tubes and current


hi all, I current use a 300B SET with a pair of B&W805 D3 sounds good but with obviously drawback that the B&Ws love high current and the 300B SET can only do so much.  I've been saving up for a second tube amp for large orchestral music and when I want lush full body sound.

I've been looking between EL34/KT88 amps with 4 tubes vs 8 tubes.  I have borrowed a 4x EL34 tube amp before and there was more than enough volume for me, so I don't need 8x tubes for more volume.  What I'm wondering is if 8x tubes would produce 1.5x-2x the current produced or is that really just a design of the amplifier not directly related to number of tubes.

Otherwise, any high current tube amp you guys like below $2500 used or new?  
Is it worth trying 300B push pull or 845 SET?

Thanks.
hifineubee
You may end up with significantly different sound by switching between amps and tubes.  If you love your current sound and just need more power, you have answered your own question as to buy a second amp.  However, that may not be enough power for your needs either.  What 300B is your current amp?  That will get you better suggestions.
I use a Dared VP-300B.  Not sure we're getting to my original answer.  Hope to clarify here my original question is 'does adding more tubes increase high current of amp (not just watts) or is high current mainly determined by amp design and transformer used and not directly related to amount of tubes used'.  I'm trying to understand the age old wisdom with solid state amplifier that a 1000watt amp. doesn't automatically equate to high current amp, in tube world does having lots of tubes also does not automatically equate to high current amp?  Again, I don't need higher volume, I need higher current for dynamics and fuller body sound.  Thanks all.
I don't have the electrical/electronic chops to answer, maybe someone else will have to provide an answer but it seems the amplifier design,  power supply and transformer that will determine current.

I don't think "high current" determines what your speakers see. 

Speaker impedance (resistance) come into play.   Room size comes into play.

Your B&W's have a nominal impedance of 8 Ohms.   With a recommended amplifier power rating of 50 - 120W into 8 Ohms unclipped.

As long as you match the speakers impedance to the amplifier in use, so that the amp is not working overtime, you should be fine.  It's when we ignore the manufacturer's parameter's that we get into trouble.


You have a severe amp/speaker mismatch. Your amp is designed for a high sensitivity, benign impedance speaker. The B&W805 D3 is not even remotely close to being that type of speaker and better suited for a solid state amp that is stable with a low impedance load. Many years ago I tried a 2 way bookshelf speaker on a 300B SET amp I had. This speaker was not quite as demanding as the B&W with a 2db higher sensitivity and 25 watt recommended minimum power. The sound needed just what you're looking for, dynamics and more body. The proper amp/speaker match made a night and day difference in the sound of that speaker. Even though the B&W is better suited for solid state, it's possible to work with tubes, however you need to adhere to the recommended minimum of 50 watts. Some music can have dynamic peaks of 20db and more. So if you're using 1 watt, a 15db peak requires 32 watts, and a 21db peak would require 128 watts. Even with the EL34 amp you tried, I seriously doubt you were getting anywhere close to the performance that B&W is capable of.