300b amps

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reignofchaos

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Looking to get a nice 300b for my Tannoys. Budget - can manage upto 15k but would ideally like to keep 10k or lower. Can buy in Japan as my brother is there and he can hand carry it back. Open to used options. Please suggest what are the best. I am looking for good tone density and good detail/dynamics

So far I am considering the following:

Border Patrol S10-EXD
Airtight ATM300
Wavac EC300B
Mastersound 300b compact

Any other options?

There are some DIY options. Considering those too.
 
Some more additions to your list. In Japan, there is Otomon Labs (you might have already heard of this). Or Shindo and Sun Audio. Wavac produces some impeccable amplifiers but not sure if they are in your budget range.
 
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kratu said:
Some more additions to your list. In Japan, there is Otomon Labs (you might have already heard of this). Or Shindo and Sun Audio. Wavac produces some impeccable amplifiers but not sure if they are in your budget range.
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Have heard from a dear friend that the Otomon is a hit or a miss. Shindo I'm not a fan of as it is ultra colored and after Ken Shindo's passing, their QC is in matters. Are you referring to Sun Audio or Sun Valley?

I can also look at Audio Note Quest or P3 signature.

Wavac is available used in that budget.
 
reignofchaos said:
Have heard from a dear friend that the Otomon is a hit or a miss. Shindo I'm not a fan of as it is ultra colored and after Ken Shindo's passing, their QC is in matters. Are you referring to Sun Audio or Sun Valley?

I can also look at Audio Note Quest or P3 signature.

Wavac is available used in that budget.
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It is Sun Audio 300B. The used market will open up more options. Wavac is one, and Kondo is another (the real Audio Note in my books).

By the way, Wavac’s 300B amplifier have high power (250 watts). Something to consider
 
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Whatever 300B amp you get, get it with the Western Electric 300B or Tatsuki. The choice of tube appears to be critical with 300B.

No experience with the WE tubes given they cost 1500 USD when discounted.

WE 91E amp used might be in your budget and it’s rated for a healthy 20W instead of the usual 8W. Suggest you audition, opinions on sound of 300B amps run the gamut. Most who praise their 300B amps are running those aforementioned tubes even if their amps are very expensive to begin with. My 2 cents.
 
Your Tannoys with a 300 tube amp in a room of your size is a recipe for disaster.

It’s like driving a Ferrari in the traffic of Bangalore. Or put differently, it’s like using a 1 ton AC to try and cool a 400 sq ft room.

Drive, dynamics, scale will all suffer. You’ll get good flow and tone. That’s about all. Might be ok for old Bollywood songs but definitely not for the music you listen to.

I know enough audiophiles around the world. I have yet to meet one who’s successfully run their Tannoys with a 300 tube amp.

If you still want to use a 300, maybe a push pull could be an option. It might just work. But i wouldn’t risk it.
 
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Pl understand that the 300 tube was designed by Western Electric for their horns which is a completely different kettle of fish from your Tannoys.

Western Electric used negative feedback in their 300 tube amps.

The new designs decided to do away with negative feedback but then Airtight reintroduced negative feedback in their 300R amp which many today consider to be the best 300 amp.
 
reignofchaos said:
Have heard from a dear friend that the Otomon is a hit or a miss. Shindo I'm not a fan of as it is ultra colored and after Ken Shindo's passing, their QC is in matters. Are you referring to Sun Audio or Sun Valley?

I can also look at Audio Note Quest or P3 signature.

Wavac is available used in that budget.
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I own a Shindo Cortese 300b SET amp with WE 300b tubes. It's definitely not "coloured", even John Devore calls it an amp as good as Airtight 300b in my recent conversation with him where I wondered if I should switch to Airtight 300b. He dissuaded me. I have heard a lot of 300b amps, see my blog link posted above, but if you are looking at SET amps they are only 8W, and they might not be able to drive Tannoys.

A parallel SET that gets 15-20W should be able to do that. The best I have heard is the Engstrom Arne, next best Nagra 300p. But getting 4 WE or Takatsuki tubes for a 300b PSET might bankrupt you :)

DM me if interested in the Engstrom Arne.
 
Good suggestion Essrand. Engstrom Arne at 30 watts will at least drive the Tannoys.

At MRP, it’s way over budget, unless you get 50% off :)
 
I would agree that a 300b amp will be little under powered for your requirements, given your speaker and your room and your music preferences.

For tubes, for your preferences, Elrogs [post 2017] will serve you better that WE.

For amps, I can hook you up with someone in Bombay who uses Arne, thats a fine piece of gear.

Lastly, apart from the usual suspects people have already pointed out, do look at:

a) Line Magnetic Foshan. Their 91 01 Replica and AS 135 are very very good and can be imported to India within your budget.

b) Do look at Allinics Audio, specially their A311M [Mono Power Amps. Takes 300b [for 10 watts] as well as PX25 [6 watts]]

c) Sophia Electric 91 05

Alternatively, if you dont care about resale value, and can service things locally, reach out to Kevin of "Glow in the Dark', he gets some really ace 300b amps, which are at par with the very best out their. Some are made by world renowned tube guys like John Hogan, Yamamoto, Alan Eaton, Danis Had and the likes.
 
About power - I am currently running a friend's single 300b from lyrita with 45 driver and it is plenty loud with perfect grip over the drivers and solid bottom end. Maybe it might not work for some western classical music but for everything else it is absolutely fine.

I am not really a fan of push pull 300b but am okay with a parallel implementation.
 
prem said:
Your Tannoys with a 300 tube amp in a room of your size is a recipe for disaster.

It’s like driving a Ferrari in the traffic of Bangalore. Or put differently, it’s like using a 1 ton AC to try and cool a 400 sq ft room.

Drive, dynamics, scale will all suffer. You’ll get good flow and tone. That’s about all. Might be ok for old Bollywood songs but definitely not for the music you listen to.

I know enough audiophiles around the world. I have yet to meet one who’s successfully run their Tannoys with a 300 tube amp.

If you still want to use a 300, maybe a push pull could be an option. It might just work. But i wouldn’t risk it.
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I had the same experience when I changed my speaker to a Fyne audio and tried running it with a 20 watt SET. Fyne audio is known to be amplifier friendly. However, beyond a point I hit a technical limitation. Great tone and mids was to die for. Everything else suffered. Drive, dynamics, grip, bass and scale ... all went for a toss! Simple music like pop, ghazals etc with few instruments playing within the mids frequency ranges just flowed without any issues because it was not taxing the amp at all.
300 B is even more delicate. Tread with care! Unless you are trying to experiment with a parallel system for certain types of music.
 
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Well if you are happy, then that’s it. I guess we hear differently. Because i have not heard that grip and solid bass at your friends place in a much smaller room.
 
I dont think so. Even Turnberry recommends a minimum of 20 watts. Think about it.

Your friend primarily listens to Bollywood and is willing to sacrifice bass, drive and dynamics for tone and flow. He himself says that’s a sacrifice he’s ok to.

If you are telling me you are hearing solid bass and dynamics at your place, something’s not right.

But as i said if you are willing to sacrifice bass and dynamics for tone and flow then i guess it’s ok.
 
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