I should also mention that a very well heeled audiophile, and dear friend, recently sold his 300B monoblocks and moved to a pair of 45 amps that he had long dreamed of owning. The buyer of his amps didn't want to pay a premium for his nearly new (125 hours) Elrog 300B's (second version). So he was left with those after the sale. He kindly gifted them to me for use in my new monoblocks. These are clearly exceptional tubes, but I don't think anyone would describe them as having significant warmth.
Any 300B Has A Bit Warmer Presentation?
Would appreciate any thoughts on currently available 300B's that tend to be a bit warmer than average 300B in sound signature. I have a system put together that is nearly perfect but just a touch more warmth would put it over the top and the two 300B's are the only remaining avenue to find that. The rest of the system is optimized, otherwise. Budget is up to $1000.00 a pair, absolute max. A lower price would be preferred. Thanks for any assistance with this.
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I own Takatsuki 300B they are much warmer and more detailed then the Psvane 300B. Which are the only other ones I have tried. But lots can be gained from AI. Subject to verification of course.
1) Overall tiered ranking by “warmth”Warmest → Most neutral/lean
2) Overall tiered ranking by “detail”Most resolving → Softest
3) Placement map (quick chooser)
4) Best picks by goal & budget
5) Matching notes (to land your target sound)
6) Caveats that matter
I did the query by warmth and detail... to be able to separate warm but mushy tubes. Typically you want both. |
ghdprentice thanks VERY much form your information. Of course, the 300B tubes noted as warmest are the two far beyond my budget, the Western Electric and the Takatsuki. And, even if I had the money, I wouldn’t touch a pair of Western Electrics given the apparent drop off in quality and sound over the past year with recent production. Next up would be the Sophia Princess, and, given the experiences with short life and failure that friends of mine and I, as well as forum members, etc. have had I wouldn't take a pair of those for free. Doesn't look promising.Regardless, the input is greatly appreciated. |
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/coincident-frankenstein-mk-2-amps Hi nightfall, I responded to your other thread regarding your Coincident amps. The above thread which is 12 years old is still relevant today for owners of Coincident Frankenstein amps imo. There is a good discussion regarding which 300 B’s work well with the Franks. Also, some good info on rectifier tubes. Charles1dad and others give valuable insight in this thread. As for seeking more warmth, I too felt the same way when I first got my Franks. I had commented to Charles way back when I first got my amps that I wanted more “meat on the bones.” Instead of replacing the stock 300B tubes with a notably warmer 300B, I went with the EML 300B XLS tubes, just like Charles and others in that thread did. The EML is a neutral, very natural sounding tube that allows you to hear differences in cables and source components. It is not hyper detailed as the above AI response might suggest. When I wanted more scale and weight (some might call this warmth), I accomplished my goal with cables, careful vetting of dacs, and improvements to my analog playback system. One of the main attributes of the Frankensteins are their transparency and a warmer tube might compromise this imo. For me, it has been a blast over the years to more easily hear the differences between cables, dacs, cartridges, etc. If it were me, I would stick with the Elrogs, which Charles also loved, and build around them, assuming your Elrogs are newer production and over the QC issues of the past. |
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