Difference Between 2A3s and 300Bs

If power is not a issue, the 2a3(2-3 watts) will be far more superior than the 300B(8 watts). The 300B are very good in mid and high only, the low is not very good(less control). The 2a3 will beat the 300B in mid, high and low(with more punch and control). I currently using 2a3 tubes(my triode amp can use both kinds of tube) and I have no desire to buy a pair of 300B.

Lefti: It really depends on the amp, the tubes (including the drivers as well) and the rest of your gear. I have not listened to a great deal of these amps but my impression (on my own) was that the 2A3 amps were a little more linear and I liked the "balance" a lot when they were paired with 95+ db speakers. They will not properly push speakers in the "real world" efficiency range from my experience, so the phrase "if power is not an issue" says it all as htis is not the case for most of us. Unfortunately, IMO of course, affordable speakers in this efficiency range (100db is more like it for full scale music production) are usually not anything that I would take home with me. There are a few that I am still condidering that look promising (like the Hammer kits) that I have not listened to yet. As far as the 2A3 blowing away the 300b tubes in the mid and HF's, this has not happened in my world. Both tubes do well in this area. Another thing to consider about bass response of different tubes and amps is that if your speakers do not go really low it is kind of a mute point (or one of lessened decibals at least). I am using a 300b amp because the power output of 2A3 tubes does not work in my situation. The 7-8 watts that I do have however suits my needs. I am not going to trash any amps by name in this post but will say that there are relativley expensive models (that have received rave reviews)that are based on both tube types that I do not care for and ones that I do like. Your best bet is to audition the amps before you buy.

In my opinion, a tube amp is much more dependent on its sound by the parts behind it, than the tubes. That's what separates an EL34 based amps from Air Tight and Jolida. Transformers are the most expensive and important part of an amp. The difference between an OK amp, and a great one. Circuit topology and passive parts quality are also vastly overlooked. We tend to overly concentrate on tubes(myself included) because that is the one area of an amp we can easily tinker with. And, we can get different sounds using different tubes. I always use the analogy of a car. It is very rare people change engines(transformers), but we do find different brands of gasoline(tubes) to offer us different performance. So we buy the gas we like. That being said, I do have opinions on the 2A3 vs. the 300B. The 300B were in the SETs I listened to first. Very open, a bit bright in some instances, more lively than I was expecting. Very nice. I disregarded the 2A3 completely. "It was too low in output. Who would be interested in a 3 to 5 watt amp? Blah, blah, blah" After a year or so, I listened to a 2A3 amp. Then more of them. The experience really opened my eyes. Showed me how much a fool I truly am. And once again proved to me how stupid it is to judge books by their covers. The 2A3 has a better sound to my ears. Those miniscule watts seem much more powerful in person than you could ever expect. I did read that Dennis Had states a 2A3 based amp is able to put out between 25 and 35 watts during music playback(we don't listen to 8 ohm resistors). The bass of this tube is MUCH better than a 300B. Very well extended and surprisingly tight. Midrange is simply more natural to my ears. Not as in your face. More sunny and laid back. High frequencies are also nice. I plan to buy a 2A3 amp at some point. I am really enamored with them. Now you are not building a good system if you partner either a 2A3 or a 300B to a Thiel or a PSB Gold i. But, if you get a pair of speakers that present quite a benign load to an amp, you may find yourself finally getting off the merry go round of gear(at least for a while). I would like to read the opinions of others regarding this question. As I am interested in seeing if their opinions mirror mine. I respect Dekay's opinion immensely, but it appears we are of different opinions in this issue. No problem. Vanilla and chocolate...