COINCIDENT FRANKENSTEIN 300B STEREO

@charles1dad 

I have been considering whether to get the new Coincident Frankenstein 300B stereo amp or a  used pair of older Coincident Frankenstein 300B  monoblocks.  Does anyone have an opinion on which ones would pair better with my vintage Altec Flamencos?  Also, would this be a significant upgrade over my current Bob Latino ST 120 amp powering the Flamencos?

@jplunkettj

I have no experience with new Coincident Frankenstein stereo chassis amplifier. Word of mouth feedback says it’s very,very good. I’m an extremely happy owner of the Frankenstein MK II mono blocks bought new in 2009. My amplifiers use the 6EM7 (Driver tube) and the 5U4G as the rectifier tube.

The stereo version uses the6LS7 as a driver and the 5AR4 as rectifier. I don’t know what accounts for the different tube selection. I know that the late Art Dudley simply loved his Altecs paired with Shindo and other good quality SET amplifiers. They will be a different sound compared with your 6550 tubed push -pull class A/B Bob Latino 60 watt amplifier.

I believe that the Frankenstein will provide you with excellent transparency, inner detail, tactile presence and superb tonality. 8 watts of pure class A single ended topology. Your speakers are 16 ohm load which is terrific! My speakers are 14 ohm. I went from 100 watt KT 88/6550 mono blocks to the Frankensteins and have not looked back (14 years). It just depends on what sonic characteristics are most valued by you.

Charles

Art Dudley 

https://www.stereophile.com/content/listening-169

Newest owner of a Frankenstein stereo 300B.

Ordered in November, Israel was waiting on a shipment of output transformers from Japan; no, I tried but he wouldn’t tell me which company they were sourced from.

What an emotional ride over the past 2 weeks- 1 week ago I thought I was going to sell it for a quick loss, as it was not sounding very good; sounded fine, but not good. Feeling like all these things I read about Coincident, and this thread, was incorrect. Reality: It is just a $2500 amp, right? All the opinions have exaggerated it’s actual performance. After 10 days of playing I took it out of the system for the weekend and put in the Yamamoto just to hear some quality music. Happy to report after putting it back in for a few more days, and putting in some higher quality tubes: A Mullard over the sovtek GZ34 and Tung Sol VT 229 over the Shuguang 6n9p’s, perhaps the combination of the two, and it is now sounding fantastic! And the tubes have only been in for 1 day.

Yes I know all about burn in, and the Gold Lion 300’s are new too, but I read 20-30 hours for the tubes from most reports, and Israel’s owner’s manual states the amp will sound fantastic from new, but even better after 100 hours- which for me was 1 week. Even still, I was doubting the sound and questioning my purchase as things were still not good enough nearing 2 weeks of play- But all good now!

And some people still argue burn in is not real? Crazy. This has gone from a $1000 amp to a $5000-$7000 amp in sound quality in 2 weeks.

@charles1dad

Not sure how long the 2500.00 introductory price will remain.

And the price has gone up quite a bit, it is now $2500 US (I pay in CDN)

Question: I never had a 300B before, I chose Gold Lion’s as my first pair as I read they are great, especially for the price, and didn’t want to spend the price for WE’s or Takatsuki’s (yet) which are reported to be the best. For those who have the experience with this particular amp are they worth the money?

Hi @mclinnguy 

Which speakers do you use with this amplifier?