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Art Audio Carissa Signature 845 or 300 b amp?

I just tuned up my Jadis with the help of Trelja and Mechans. It sound great. In fact I prefer it over my 845 amp which I fell in love with.

A short time ago,I visited a friend to listen to his 300b system. It sounded extremely good.

My question is for anyone who has experience with the sound of the Art Audio or any other top shelf 845 amp and a good value, used 300b amp in the $4000 range?

My question is vague, but it will help mein making up my mind on what to do with my systems next.
128x128mattzack2
jburidan
803 posts
 
IMHO, the 300B tube is more subtle and refined than the 845 tube. Used Wavelength Cardinal monoblocks would be in your stated price range. The Cardinal is an exceptionally good amp in most everyone's estimation.
24h365
9 posts
 
Sophia Electric 91-01 300B mono-blocks. Very hard to beat for the money new, more so if you run across them new. Of course, The Frankensteins.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Mattzack2,
You can`t go wrong with either amp type. So very much depends on which particular brand/model. Within the genre of 300b amps there`s quite a bit of variation in terms of performance due to implementation,part quality, power supply,transformers etc. Same principle for the 845 amplifiers.Factor in different brands of the output tube for even more variables.

How sensitve and efficient is the speaker you`re drivung?A 845 tube outputs more power but a 300b may or may not sound better, it all depends. I`d say for 4000 dollars you`re likely to find 'more' choices of a quaility built 300b but if buying used you can find very good examples of both.

I use the Coincident Frankenstein MK II 300b SET 8 watts and it is superb. There`re other amps(like the Wavelength mentioned above) that I`m sure would make you quite satisfied. Jeff Day(Positive Feedback) loves the Sophia Electric 300b SET.It ultimately is amplifier-speaker matching.
Best of Luck,
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