The 300B World
Disclosure: I am not new to Aric Audio, but I am new to the 300B.
I took delivery of my Aric Audio 300B PSET a couple of months ago. Since then, every listening hour has been different than it would have been were I new to both. I want to know who is responsible for what I'm hearing. So, the overriding question every observation is passed through is simply "Was that the 300B or was that the 'Aric Audio Heft'?" Over the years I have purchased a number of different amps and preamps from Aric and have come to identify certain characteristics that can be expected from all of his builds. That's why I keep going back. Examples include the "dead black" background, the solid signal strength delivered by his preamps, the ease with which the soundstage can be mapped, and the raw power resulting from the overbuilt approach he takes in his design work: "The Aric Audio Heft." Knowing what I would get from any Aric Audio amp is instrumental in being able to appreciate the magic of the "show off tube."
I've heard it said that people who go to the 300B never really come back and I've been intrigued by that ever since. It invites critical listening across the broadest spectrum of music one can tolerate. It's here that observations are bagged and tagged, the first being the kind of music I listen to matters much less because I find myself listening differently and hearing so much more. One of my favorites is the leading edge of the lower frequencies and the way every beat reminds me that I'm listening to a 300B. The way I would characterize the sound profile would be to say it's as if the veil has finally been lifted and the distance between the performance and my listening chair closed. You know it immediately even if you can't quite define it yet and it commands your attention.
For some reason I'm surprised by how closely the tonal qualities of SET and PSET modes align. Somehow, I thought there would be more of a "sonic cost" for that extra power. I'm still cautious here though because the quad of tubes I'm using for PSET mode are not topflight tubes. So, the final analysis will have to wait until I can level the playing field. In SET mode I'm listening to a pair of Gold Lions, which I consider to be at least among the heavyweights. The question I'm presently grappling with is which tubes come next? I've done my due diligence researching the various offerings and think it will be a quad of Emission Labs XLS 300Bs. Any input around your experience with 300B tubes I would welcome. Yes, I have my wish list that starts with the Western Electrics (which I'm sure I'll own one day) but the guidance I'm seeking here is the step between now and then. What would be a suitable tube to take an already remarkable experience to a whole new level? Conversely, are there tubes that I should simply stay away from? My thanks to all. Happy listening.
@charles1dad back in the 1980s the bit in your last sentence was true. But since the newer analyzer tools have become available, no longer. I’ve noticed though that such has little impact since people doing measurements often don’t do enough or the right ones; manufacturers don’t always publish them and finally, there’s not enough education in the field to be able to interpret what the measurements imply. But if the stars align then you can accurately predict how a circuit will sound, based entirely on the measurements.
To the first sentence, I’ve not found that to be the case, although with any kind of inductive coupling good iron is essential! Choke coupling is mostly an excuse to use an expensive inductor when a good resistor will do as well with wider bandwidth. Put another way, if more time was spent optimizing the operating point of the tube and less on fancy inductors that wind up (if you see what I did there) being mostly for show and tell, the circuit would exhibit the same positive attributes. Any circuit that is zero feedback will be affected by nearly everything in it since there is nothing to reject distortion, phase shift and the like. To this end, to avoid phase shift you need really wide bandwidth. To avoid distortion, you need good quality parts, each part of the circuit optimized for the operating point of the active device (since this issue applies to solid state circuits with zero feedback as well) and proper layout to avoid stability problems and noise pickup. |
@calloway. I’ve been sitting on the fence for a while about the WE tubes.I’m also using the ACME matched top shelf 300B and 805’s in my Line Magnetic LM805ia. I’ve been reading about these WE 300B tubes for a long time. In your opinion: Is the ACME to WE tube upgrade worth the $cost? Was it a: "I should have done this a long time ago" or "Meh, they're a little better than the ACME's"?
calloway867 posts
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@charles1dad …”This is an astute observation. It has been my contention for quite some time that those with thorough engineering and science backgrounds are open minded and do not dismiss what listeners say they hear…”.
+1 to your post. Having been a scientist, engineer, and IT executive through my career I have so many times and so quickly broken through the fully described and understood world of science and engineering it amazed me. It is not the big stuff… like dropping a 2,000 pound object. It is important as soon as nuances are important. High end audio, a great example. Hearing is an amazing facility, particularly when a trained ear is involved. |
300b needs carefully matched loudspeakers. Otherwise, it's pushed into higher distortion you want to surf the 1st few watts. Most SET users don't use SET-friendly speaker systems. I have a few 300b amps now. They do best with front horns or full-range drivers that are horn-loaded. The speaker pictured is using a 300b amplifier. |
