer the sound of the 300b. Not as natural as the 300b. Its more with a bells and whistles on tube mode. "A Showman" that's how I can describe it. Both amps are Monster Tone! The other day I remember what we talked about a while back. I want 22 watts and your EL84 amp came out of the blue.. or similar amp in Triode mode.
Maybe I should say 22 watts. I have a lot of speakers that's sounds nice and requires a little kick. Every time this plays, I wanna blast the amp to 11...
I prefer 2a3 over 300B as well BUT the new Tonmeister from Audio Note has changed my mind - I am considering selling my Empress 2a3 monoblocks for a P3 Tonmeister or Meishu and using my M6 to move upscale on the turntable and Transport/DAC. It's the best 300B amp I've heard because unlike every other 300B amp I have tried the thing can actually rock - the higher quality transformers and Ongaku power supply makes the 300B not just a "lady-like gentile" amplifier. I mean the Ongaku still has more drive but at least now the 300B is more of an all-rounder all-music, capable performer. Not surprised it's AN's best-selling amplifier. The price isn't totally outrageous either - The P3 does have a passive attenuator so it can be used as an Integrated amp and starts under $9k - which means after negotiating you can get it for ~$7,500-$8,000. It's kind of huge and boring looking though. I suspect many tube amp owners like to see the tubes. If AN could just make it a pretty box they could probably quadruple their sales. Maybe something like Wavac Or Cayin - the Chinese know how to Bling Cary I mean these show of the nice tube glow - ahh pretty. Even has a headphone jack But nope - AN still does the Black (or silver) Box. Snooze.
Then the 805, 845, and 211 based amps are out, not to mention GM70. However, your Fluxion gives you 14 WPC. If it's in Class A - it is probably as powerful as a 60W - 70W SS amp in Class AB. I understand it's push-pull though, so, if you want a SET - Cary Audio CAD300 SEI gives 15 WPC in single-ended mode, with only two 300B tubes. CAD-300SEI Integrated Amplifier | Cary Audio In my own considerations (hypothetical so far) of what to pair Tannoys with (probably Cheviots, in my case), I've kind of settled on Quicksilver integrated: stable 20 WPC into any load from 2 Ohm to 8 Ohm, so has lots of power coming from eight EL84 tubes that last forever. Integrated Amplifier – Quicksilver Audio But, honestly, I believe your Fluxion, at 14 WPC, should be able to do the job admirably. Or the Cary.
