Horning owners what amps have you used?

Trelja,
I must respectfully disagree with your 2A3/300b comparison, it just restatting the usual stereotypes(bass performance varies widely among 300b tubes and individual amps) Both are fine DHT tubes, one is`nt inherently better, Far too many choices of 300b(wide ranging quality) to neatly apply general characteristics. It you prefer the 2A3 no problem,it`s all subjective, I prefer the 300b. A high quality 300b amplifier SET or PP will drive the Horning wonderfully, as would a high quality 2A3(PP),211,845 etc.

The fact that Dpe is curious about other amps(who is`nt from time to time) does`nt mean he`s disatisfied with his current 300b amp(which he clearly indicates he is`nt).

IMO he should try other amps, he may find better or just different, maybe realize that his current set-up is best afterall, who knows.
Best Regards,

To me its the total design not just what tube the amplifier uses. I've heard weak bloated 2a3 wonderful strong 2a3 300b with no bass below 40hz and 300bs that are driving loudspeakers into 20hz.

Dpe, Read up on the Cary 805 monoblocks. They may do the trick for you. This is what led me to a pair:

I own/owned 45, 2a3, 300b and 845 amps. My favorite is a 300b (well designed of course). I have them mated to "proper" speakers in one of my systems. My other system has Magnepan 3.6's and I wanted to see if I could get any of the SET magic to play thru them. I was able to pull it off with the Cary 805 (Anniversary Edition). This model (the AE) uses a 300b to drive either an 845 or 211 and is rated at 50 wpc with the 845 and 70 with the 211. It does what I had hoped for.

A big part of it might be due to using the 300b tube as a driver. I know that I can hear changes when I have used different 300b's like the WE,KR,EML and Sophia Meshes. I was also suprised that I preferred the 211 to the 845 but I do like them both and it's nice being able to switch.

My Maggies are less efficient than your speakers but it worked for this 300b "SET" lover.

JohnK,
My point exactly, you could audtion 5 different 300b amps in the same system and they would sound nothing alike. I`ve heard 2A3 amps sound great and others crappy.

Onemug, I would`nt advise a 300b SET to drive Maggies, but the Horning is an entirely different story.But your point in the effect of various 300b tubes as a 'driver' is spot on.

Charles1dad and Johnk, what you both have said is 100% true.

However, for whatever reason, you're missing my point that head to head - again keeping all other variables constant, the 2A3 will outshine the 300B tube when it comes to bass response. And, it will not be close enough to call it a race.