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Mastersound 300B and bass

I've been planning on getting a Mastersound amp for some time as I've heard the Due Venti integrated a while ago and liked it a lot. Went through as many reviews of all their amps and the 300B seems to be the one that everybody liked a lot.

The one downside it may have of what I gather is that the bass is lacking a little, which the rest of what it does may well make up for.

Still would like to find out what owners of 300B amps have to say about this and if you'd suggest some other amp that may be similar.

The Due Venti with the EL34's did go pretty low and I'm wondering if the 300B may be similar to that. I don't expect lots of punch but a good bass I like.

The amp will drive a pair of Living Voice Avatars in a not overly big room.

Would appreciate any input on this. Of course it doesn't have to be a Mastersound, just liked the one I've heard and was surprised how sweet it was.

Thanks
krauti
jax2
3,031 posts
 
I'd echo what JohnK mentions about transformers: The Quicksilver amps I had were built with huge, hand-wound custom transformers, and, as I said, they did pretty damn good in the bass department compared to other 300B SET amps I've heard. The few SET amps I've heard with smaller trannies really gave it up on the extremes.
gjrad
142 posts
 
I have a MasterSound 300B SE amp and I am using it to drive a pair of Kharma 3.1 speakers, the sound is outstanding. This is the higher power version (approx 17 wpc) which uses the either the 32B or 300BXLS output tubes. I am currently using Emission Labs 300BXLS tubes and I have found the sound of this amp to be much more extended at the frequency extremes than a typical 300B amp. I am sure this is due in part to the higher power tubes but also as “Johnk” stated to the massive custom transformers MasterSound uses. If you are looking for a beautifully built 300B based amp with really good bass with the 300B magic you should consider the MasterSound 300B SE, the other plus is that this amp is an integrated amp but also has a “direct” input which bypasses the preamp stage, so you can use your own preamp should you desire. If you need any more information about this amp please let me know.
krauti OP
46 posts
 
Thanks for all the great input. With what all of you have said I'm set on getting a Mastersound 300B. Guess I could of course try to find a different 300B amp but as all the reviews of the Mastersound amps I've read are pretty good I don't see a reason to change my mind.

Thanks again
johnk's avatar
johnk
1,490 posts
 
Plus se300b has a cool tube cage keeps kids and pets from burns toss in remote control for volume a very good package. A remote is truly a good thing. Wish more SET integrates used one.
krauti OP
46 posts
 
Haha, the cage. As we don't have kids I'll be able to leave off the cage and enjoy the wonderful view of the glowy things that make it sound so great.

Now I have to start a different thread on how to convince my girlfriend to let me set it up in between the speakers where I can see it glow :) Maybe I need to remind her that she used to trap fireflies in a glass as a kid. And the 300B ones she doesn't need to feel bad about being trapped.
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