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.
donsachs: When do you think your new 300b mono-blocks will be available for order? I would want to buy them independently of a package with the Spatial Audio speakers as I have a pair of Daedalus Apollos (sensitivity about 96db) that I am super pleased with. I want to upgrade an integrated tube amp and have been patiently looking for the right 300b amp to drive them. |
I have a purifi amp and it couldn’t hold a candle to the original 300b statement prototype. I love new class D as when you get the synergy right I find it to top any SS class AB I’ve heard. But the 300b just makes everything right. I find it odd because it does even the technical attributes better. The blackground is soooooo black, the details precisely rendered, and the soundstage depth of the charts. The only system I’ve heard that could compete was a magico paired with ClassE mono blocks. But even that system while the soundstage was mind melting it was very polished sounding. The 300b statement has much more realistic tone with great texture. |
I’m not sure how the 300b statements could achieve such great technical performance over some of the “state of the art” amplifiers I’ve had in. Maybe Lynn, Don or Ralph could comment on that. It’s put things into perspective that maybe just maybe we don’t know every way to quantify all measurements to what we hear. |
@donsachs That was true back in the 1980s. It really isn't now. Measurement technology has really advanced in the last 40 years! Its the distortion of any amplifier that is its 'sonic signature'. There are many class D amps I've heard over the years that I had to struggle to take seriously. But I've heard some now that sound every bit like a very good tube amp; just like in a tube amp where arcane subtleties can make or break a design, the same is true in class D (or any design for that matter). I pointed to what is needed to make a successful amplifier (if you're going to use feedback) in my prior post. Most amps using feedback fall short of the GBP needed so distortion is much higher at higher frequencies than the THD measurement suggests! THD by itself, if that is the only harmonic distortion metric used, allows a lot of problems to be swept under the carpet. When it is the sole metric, it leads to the myth that 'there are things we cannot measure.' The reality is if the harmonic spectra is measured at several frequencies (including above 1KHz) and if distortion is graphed vs frequency, then we start to be able to predict the 'sound' of the amplifier. Both the 'measurement only' guys and the subjectivist guys hate this! But Daniel von Recklinghausen was right- if it measures well but sounds bad, you measured the wrong thing.
@cloudsessions1 That is because in most amps employing feedback, its poorly applied- so my surmise is you've yet to hear one where the feedback was really right. Norman Crowhurst pointed this problem out 65 years ago, describing how the feedback node (the point in the amplifier where the feedback signal is mixed with the incoming signal) isn't linear; therefore the feedback signal gets distorted before it can do its job, thus creating higher ordered harmonics that have given feedback a bad rap. Its not the fault of feedback so much as poor application. Amazingly, little has been done in the last 6 decades to fix this; IMO mostly out of ignorance and a lack of will to do so. I've heard amps with very high feedback that sound utterly relaxed in the mids and highs and portray depth with ease. |
