300B,811,211 SE triodes

Message to "Rec".... Thanks to all who share your real and extremely valuable experiences which could have cost me dearly to attempt!! BTW Rec, please tell me more about your speaker specs. It's interesting because you mention some loss in LF&HF extension even with a 50watter which is huge by SE measure. Could it be your output tranny acting up? I'm very glad to be in this fabulous forum, please keep posting :-)

Hi Iceraven, To answer your question, I have a pair of Cary 805B mono blocks with NOS RCA 211 output tubes. My speakers are Von Schweikert VR5s rated at 91 dB and a nominal ompendence of 6 ohms. When I stated that the bass may be less I was comparing a tube amp over solid state. In my smaller room the bass is not a problem. As far as the top end extension, it is only with certain source material,some full classical recordings require more power to capture the sound on the vinyl or cd. With all equipment there will be trade offs, I feel that the overall sound from the SETs negate the shortcomings. In my second system I have tubes and electrostatic speakers, a complete different sound but I really prefer the SET sound.Hope this helps.

Hi Rec, the Cary 805B is a real gem! It's got 300B in the driver stage !!..www.caryaudio.com/review6.html features it. For my project, I'd need 2x300B's in parallel and still be on the borderline.I don't favor using parallel o/p tubes anyway, so 300B as output tube is definitely out. I'll consider the 211 and treading carefully in selecting the o/p trans. Hi Johnson.... I agree with you to a certain point. Its true, the Aerius can take up to 200W. My music resides in a small room and my present 21 watter class A ss amp has no problem driving the Aerius as much as i want. I still hope to build the single tube 211 SET which is about 23 watts in pure class A1 mode, depending on the o/p trans matching properly. Gee sure appreciate all your opinions and info. on this forum :-)