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Opinion on Elekit 8300 300b

I am thinking of building this kit. I would like to get into SET's and expand my DIY. Currently have Green Mountain EOS HDx's with Ayre QB9 and Ayre AX7e. The GMA's are only 90dB but a very simple xover and easy to drive.

I tried a MiniWatt Pentode SET with 3.5 watts and it sounded very nice for guitar, voice and violin. The 300b kit has 8 watts and would be sufficient for the kind of listening I intend to do with it. I will def keep my Ayre for R&R, dub step etc.

I have built computers (in the old days) and soldered chips so I know how to solder and know digital well. Just am not so familiar with analog stuff and power.

I am interested in trying lots of mods over time so may be investing money in it.

Questions are:

1. Is it worth the money as a starter kit?
2. Is it an upgradeable platform or does the use of PCB's negate that?
3. Would I be better off using a wired platform from the start?
4. Anyone know about the Elekit kit that has interchangeable 2a3 and 300b? Sounds interesting but maybe the tradesoffs are too great.

I know about Audionote and Bottlehead but these kits really almost double the cost and I would prefer to try different mods and upgrades. Also want to build a set of Single driver speakers soon too.

Thanks for you opinions! Oh, really not trying to stir a debate about tubes vs SS. I like em both really and want both of them in my audio quiver!

Drew.
drewh1
9 responses Add your response
viridian's avatar
viridian
4,184 posts
 
The Bottlehead 2A3 stereo kit is easily within your price range and is very upgradable. It is a stone classic that has been refined over several generations. The difference in power output between this and a 300B amp is around 4db, which IMHO is not going to rock your world.

A properly designed power supply is going to give you more drive than a few extra watts. The Miniwatt is a poor comparison as it has a minimal switching power supply.

Just my 2 cents.
drewh1 OP
92 posts
 
I know, the Miniwatt is not much of an ammp but a friend had one laying around. I was interested in just getting a baseline around output.

The Bottlehead looks very nice and is not based on PCB's. Definitely a contender. So I guess I really need to decide whether to go 2a3 or 300b as a starting point. I do really want an upgradeable platform for caps, volume control etc.

Thanks alot for your input!
viridian's avatar
viridian
4,184 posts
 
Drew, just another shout out. I have rebuilt four Bottlehead kits and I am on my fifth, the discontinued Foreplay III extended. To my surprise, I had a problem with the power supply that I could not debug. I have been wrestling with it for three weeks. So, I posted my first post on the Bottlehead forum this morning. It's an early morning post, on a forum for a discontinued product. I figured it might be a few days, or never, until I got some input. Wrong! Their resident tech head was on it within thirty minutes of my post - could've been sooner, that's when I checked back. He offered some great advice. Shortly thereafter, the designer of the preamp, Paul Joppa was on asking me to take some resistance measurements and giving me the genesis of the particular transformer used in the product. Yup, on a Saturday morning. I'm shocked....really, really shocked. A hearty "Thanks!" to Grainger and Paul.
drewh1 OP
92 posts
 
Just pulled the trigger and ordered the 2a3 Stereomour. I have the manual but the kits are awaiting transformers.

Viridian - Thanks for your input. The Bottlehead Forum is really helpful too.
viridian's avatar
viridian
4,184 posts
 
Drew, I want to build that one as well. It seems like the perfect balance of cool looks, functionality, and cost. While you are waiting, you might just want to order some upgraded signal caps, the power supply caps are great as they come from the factory. Shouldn't be too expensive at all, and my experience with their kits is that better caps are a genuine enhancement. There is lots of info on the Bottlehead forums about that.

I e-mailed Eileen over the weekend to get a new transformer for my Foreplay III extended. I told her it was not urgent. I'm sure she'll touch base this week.

drewh1 OP
92 posts
 
Hi Veridian - I'll let you know how it goes. It is supposed to ship this week. I am taking everyone's advice from the forum - build it stock then upgrade!

Might make a goldpoint the first upgrade - love the way they look and right in the signal path. I will be only hooking up one input and will eliminate the cheapo selector switch in the initial build. Should be fun and educational at any rate.
viridian's avatar
viridian
4,184 posts
 
Drew it's "viridian", with three "i"s. Good luck with the build, it should be very, very easy. I would appreciate you getting back with your impressions, either in this thread or e-mail me off board.

The Goldpoint is a beautiful control and a great place to start. I'm a cap guy, so I tend to go there first. It seems like the dimensions and the look make it the best looking Bottlehead piece they have ever made, IMHO. But I'm not much on their new sanded metal finish. I usually get out the spray can of hammertone silver at the first moment.

Happy listening!
drewh1 OP
92 posts
 
Oops - Viridian it is! I will definitely let you know and will likely have questions about caps as I get more deeply into it. Thanks for the tip about the Hammerton paint.
viridian's avatar
viridian
4,184 posts
 
Hammerite or hammertone paint, it's a type of finish that looks like the paint has been hammered. All of the ancient gear used this finish. It comes in rattle cans at all of the usual places, Target, Lowes, Home Depot, etc. It's nice because it will cover a multitude of sins in whatever it is covering. And it adds some visual interest. It is usually available in silver and gray. Lots of the guys are using the copper finish these days. Here is an example:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://corvaircenter.com/phorum/file.php%3F1,file%3D65115,filename%3Dfin_hammertone.jpg&imgrefurl=http://corvaircenter.com/phorum/read.php?1,456294,456294&h=577&w=577&sz=76&tbnid=qeobxL5ofgJzRM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=90&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhammertone%2Bpaint%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=hammertone+paint&usg=__D8JQamw_2_5LtwDDgkrdVULEh2Y=&docid=roJfZe7RxAXaMM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=DygXUe67KufdigK0lIGgBg&ved=0CDIQ9QEwAQ&dur=57

Great luck with your project!
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