Need recommendation for 300B (SET) Stereo amplifier


Hi All,

My Willsenton R300 Plus (14 months old) just started to burn through rectifier tubes. Not sure what to do about that? However I did collect some very nice 300B tubes and would like to invest in an heirloom quality 300B amplifier (SET, Stereo, power or integrated, ideally with balanced XLR inputs). There are hundreds of threads on Audiogon on this topic, but some of the amps recommended seem to be hard to find/buy. I have been looking at Cary (mixed reviews), Manley (fairly expensive), Decware Sarah (long wait times) and the Western Electric 91E. The 91E seems to be an interesting blend of old and new technologies. I'm tempted. Any recommendations?

rjvissers

To piggy back on Finale Audio recommendation, I would highly agree. I have the Finale 300B EVO and couldn't be happier. It's paired with a "not compatible" speaker, the Evolution Acoustics MMicro One. My plan was to use those speakers then sell them for a high efficient speaker but I was surprised on how well the amp did powering them. I believe they're 87db efficient or close to that. 

Sound wise, it's everything you would expect a 300B to have and yet my biggest surprise was the bass it gave my speakers.

If you want a good review of it check out Jeff Dorgays review in Tone Magazine. 

@ditusa : Thanks Mike: I've been on the Coincident website a few times but I could not find a way to order on-line (and they have no Dealers according to the website).

@doyle3433 : Thank you very much for the recommendations, currently checking those out!

@glennewdick : Thanks also, checking out the offerings!

Have you considered Dennis Had of Cary fame. I have one of his SEP amps that I very much enjoy. He’s produced a 300b that’s garnered favorable reviews. He’s radioman731 on EBay. He’s on a few sites but I can’t be of help. Contact him about a build, he’s a super guy. Regards , Mike B. 

@rjvissers 

SETs tend to have problems playing bass due to how the output transformer is built.

Western Electric sorted out a way around that using a circuit known as 'parafeed' (parallel feed).

They are rare, as best I can make out because explaining how they work is tricky. But there is an excellent kit:

Bottlehead 300b

This amp can make full power at 20Hz; most SETs can't make full power even an octave above that. Distortion is lower too, since bass causes most SETs to make excess distortion (for them the simple solution is don't let bass into them in the first place). Since the parafeed amp doesn't present the power tube with any weird loads like regular SETs do, its distortion in the bass region is lower. 

They can be just as musical as regular SETs. It should not be that hard to find someone who can built the kit for you if you can't do it yourself.