Favorite 300B: Sophia vs KR

Markus - continuing my rambling thoughts... then I'll sell my VAC 70/70 Sig. to fund a quad of Takatsuki's for my old 30/30 that you are going to sell me back, right? ;)... and we can go in together on a big order of Takatsuki's and get a discount!

Pdreher, your Daedalus speakers would sound well with either of the VAC REN amps,even the 30/30 is a potent little beast.

Charles - I agree, both of the VAC REN amps are great... but the 30/30 would be a heck of a lot cheaper to retube with Takatsuki's @ $1,450/pair!

Hello Charles1dad and Paul,

Just back from AXPONA audio show in Jacksonville,Fl. It was a very interesting experience. I'll save details for a different thread but I'll venture forth this thought. Learning and listening to new and different technologies is truely a great part of our audiofile experience.

Charles1dad, the Pure Reference speakers really respond well to the additional 24 watts the 30/30 puts out. After tube rolling the front 4 6SN7's I found that 4, Psvane 181-t's really took this amp to a different level. I have only 50 hours on the tubes but the change is uncanny and not suttle. Dynamics are expanded, soundstaging is improved and as these tubes break in, I hear suttle differences that weren't there before. On the negative side of the equation, I do hear more noise in the push pull configuration than I do with the Franks but like you said, there are always trade off's. It's an interesting comparison. I'm looking forward to the Takatsuki's, which brings up another posibility. What if I took the Black Bottles out of the Franks, bought 2 more and put them in the 30/30????

Paul, I will be forever greatful to you for selling me the 30/30. It's truely a GREAT amp that, to me, is a keeper and continues to improve. How do the Daedulus speakers sound?

Markus,
As I suspected, two really good amps with their own individual advantages. I`d expect 32 watts of push--pull 300b to be advantageous for a bit more grunt and dynamics yet still very good at everything else. I`d expect the Frankenstein to be a bit more pure and nuanced but still have very realistic dynamics. You can`t go wrong in your situation.

The BT tubes could very well be an upgrade in the VAC REN amplifier. The only relative drawback I`ve heard regarding this amp is the circuit is 'hot rod design' and is said to be hard on the 300b (shorten life span). Otherwise everything else concerning the amp is positive across the board.

I`ll be very interested to read your impression of the Takatsuki-Frankenstein match, as dynamic performance and projection/energy(overall scale) is one of the most noticable improvemnets over the BT 300b.If I did`nt own the Franks I could live quite happily with the VAC 30/30 amp.
Regards,