So, how about changing your speakers to something more efficient? Or, looking at other tubes like GM70 or 211?Check out Lampizator and NAT.
Recommendations on stuff to look at for upgrading a 300B SET amp
I built an Elekit 300B SET amp with tons of upgrades (e.g. Mudorf caps, Takman resistors, Lundhaul power supplies and output transformers, etc.). I love the amp but I wanted to increase power from 8w a side to 16-25 while staying in the SET camp. I'm just starting the process of brainstorming. I was thinking of 300B monoblocks,
845 tube integrated or similar. I want to stay under $5k and would need to sell some stuff--I have a wonderful Primaluna HP integrated with a good chunk of tubes to sell if I did this. I love that amp too but I don't need the power with horn loudspeakers and found the 300B a better match.
Here are some off the head thoughts:
Manley 300B monoblocks (have to be used to make budget)
Cayin
Line Magnetic
Bottlehead 300B monoblock kit
I can do an integrated (but if it's an integrated I prefer a remote) or standalone amps and run them with a Schitt Freya I have for now. Any advice will be appreciated in my research!
845 tube integrated or similar. I want to stay under $5k and would need to sell some stuff--I have a wonderful Primaluna HP integrated with a good chunk of tubes to sell if I did this. I love that amp too but I don't need the power with horn loudspeakers and found the 300B a better match.
Here are some off the head thoughts:
Manley 300B monoblocks (have to be used to make budget)
Cayin
Line Magnetic
Bottlehead 300B monoblock kit
I can do an integrated (but if it's an integrated I prefer a remote) or standalone amps and run them with a Schitt Freya I have for now. Any advice will be appreciated in my research!
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- 27 posts total
@atmasphere , I know you to be super knowledgeable and I really appreciate what you are saying--so much so that it’s making me rethink the tube world, even if just for today. My speakers are 99dB efficient by specs. Maybe I’m just better off staying put. I loved the push pull Primaluna with my PSB T2s (89dB) but I ventured into the 300B world and loved its intoxicating recreation of vocals. Maybe the solution is just to run two systems? I almost know you have to be right about the 20-25% rule just by what I hear, which is nothing compared to your experience level as a builder of fine amps. |
Yes- I get what the allure of the SET is all about. That inner detail they are known for comes out of the fact that as power levels are reduced, the distortion decreases to unmeasurable. When the distortion is gone, detail is revealed. There aren't many push-pull amps for which that is the case, but there are a few. The problem is that you can't get much bigger than the 300b; people have built SETs with dual 300bs that aren't too bad but they are only 3dB more powerful (which is to say, twice the power); the problem is that the way the ear hears, 3dB just isn't that much louder. If you really want to play things louder you need at minimum 6dB more power, which is 4x more power than you have now. A 30 watt push pull amp that sounds nice isn't that hard to find, but an SET with that sort of power is challenging. Its that, get more efficient speakers, or live with what you have.... |
It may come down to living with what I have. At lower volumes the 300b SET is lovely. I’m curious to hear this as it is 4x my current output but still SET. I’m not familiar with the power tube though. Drivers look to be 300bs though. https://www.line-magnetic.eu/en/products-line-magnetic-en/integrated-tube-amplifier-line-magnetic-en... |
- 27 posts total