300B or 845?

Amen Marco,

I've not heard any P/P 2A3s. Have heard several 300B P/P. The P/P always seems to make things a little more neutral. A 300B amp that is designed right can scare the pants off of you! I'm actually listening to some Joule Electra OTLs now. I'm so surprised how much I still like phase splitting amps! They sound like solid state tube amps! I think the poster has a pair of Hornings. I have the Horning Agathon Ultimates and know that the Horning like at least 6 watts.

My guilty pleasure would be trying a Cary 805 Anniversary which uses 300B & 845/211 tubes!

Good Luck!*>)

Marco is dead on. In fact, he owns both a 300B and a 2A3 amp which must be returned to their previous owners...pronto!

Antique Sound 1009 845 monoblocks are very good, so is Cary 805C.

Right now I have an 845 amp - deHavilland Ios - and a 300B - Audio Note Meishu. They are both excellent, but different. The 845 is more dynamic with better PRAT, and possibly soundstages more specifically. The 845 has tighter, deeper bass. The 300B is more natural with more bloom, more 3 dimensional. I enjoy them both and as some will tell it's simply more fun to have more than one amp. I don't like the cost of the 300B tubes. And there are fewer 845s to choose from. The 845 is more powerful and will give you more headroom.

For your listening prefs I would recommend the 300B. It is great with that kind of music and is more natural with acoustic instruments. With 96 db you should do fine with a 300B.

But please take my comments with salt since they are not only different tubes but different designs as well with different goals.