300b lovers

Gents,

This was an excellent glimpse in to the design process, voicing the sound of the electronics, that has always mystified me.  Since getting Don's first preamp many years ago, he did improve upon the sound of the preamp with a few capacitor upgrades... not rushing right to the very pricey Dueland caps, but sleuthing out caps with similar SQ characteristic at affordable prices to the benefit of his customers' pocketbooks.  V-caps in the DS2 are very nice improvement.  As Lynn mentioned and I am sure Don agrees, there are go-to components for the gear.  I know from visiting with Don how much of a revelation it was to get the Cinemax transformers which is proof positive of his relentless search for excellence.

I always think that Don's prime aim was designing his gear for his own listening pleasure, and after 15 years of knowing him, I trust in his ears and know that others enjoy the fruits of his labors.  That you two collaborated on these 300b amps indicates to me that he is willing to stretch out with his designs, involving Lynn and working with Cinemax to get the properly designed components.   Often one doesn't see the whole picture and two heads are often better than one.

I have had your mono's running since dawn and I am inclined to wonder if my Spatial Audio Triode Masters have somehow been swapped for the excellent MBL speakers that I hear at every audio show... providing a holographic sound image, with amazing inner details and significant heft in the LF... and of course the HF is ethereal. I suppose I exaggerate to my peril, but the presentation of the music is just 3-D remarkable.   The sound is neither warm nor cool tonally, it is just true to the source. 

@whitestix 

When I "voice" amps and preamps I am always trying to make them sound like they are not there.  I have a Lampizator Pacific DAC so the front end is killer.  I am always trying to have the amps vanish.  That is the goal.  They should just sound like music and not be warm or cool or anything.  Lynn's circuit is amazing.  If you put a really good power supply in front of it and really good output transformers behind it you get the vanishing act......

I "voice" things mostly with recordings of acoustic instruments and vocals of course.   Does the piano or mandolin sound real?  So I have my favorite 100 test tracks.  Of course I enjoy Pink Floyd or a live Dead show, but you don't really know what the electric guitar is supposed to sound like. That sort of music will tell you if your amp rocks, but not if instruments sound convincing.  I know what a mandolin or stand up bass sounds like.  I love David Grisman's acoustic disc label.  I love the last recording of the Goldberg variations that Glenn Gould made.  If I can easily follow the left and right hands with no strain, then the amps are good.  I really like Myriam Alter's compositions.  She plays on some of them, but they are always interesting music with hints of Klezmer and all sorts of other influences.  They are usually 3 to 5 instruments, like piano, clarinet, bandoneon, and interesting percussion.  If you can easily follow an individual instrument or switch to listening to the whole, then the amp is good.  I find this circuit to be FAR better than any amp I have ever heard.  The reason is that it avoids many sorts of distortion that plague other circuits.  You don't really know you are listening to all of that until it is gone, or at least very minimized.  So what you hear is really the lack of all the other things you usually hear in other amps.  That allows only the music to remain, floating in the air in your room.  I find it quite astonishing after all the years of restoring classic tube amps, and then building my own, to hear what this approach brings.  Very enlightening.

Wish  the amp was going to be at T.H.E. Show in SoCal as i would love to hear it.

I look forward to hearing this amp at PAF. I'm currently running 300B PSET Monoblocks (transformer coupled) and love the way they sound. 

When individuals that have a keen interest in Audio and are time served, make a discovery that is able thoroughly impress, there should be little doubt as to the devices capabilities when properly partnered with supporting ancillaries.

Even though these Amp's are yet to receive a name, I know they will capture many when encountering them for a Demo', and a fair amount of talk should follow on. I know this experience personally through using my system for Public Attended events where demo's of my system and multiple other owned systems have been exhibited for demo' purposes.    

I wish the Amp' was available for one of my Local HiFi Groups future get togethers.

I'm sure all the owned and respected Sources and the selection of Quad ESL Speakers will be partnered to it for numerous hours of indulgencing in the delights it can conjure.