No doubt that your AD1 amplifier will acquit itself well. What speakers will it be paired with? If I were attending that show I would make it a point to hear that system and the Don Sachs amplifier room for sure.
Charles
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.
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@charles1dad Not sure what speakers yet. While my new amp is AD1 based, I think its strong points are more the design and power supply than the tubes used. I'm sure it would sound great in 300b too. Wish you were going to be there. I will be there several days and plan to fully appreciate Don's stuff. Jerry |
Great news - I own a fully tricked out one of Dons SP14 builds. Fantastic preamp. Will this new 300b push-pull require that much gain from a preamp (6SN7), or will it have normal input sensitivity? I'd also be very interested in an integrated version... don't know if that's on the cards. Could it even be a DIY kit (Elekit style 😁)... unlikely perhaps, but at least Don wouldn't need to build them anymore. VK Music seems to do well enough from this business model. Where do I sign up? |
@charles1dad The issue is always how much voltage swing will drive the tube to full output and how much grid capacitance is there. The more grid capacitance, the harder the tube is to drive. You can get a 6SN7 to drive a single 300b no sweat. But doing it the way is traditionally done in SETs will likely but the tube at a disadvantage. The 6EM7 does have one section that is considerably more gutsy than a 6SN7 has. But you will always be looking on the collector's market for replacements. The way to get a 6SN7 to really do the job is to have it wired as a cathode follower direct-coupled to the grid of the power tube. In this way the coupling cap used in the amp stays rather small since its driving the 6SN7 rather than the output tube. Smaller caps are more transparent... This is the technique we've used in our OTLs for several decades now. Its very reliable. One 6SN7 section is thus able to drive a number of highly capacitive triode grids with the voltage swing needed. I do not understand why this approach hasn't been used in SETs since the design consideration is similar. It might be because a negative power supply would be needed. But from what I've seen, SET users are not particularly worried about cost if the amp gets the job done for them.
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