Thanks, Dancing. It should be fine for my Cornwalls. It looks like something where I can adjust the bias easily. I'd get to hear what people are talking about with SET amps and 300b tubes and at a price that wouldn't kill me if I don't like that kind of sound. I've been thinking I should try tubes someday and this might be a good entry point.
Oh wow. This is really something. If that amp sounds as good as the reviewer says, could you imagine when you swap in the Western Electric 300Bs?
Steve Huff can be very enthusiastic about any audio product he reviews. I’d take it with a grain of salt if I were you. At least until some other reviewers weigh in.
It seems to have a lot of what I would look for in a tube amp. I think that's sound advice you're giving me though and I'm in no rush to do anything.
At least if you order it through Amazon you can return it if necessary. That somewhat minimizes the risk. So I did. We'll see.
I like Steve and trust him. Most reviewers only do reviews for products they like. If they don’t like something, they return the item without doing a review. So I wouldn’t hold Steve’s enthusiasm as a negative. I say go for it! Only challenge is finding one.
Hey, no one said audio was easy and cheap! Seriously tho, depending on what 300 tubes the amp comes with you might get a decent uptick in sound with a pair 800$ or so 300s.
The cost of replacing tubes is a drawback to me but I'd sure like to hear the sound that tube people talk about. Especially the way Steve described the sound of this one. His reviews carry some weight with me. After all, he's made a living with his ears but I'll keep an eye out for other reviews before I do anything. Some folks say that if you like what you've got you should just stick with it. My system sounds fine to me but maybe it would be nice to have a solid state and a tube amp.
I’ve always read that to really get the full benefits of a tube amp, you need a good horn midrange. But that might be urban legend…
Xxx I dont really think thats true. Plenty of non horn speakers sound great with tubes, example Tannoy Saturn 10 floor standers, good Sensitivity at 93%.
I like his channel, but he always raves about everything that comes in. I also take him less seriously when I found out he has a channel with millions of subs and he claims he’s speaking to ghosts… type in ‘huff paranormal’.
My avatar over to the left was taken with a Leica M7 with a Macro-Elmar-M on Kodak Tri-X and developed in a homemade monobath (seems that is still too obscure for a Wikipedia link!) I knew of Steve Huff in those days, when he was making a new income stream after his previous life photographing much more questionable subjects.* He was enthusiastic about everything, and sucked up to the celebrity "Leica Ambassadors" no matter how incompetent they were behind the camera. He quickly became enthusiastic about products provided to him, sometimes provided free. Some of them did not live up to the hopes of purchasers, nor even come close. Once Leica users got wise to him, he went into other photo platforms. He blogged about dropping his wife, gained a new one and brought in his son to the feeding trough. Only then it was other kinds of gear, including audio. He is a newcomer to that field. Speaking for my own opinion alone, right now if Huff recommends something I shall run in the opposite direction. *Google will tell you what I mean
Great Review + Several Links to Amazon shill marketing is simple. People tend to feel more comfortable with a product or service if they know someone else who has a good experience with it. If someone who isn't associated with the company tells you how good it is, the claim will probably be more convincing than if it came from the company spokesman.
Hello to you all ! I am pleased to join your forum, curious about this 300b Willsenton amplifier. I listened carefully to Steve's review and I was really intrigued. I have been waiting for a device of this type for many years because I am not convinced by the Boyuu Range A50. Its build quality for the price is very good, but then, the competing models, at least those available in France where I am, are offered at $4000 for the Cayin and from $6000 for the European models. Between the Boyuu Range and those, it's the sidereal void (wink to Captain Kirk). When I look at the reviews of the other Willsenton products, the R8 or the R800-i (805 SE tubes), all of them have been highly appreciated by several reviewers (Steve, Jay's, Iyagi, Thomas, British audiophile, and I appreciate each of them. Guys have taken these amplifiers apart and praised the excellent and serious workmanship. Jay's Iyagi is testing it right now and very quickly mentions this unit here as a reference amplifier in the Klipch speaker test: What really caught my attention in this Klipch review is the fact that Jay's has also tested many amplifiers, all of which are excellent, including the much more expensive and powerful Willsenton R800i. And yet, with these particular speakers in any case, it's the Willsenton R300 that he recommends. He calls it an exceptional match. For my part, I am confident and placed an order for the Willsenton R300 today ! For information, I currently own an Elekit TU-8200 SE amplifier of 8 watts too. But the little Elekit uses 6L6 tubes and is not comparable with the Willsenton. The speakers are Totem Sttaf of 88 db, so, not very sensitive and the 8 watts are very sufficient for me, without any problem and with a listening level already likely to disturb my dear neighbors if I wanted, which is not at all the case Good day to you all.
This is probably my 3rd chinese amp that I bought in my lifetime. My recent buy was Boyuurange A50 long before it was reviewed in the worldwide internet. the 2 of them needs lots of work including the Boyuu Range A50 300b. When I first got it I notice it wasn't drawing a full 8 watts and the sound is not really impressive. Lets just say I spent close to $1,100 on parts including 2 brand new Hashimoto output Transformer. I bought the amp $605.00 shipped for I was the first one bought it in Feb 2020. Its sounds great now and no more problems. The way how I look at it, I have to spend atleast $2,800 minimum (at that time) to have a nice quality amp. I have another 300b that I bought from Fluxion Made in Canada. Honestly I should have brought my money there first for I found myself using their amp the most. I ran it in the pandemic close to 8 hours a day when I was doing work from home. This amp really rocks! But seems like those newer willsenton amp is better than the other chinese amps. I guess for the money it should be great.
Just curious if you ever got around to trying this or another 300B SET amp with your Cornwalls. I share your dread of replacing those tubes, given how expensive they can be, though some more than others, even here. Vacuum Tubes Too bad those Tripathi and similar chip amps are long gone. They were well known for sounding so much like 300B SETs that some owners of those tube amps actually preferred them, though they also measured like 10x less distortion. Is TRIPATH Class "T" Outdated Performance - Or Not?
Yes I did and while I'm sure I would have enjoyed the sound once fully broken in, the amount of heat it gave off made me nervous so it's back to solid state for me. Mind you, I'm the nervous sort anyway.
How many times has he said the amplifier or speaker is his end game one? Hehehe … I noticed his reviews are now in a very ‘marketing centric’ format.
