300B or 845?

With your speakers and your musical preference, the 300B is the way to go! I have both,300B and 845 monos. The 300B will give a little more bloom in the upper bass to lower mids. Where as an 845 will be a little more neutral in it's presentation. If you really want to hear female vocals, try a good 2A3. This tube is the most romantic of all triodes. It will give a little more bloom in the upper freq.s when compared to a 300B. The 45 tube and the 845 are in my opinion the most neutral of the triodes. In fact an 845 ,to me, sounds like an 45 on steriods. I keep all the metioned tube SET amps around for my mood changes and musical preference at the time. The 845 will do rock and classical better. But, it's not as sweet in the mids as the 300B or the 2A3. It really will come down to your musical taste and sound preference. They're all great! I can't live without any of them.

Per Philefreak, I'd agree on the suggestion to try listening to some 2A3 SET amps, especially an amp like the Wright 3.5. But I would add that you'll be pushing the limits at 96db efficiency if you like listening at louder levels on some music. If you go that route I might suggest very careful speaker selection as you are only talking about 3 watts of power at that point. Those three wats are pretty magical if done right though. I can give you my own comparison of 2A3 vs 300B: I'd agree that the 2A3 does vocals like no other tube, but in a SET configuration, in my experience, it has come with what I might term a lack of fullness in the range. The 2A3 tube in SET is all about midrange and upper midrange. The lows are not a strong point with the 2A3. I would put that choice at the extreme end of selection in considerations, though if you truly do listen to 90% female vocals, I'd say it'd be an excellent suggestion as well, given the caveat that you'll be looking at different speakers. I do love the Wright Mono 10's which use 2A3's in a push/pull configuration to yield about 11 watts. This, to me, yields a fuller sound from those tubes, while maintaining that magic midrange potential. I'm not sure if there are other 2A3 amps that use the tube in that way, but it may be another choice to consider. It is closer in fullness to my 300B amp, while having a bit of an edge in female vocals (a bit more sweet and airy). In my 300B amp I would say it is a more balanced implementation of the strengths of SET and less of a sacrifice in any one.

As far as the overpriced WE 300B tubes, do keep in mind that they are by no means the only good choice. There are plenty of decent 300B's out there that you don't need to sign over your first born to obtain. Certainly the WE's are an outstanding tube, and I use a pair myself, but the more recent production tubes typically can be found for $400-800 pair and have a predicted lifespan of 10,000 hours. I've read a few recent shootouts and comments here that maintain that the newer Svet's and the JJ gold's are not far off the mark, and to some ears may be superior than the WE's. There's an abundance of 300B's to choose from in current production. Your selection of current production 845 tubes is quite limited AFAIK. 2A3's also, though not quite as limited, though the simple Sovtek 2A3's are actually excellent tubes in my amps, and well respected. NOS 2A3's go for some pretty large coin too, though not quite as much as the 300B's that were mentioned, which I think is ridiculous personally.

Marco

Amen Marco,

I've not heard any P/P 2A3s. Have heard several 300B P/P. The P/P always seems to make things a little more neutral. A 300B amp that is designed right can scare the pants off of you! I'm actually listening to some Joule Electra OTLs now. I'm so surprised how much I still like phase splitting amps! They sound like solid state tube amps! I think the poster has a pair of Hornings. I have the Horning Agathon Ultimates and know that the Horning like at least 6 watts.

My guilty pleasure would be trying a Cary 805 Anniversary which uses 300B & 845/211 tubes!

Good Luck!*>)

Marco is dead on. In fact, he owns both a 300B and a 2A3 amp which must be returned to their previous owners...pronto!