1. Home
  2. amps-preamps
  3. 197324-200074

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
medium_grade
134 posts
 

@rjvissers 

 

VKMusic.ca is the North American distributor.

langla4
67 posts
 

I can’t stop loving my TUBE AUDIO LAB 300b hand built and fully customizable based on the WE-91 circuit.  Just google the name. I’ve rolled tubes and have settled on the Western Electric 300b and an Emission lab rectifier tube. In the $4500-$5500 range with good tubes.

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,404 posts
 

@langla4 Western Electric moved away from the WE-91 due to the 'bass problem'; that of being unable to make power at lower frequencies and making significantly higher distortion while attempting to do so. 

They came up with the 'parafeed' (parallel feed) SET circuit as a result.

rjvissers's avatar
rjvissers OP
29 posts
 

Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions. Now I have a couple of hours of Googling ahead of me! :-)

More to discover