300B, 2A3 experiances wanted


I took the plunge and bought an Elekit 8900 which I plan to assemble later this year when the weather here in the Northeast starts to get too nasty to be outdoors. I have not bought the tubes yet and would greatly appreciate hearing from any of you who have direct experiance with this amp and the tubes it takes. It will be played into, at different times, Klipsch Heresy 1's, homemade open baffles featuring Lii Audio F15 full range speakers with no crossovers and maybe even my KEF LS50s on occasion.

I like detail, texture and tone as well as a sense of space and air. Generally listen to acoustic instruments in the jazz and classical traditions, 80-85 db being plenty loud for me. I'm interested in what you think are the best bang for the buck tubes as well as some that might be on the aspirational side.

My prior tube experiance included a Dynakit ST-35 amp i build last winter and a Decware Zkit SE84 I put together the year before that. I find the Deware strangely enchanting but a bit noisy, and the ST-35 is clean and clear but, perhaps because it is a push-pull design and and not a SET, sometimes not as magical as the SE84. Kind of hoping that the third tube amp, Elekit TU8900,  with the right tubes might be the charm. I might mention that I plan to build it stock initally but might consider investing in alternate caps and output transformers if the vaunted 300B/2a3 lives up to it's legend.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Ag insider logo xs@2xbruce19

Hi Alex, 

The link is just for the US Audio Mart. You may search for 6V6 tube from there.

There are a lot of vintage 6v6 tubes. Which of them sound good?

The new 6v6 I see Psvane. I have Pasvane 5u4g and 12ax7 and they do sound good. On the level of good (but not the best) vintage tubes.

There is a new JJ 6v6. But I have a JJ ECC803S and I hate the sound of this tube. They have such a bad midrange. They sound like a bad SS amplifier. So JJ tubes are not my cup of tea.

I'm currently running Linlai E-Series 2A3 tubes in my Yamamoto A011. So far, I like them the best of the handful I've tried.