300b lovers


I have been an owner of Don Sachs gear since he began, and he modified all my HK Citation gear before he came out with his own creations.  I bought a Willsenton 300b integrated amp and was smitten with the sound of it, inexpensive as it is.  Don told me that he was designing a 300b amp with the legendary Lynn Olson and lo and behold, I got one of his early pair of pre-production mono-blocks recently, driving Spatial Audio M5 Triode Masters.  

Now with a week on the amp, I am eager to say that these 300b amps are simply sensational, creating a sound that brings the musicians right into my listening room with a palpable presence.  They create the most open vidid presentation to the music -- they are neither warm nor cool, just uncannily true to the source of the music.  They replace his excellent Kootai KT88 which I was dubious about being bettered by anything, but these amps are just outstanding.  Don is nearing production of a successor to his highly regard DS2 preamp, which also will have a  unique circuitry to mate with his 300b monos via XLR connections.  Don explained the sonic benefits of this design and it went over my head, but clearly these designs are well though out.. my ears confirm it. 

I have been an audiophile for nearly 50 years having had a boatload of electronics during that time, but I personally have never heard such a realistic presentation to my music as I am hearing with these 300b monos in my system.  300b tubes lend themselves to realistic music reproduction as my Willsenton 300b integrated amps informed me, but Don's 300b amps are in a entirely different realm.  Of course, 300b amps favor efficient speakers so carefully component matching is paramount.

Don is working out a business arrangement to have his electronics built by an American audio firm so they will soon be more widely available to the public.  Don will be attending the Seattle Audio Show in June in the Spatial Audio room where the speakers will be driven by his 300b monos and his preamp, with digital conversion with the outstanding Lampizator Pacific tube DAC.  I will be there to hear what I expect to be an outstanding sonic presentation.  

To allay any questions about the cost of Don's 300b mono, I do not have an answer. 

 

 

whitestix

@tinear123

Troy has booked a room and so far it hasn't shown up on their exhibitor's list because we just decided to do it maybe 10 days ago.  But it will be under Joseph Crowe Audio whenever it shows up.  We should be easy to find.  They don't seem to update their show site that often.....  Rest assured, we will be there.  We should have a Lampizator Genya DAC on the front end.  That is looking really good.

Don and I have flying under the radar for the past year or so ... the Toronto show will debut what we’ve been up to. Fully balanced, all transformer coupled, all stages independently regulated (no RC filtering), and an all-direct-heated-triode signal path with zero local or global feedback.

Fixed bias, with independent servo autobias for each output tube, for Class A1, Class A2, Class AB1, and Class AB2 operation, depending on instantaneous current demand. Full Class A1 balanced through 20 watts (same as previous products) but with extended operating modes and no requirement for tube matching. DC offsets in the output transformer have been reduced to a fraction of a milliamp, extending LF response.

It’s a fascinating combination of 1930’s Western Electric philosophy with modern bandwidth, power supplies, and signal isolation. The new preamp and new power amp are designed to work together in an all-balanced configuration, but the preamp has RCA and XLR inputs to cater to both traditional and modern phono preamps and DACs.

Troy has been listening to our development preamp and power amp for past six months in his system, so he’s been part of the subjective tuning team.

Price and lead time is entirely up to Troy (Joseph) Crowe, as well as the names for the preamp and power amp. We have layout suggestions for him, but the look and build materials will be his. He's a whiz at 3D modeling, so I'm curious how they will look.