300b lovers


I have been an owner of Don Sachs gear since he began, and he modified all my HK Citation gear before he came out with his own creations.  I bought a Willsenton 300b integrated amp and was smitten with the sound of it, inexpensive as it is.  Don told me that he was designing a 300b amp with the legendary Lynn Olson and lo and behold, I got one of his early pair of pre-production mono-blocks recently, driving Spatial Audio M5 Triode Masters.  

Now with a week on the amp, I am eager to say that these 300b amps are simply sensational, creating a sound that brings the musicians right into my listening room with a palpable presence.  They create the most open vidid presentation to the music -- they are neither warm nor cool, just uncannily true to the source of the music.  They replace his excellent Kootai KT88 which I was dubious about being bettered by anything, but these amps are just outstanding.  Don is nearing production of a successor to his highly regard DS2 preamp, which also will have a  unique circuitry to mate with his 300b monos via XLR connections.  Don explained the sonic benefits of this design and it went over my head, but clearly these designs are well though out.. my ears confirm it. 

I have been an audiophile for nearly 50 years having had a boatload of electronics during that time, but I personally have never heard such a realistic presentation to my music as I am hearing with these 300b monos in my system.  300b tubes lend themselves to realistic music reproduction as my Willsenton 300b integrated amps informed me, but Don's 300b amps are in a entirely different realm.  Of course, 300b amps favor efficient speakers so carefully component matching is paramount.

Don is working out a business arrangement to have his electronics built by an American audio firm so they will soon be more widely available to the public.  Don will be attending the Seattle Audio Show in June in the Spatial Audio room where the speakers will be driven by his 300b monos and his preamp, with digital conversion with the outstanding Lampizator Pacific tube DAC.  I will be there to hear what I expect to be an outstanding sonic presentation.  

To allay any questions about the cost of Don's 300b mono, I do not have an answer. 

 

 

whitestix
Post removed 

Hi Lynn,

I found online only one filament transformer for 5V - Hammond 546-166MS. This transformer has only one 5v 3A tap. So I need 2 such transformers. I use Hammond in my DIY phono stage. But IMHO Hammond transformers are built cheap compared to Lundahl, Hashimoto, AN or even James Audio. 
Is these Hammond good enough for this task?

if you can fit a toroid in there, then look at the antek site.  They have small filament transformers and may have what you want.  AN0205 is 25VA with dual 5V windings so will give you 2.5 A x 2.   They are fine for what you want.  they also sell transformer covers.  If you want to regulate the filament supply for each 300b then you can get a 2 x 7V.  

Yes, plenty good enough for the job. Don’s comments above are right on the mark.

What you want is isolation. Stage-to-stage, and isolation of the critical filament supply.

And if you really want to get hardcore, make sure all the cathode circuitry, of each section, comes down to a single star ground on the main ground bus-bar. So, star ground for 6SN7 cathode components, a few inches away, the star ground for all 6F6/6V6 cathode components, and another few inches away on the main bus-bar, all the cathode components for the 300B. The idea is keep all audio currents local to that stage, and to that stage only, and only have DC return currents on the main ground bus-bar. You would be surprised how few high-end components do this.

The presentation below is for advanced students. You know who you are:

European Triode Festival Presentation

ETF Part Two

Yes, you do star grounding, and you always do "sub" stars for each stage.  At least that is how I do it.....