Sophia 300B vs Jeff Korneff 45 Amp

By now I suspect that you've made your decision to go w/the 300b or the 45's.

In general, what I have read in many forums and by talking to very knowledgeable people, 45s are the holy grail of the SET's.

I spent most of my audio life in SSland, until I heard tubes. My first tube amp was KT88 based, then I went to 845's because I wanted SET but my speakers were only 90 db efficient.

Yet, I still craved midrange magic and was introduced to BLHs made by johnk in this forum. Ahhh, that single driver and horn combo @ 98db efficiency is hard to beat. Yet, I wanted more and figured that the BLH speakers could deliver. johnk shared w/me that a number of his BLH users were employing Jeff Korneff's 45 SET amp with great success.

Whithout hesitation I plunged in and replaced my 845 amp with a Korneff 45 SEi integrated amp. Best audio decision I ever made. I'll put it in my will to be buried w/this amp.
Very liquid and detailed. In a word, refined. If you are looking for power, with the right speakers 2 watts can make the walls rattle. I am using mine in a room that is 20 x 30 and have more than plenty sound. Aside from the magical sound, dealing with Jeff Korneff is a distinctive pleasure. I dealt with the folks at Sofia and their practices are worlds apart.
I can't tell you how the Korneff 45 compares to the 300b since I never did that one on one comparison. All I can tell you is that you can't go wrong with the Korneff, and if you need service, your manufacturer is in Pittsburgh which is a lot closer than China.

This all depends on what you want sonically. I am a convert to the 45 tube (EML mesh in flavor). After trying a hand full of well received 300b amps, and if you can use a small 2watt amp, I think ultimately the 45 is the finest I have heard.

There is the hybrid Tom Evans Linear A or B which is a powerful SET that I feel is very close to a well done 45 amp in its transparency and naturalness but has lots of power.

After having a 45 then going back to a 300b, I found the 300b to be course, slightly unresolved and less natural in comparison. There is something about the bloated nature of the 300b which is fun for a while, but I found the 45 removed thoughts of hifi. Bare in mind my speakers are 109db/watt sensitive, but I think if you have 100db or so speakers you will be fine with the 45.

>>10-01-10: Chadeffect
There is the hybrid Tom Evans Linear A or B which is a powerful SET......<<

Incorrect.

Neither amp is a true SET.

Dealer disclaimer

Hi audiofeil,

I was under the impression the Tome Evans Linear was a single ended amp. In fact I would go as far as saying he said it himself to me himself on the phone. But I will not argue the point and I bow to your knowledge of such things. I have no axe to grind.

The Tom Evans is still one of the finer amps I have had. I doubt many would dislike it apart from its bread bin appearance. It has the noise floor and speed of an ICE power amp, but with harmonic textures left in tact. I believe there is a special edition finish which is better looking if that matters to you.

I can say my 45 amp is an SET ;)

The 45 is one of the best sounding SET tubes. It is partially because the tube is very linear and possibly because it is much easier to build wide-bandwidth output transformers for low-power SET.

A 300B - almost any - with some somewhat thicker, slower, and less extended than a good 45. And the Korneff amp is one of the very best. I have not heard better. I prefer it ultimately to the Yamamoto.

This may not be quite true for extremely expensive 300B SET amps. Certainly you will need to spend much more money to get the transparency, speed, and extension the 45 will give you.

However, while a 45 will play your speakers quite well, at loud volumes it will suffer dynamically in comparison.

Still, I'd go with the 45. I've had K-horns and Fortes.