300b recommendation.

Here's one for the valve heads out there:

Can anyone recommend a good 300b amp- possibly a parallel single-ended example in the region of 20 watts or so. Could be modern or vintage (but attainable). I hear that the Audio Note Conquest amps are meant to be quite good. Are there any dealers in or near the London area besides Walrus willing to demo 300b gear?

 

Hi,

If you are looking for a good 300B amp, try the Border Patrol range. They do a range 300B amps which offer top quality sound quality. They offer a tight dynamic sound with good detail and natutalness. Great to listen to.

For a parallel single ended 300B with dual power supply, the Border patrol can be had for £6300. They do a range. They differ from many because they use choke input power supplies. The dual supply has in total six choke input supplies (3 per channel.) I rate these highly. I use a 9w single ended Border Patrol and find it top notch.

They can be heard at The Sound Practice in St Albans.

http://www.borderpatrol.co.uk/index.htm

SCIDB

 

parallel single ended is really a waste, you don't need it, the whole point of a 300b really is to have it unadulterated single ended. plus it costs more
I had a pse and removing one valve actually made it better, even tho it messes up the ouptut transformer relationship a bit.(more valve distortion and tx core distortion/phase shift)

You will only get 14-16 watts out of pse really in reality, maybe less. it doesn't really double up the power in practice. mind you, only 7-8 in single ended.

pse is really for people who hanker after s.e. but don't have the speakers, if you don't have the speakers then its not really worth bothering.

You can save 1000s if you build your own from a kit, typically £1k all in. quality is superb.

 

i've heard those Boarder patrols are good but that's a lot of money.

 

you could get world audio design to build the amp for you. This will cost about 200 over and above the purchase price of the kit.

You could therefore have 300b push/pull 20w monoblocks for in the order of 1,500.

 

Evening BNeck

Have you heard it then?

Aren't you B.patrolled? (and l.voice or was it ALTEC)

Wouldn't mind tying some vintage tube amps- Marantz model 5, Western Electric. As I type listening, to Grover Washington's reed seed on vinyl- sounds wonderful even with my s.state amp. Can't imagine how nice it would be on a 300b. VAlves are great with jazz IMO.

David

 

Hi Baudrillard,

The one downside of going for quality new 300B amps is the price. They are hand built and sell in small quantities. You can build a Border Patrol copy for less but not everyone wants to self build. Plus not everyone has the skill to do it. Also there a high and dangerous voltages inside valve amps. Not for everyone.

Most of the Single ended amps for sale will cost a few thousand + new.
For cheaper options, there is 2nd hand and ex-dem. Also there are a range of far east items amps. Parallels are said to be not as good as the normal single ended. The Border Patrol parallel version doesn't seem to suffer from any major weakness.

What speakers do you own? and what sort of money do want to pay? The Audionote Conquests can produce very good sounds but are not cheap.

You could look out for a 2nd hand Border Patrol, Art Audio and Audionote. Also look out for ready built WAD 300B kit amps which are very good.

Another cheap amp by Heart which is a mono block set for £1600. Might be worth a look.

http://www.realhi-fi.com/products/heart_beat.html

SCIDB

 

SCIDB


Actually, am not looking to cost cut. Far from it But 6K is about 2k over-budget. Then again perhaps 6 grand could be tolerated at a stretch.


What speakers are you usiing? Vinyl f/end?

 

Hi

I've heard the 300B wad monoblocks in single ended configuration, but not in push pull. At its price point it will offer good value Im sure.

I have Border Patrol and Altec Valencia's. I used to have living voice avatars.

Its hard to reccomend an amp, because the sensitivity of the speakers isnt known yet. It sounds like you want to play on the safe side and get 20w+?

 

Chris

No, I don't wanna play safe- only under 20 watts will do. With efficient enough speakers, this will be fine.

.......your Valencia's. Do you mind if I ask how you came about them? The Emporium? Would you recommend them. Do they have the 604 driver? Am thinking of buying Altecs or old JBLS!!

d.

 

hi

they have the same drive units as recent altec voice of the theatre speakers.

the bass unit is an altec 15" alnico cone 416-8b
the 811b horn has an altec compression driver 806-8b

I got them from the emporium. I like them lots

The border patrol amp is 8w. This powers them nicely unless I play at very silly volumes, when they can clip with bass heavy tunes.

If you're near milton keynes stop by for a listen if you like.

Chris

nb
system details here:
http://zerogain.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4&page=32&pp=15

 

Cheers Chris

Yes would love to hear them. Apparently, they are 97.5 db efficient 75 x 67 x 51 cms 45 kg's front-ported. Wow!! How would they sound in a medium size room?

And 8 watts of quality power. Again, wow!

 

hi
You could do far worse than contacting Nick Lucas,
http://www.hificollective.co.uk/
His Andy Grove designed Glasshouse 300b amps are wonderful and represent great value,
although they are primarily kits he would be delighted to quote for a built and ready to go one
to be honest I have been gob smacked by mine, I would not be inclined to change it for anything else,

Hope this helps

Vibbles

 

i have them in a 16 x 11 room.

My room is far from ideal, with laminate floors and glass windows to the rear and side.

They can work in a medium room like mine and sound ok, but they will be better Im sure in a large living room. Im looking forward to relocating in the next 2 years.

Just IMO, but I believe most speakers that arent very small sound better in larger rooms.

 

Quote:
"to be honest I have been gob smacked by mine, I would not be inclined to change it for anything else,"


:MILD:

 

I use Nick to do the valve modifications and repairs on my own amps.

I rate him as a valve amp builder/repairer/modifier very highly indeed. His is capable of proffessional standards.

Im sure he would build the WAD kits for you should you want him to. He used to work at WAD prior to starting his own business.

I would have reccomended the glasshouse amps, but you said you wanted 20w.

 

If you are interested in obtaining further options other than the Border Patrol and DIY type, then check out the link below for KR Audio:

www.kraudio.com

I used to deal with Eunice Kron at KR and her 300b designs are just superb. Well worth a listen!

Another option would be to check out a company called Sophia Electric. They are based in the USA but will ship direct to the UK, check out their web page: www.sophiaelectric.com

I have heard the Sophia 300b power amp (at T.H.E Show Las Vegas 2004), and was very impressed.

Have fun!

 

Take a look at the Consonance M100S+, which is a 300B integrated with a RRP of GBP1595. I haven't heard this myself, but I do use the M100+ (which uses EL34s) and I'm absolutley delighted with it. In the UK Consonance are distributed by:

www.aliumaudio.com

 

I heard that Consonance also do a good tube head amp but costing several hundred.

Links and recommendations in this post very helpful (thanks all), although difficult to audition any in the London area without a car (or a plane!), I think. Suppose St Albans isn't too far. That leaves Walrus, KJ and maybe one or two others (?). Kjs don't usually allow home demos, too.

I think for me, Audio Note is where I'm headin- or maybe vintage gear. Have a wonderful JPEG picture of a pair of Marantz models 5's which I would love to display, but cannot upload it as its 62.7 KB. Incidentally, how does one post pictures? Haven't quite got the hang of it.

d.

 

Walrus stock Consonance, or at least used to.

Consonance also supply in kit, and fully built kit from www.diyhifisupply.com

Obviously when bought from a shop instead of mail order you pay 40% or so more.

I have the Consonance Basie pre, which funnily enough Nick Lucas built for me. He upgraded the parts in it too. It's a nice pre.

Of the vintage stuff I've had on loan, I very frequently seem to get better results from power amps than pre's.

........................................

nb
had a mooch about on the web.
the following items look interesting:

1)

audio innovations
2nd audio ampliflier+border patrol psu Price: £1300

RRP: £3000/1190

Description
2nd audio monoblock triode with 2a3/ecc82,2 sets of valves/8 pin 15 watt class a,made in 1992 b/p psu 1999. able too demonstrate/my system voyd 0.5 ref sme 310/music maker concordant excelsior pre/snell type j11 the border patrol upgrade transformed these amps with real deep bass and control. selling due too lack of space

Contact: chris
Seller: Private seller
Telephone: 01295257191
Telephone:

Email: [email protected]

2)
Here's an art audio 300B amp with what looks to be the larger border patrol power supply.


http://www.hifitradingstation.com/

3)
a few from the emporium (www.emporiumhifi.co.uk)
EAR 509 monoblocks mk1 just serviced by EAR 1350
EAR V20 integrated amp, very smooth sound 1400
GRAAF 50-50 yes you guessed 50 watt power amp, boxed 1400

4)
An EAR pre at KJ west one
EAR Pre Amplifier £1500 £646

5)
A graaf GM20 on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3280&item=5763541740&rd=1



Some nice amps.

My choice?
Well, if I had to have 20w + I'd go for the Graaf (I love that amp), and probably an EAR 834L which is a great little pre, and would be a good aesthetic match IMO.

For low watts and 300B clarity the Art Audio 300B would win.

Anyway, I think you can get a great solution for 2k.

Chris