300b lovers

@pindac 

Our egos are not too bruised.  We have a pretty thick skin.  No matter what you do, there will be a certain number of people who are unhappy.  It cannot be helped.  This thread has been a wonderful discussion of amp topologies, with all points of view respected and debated.  Even a little philosophy and the nature of perception tossed in.  As was stated early on, these are prototypes that were shown in Seattle.  Most people seemed to have a favorable impression, and there are already tweaks afoot before the final versions start to be manufactured later this year.  We had great fun in Seattle meeting many other audiophools:)  We tried to accommodate most people and play tracks and volume levels they wished to hear.  Things got crazy on Saturday in our and many other rooms.  It was quite the turnout.  Again, we tried to accommodate everyone.  Friday and Sunday were much calmer.  If one person felt mistreated so be it.  We can only do the best we can,

I have enjoyed the project with Lynn for over a year now, and we are close to making them available for sale.  Like any audio product, some folks will really like them, and some folks not so much.  This is always the expectation.  The Pacific Audio Fest was a perfect example of how many different ways there are to build a stereo at different price points and levels of performance.  Some things are well worth the asking price, and others are not.  Let the customer decide.

I am all in, 'in this thread', it has catapulted me back in time, to when I was involved in discussion with a EE, who was helping me achieve something quite unique as a Valve Power Amp'. A very enjoyable period and wonderful to be reminisced.

The Bruised Ego is certainly not pointed at any regular contributor to this thread.

It is specifically for @me! me! me! carter, who felt the need to declare two designers as ringleaders and many/all Thread contributors as accomplices to a 'Sting'. 

What a Bungalow this individual has shown themselves to be.  

Ralph, it seems curious to me that knowledgable audiophiles would rely on anything but sound to be the arbiter of their purchase decisions.  Tube gear is a hassle and costly, but to my ears, it is the price to pay for such magnificent sound. I think buyers buy tube gear because it sounds better, pure and simple.   

Yes. That is what keeps any manufacturer in high end audio in business :)

The Raven is particularly well-suited to driving transistor amps because:

1) The transformers prohibit the transmission of DC pulses to RCA and XLR outputs, under all conditions, including total failure.

2) Unlike solid-state preamps, there are no DC servos to fail. There are no coupling caps on the output to store turn-on pulses, unlike cathode-follower designs. No muting relays are needed, or used, so the signal path is direct from transformer secondary to output.

@lynn_olson FWIW dept.: We've been using a direct-coupled output for our fully balanced tube preamps since their inception in 1989. To that end we've used a servo to sense and correct DC at the output. Here's the FWIW bit: a servo is (or should be) very reliable. We've not had a failure since their inception.

I upgraded my DACT VC by using constant serial resistors and "half" of DACT itself like a shunt resistor. I used Shinkoh 0.5W resistors before and now I use AN Silver 2W resistors.

I now have a VC, which comprises of two matched Stepped Att' VC's for the mono block Pre-Amp' Design .

These are produced by a friend of mine specially for my Pre-Amp's Design only.

The usual ones produced are for my friends Buffer Pre' Design, I was requiring ones that are with a different measurement at 50K.

The Pre' Builder has expressed his satisfaction with them, and has heard them compared to a very similar Pre-Amp' design that has the other VC I referred to.