[krude]

I'm not against spending a few hundred on input glass but spending $3k on we300b is nothing to sneeze at for me personally

I just thought stock performance would be further away from my modded crack.

I got my new WE for 1k euro with shipping, I believe without any promo these are 1.5k. Also I would recommend hunting down 2nd hand Psvane WE replica or Acme or EML XLS for around 500 dollars and you're done with 300b quality wise imo. Further rolling is up to you if you want different flavours but SQ is already up there.

 

[krude]

If you want more wet and bloomy, you are going to lose transparency.

In that case, ACME is a good candidate.

The rest i.e. GL, Psvane and every other 1. Relabel and 2. WE-clone are bad. They're all the same cycled-factory.

You'd be better off with the 45 tube with the caveat no planar drive.

I respectufylly disagree about your "all other 300bs sound rubbish" comment. Psvane WE replica is a great tube, especially if you can get a 2nd hand pair for 500 euro. It's on the same level as Elrog ER and current production WE imo, and yes I own those 2 and did a lot of b2b rolling.

 

[paradoxper]

I respectufylly disagree about your "all other 300bs sound rubbish" comment. Psvane WE replica is a great tube, especially if you can get a 2nd hand pair for 500 euro. It's on the same level as Elrog ER and current production WE imo, and yes I own those 2 and did a lot of b2b rolling.

Yea. The replicas are far worse than the WE300B. And the WE300B is already gimped.

I've owned them all and currently mostly moving to double quads of TM300B.
The Elrogs are decisively more transparent and bright perceived comparatively.

There is a very fine line in looking for more warmth and a wetness and crossing into muddy and blurred territory.

We definitely hear things differently and your source is far different and warmer than my own.

 

[smodtactical]

If you want more wet and bloomy, you are going to lose transparency.

In that case, ACME is a good candidate.

The rest i.e. GL, Psvane and every other 1. Relabel and 2. WE-clone are bad. They're all the same cycled-factory.

You'd be better off with the 45 tube with the caveat no planar drive.

but Which 45 amp? Thats the million dollar question

 

[paradoxper]

but Which 45 amp? Thats the million dollar question

First what is the primary driver? If HD800, this is a mess.

Thomas Mayer is very familiar with the 45 or ECP whom has his clever Copenhagen circuit.

You could also try a tube pre with 6SN7 or the 5V 45/300b, etc to try and match synergy.

 

[smodtactical]

First what is the primary driver? If HD800, this is a mess.

Thomas Mayer is very familiar with the 45 or ECP whom has his clever Copenhagen circuit.

You could also try a tube pre with 6SN7 or the 5V 45/300b, etc to try and match synergy.

800, atticus, 650, eta o2. Maybe atrium in the future.

What about an oliver sayes 45 amp ?

 

[paradoxper]

800, atticus, 650, eta o2. Maybe atrium in the future.

What about an oliver sayes 45 amp ?

If they're open to headamp commissions. Avoid Otomon Labs.

 

[smodtactical]

If they're open to headamp commissions. Avoid Otomon Labs.

Ya oliver generally hates doing anything headphone wise. If you come across a 45 amp let me know please. I'm also open to diy 45 amp just as long as I have some instructions.

 

[krude]

I love how audio seems such a simple thing but ends up being the most complex subject you can imagine.

I remember when I got my HA300MK2 and at the time I had HA6a I'd spent 2 years with rolling tubes ... and my first impressions were "it doesn't really sound better than my HA6a ... What did I spend all that money on!" ... there are posts to that tune in the history of this thread

And while at the time, with stock tubes this was true, I really had no idea how far HA300MK2 would take me. (even though @Wes S did and tried to tell me :> ) It shot off so far that it overtook everything I had before keeping up with the other amp I use that is 2x price. Especially that it runs efficient speakers really well as well.

And with the last few months of intense rolling and exploration of all of its tube families, I know how much sonic richness there is. If I would lose it somehow I know I would buy it again in a heartbeat, and that's not something I would say about most of the gear I owned over the years (and I owned more than I care to admit )

 

[smodtactical]

I love how audio seems such a simple thing but ends up being the most complex subject you can imagine.

I remember when I got my HA300MK2 and at the time I had HA6a I'd spent 2 years with rolling tubes ... and my first impressions were "it doesn't really sound better than my HA6a ... What did I spend all that money on!" ... there are posts to that tune in the history of this thread

And while at the time, with stock tubes this was true, I really had no idea how far HA300MK2 would take me. (even though @Wes S did and tried to tell me :> ) It shot off so far that it overtook everything I had before keeping up with the other amp I use that is 2x price. Especially that it runs efficient speakers really well as well.

And with the last few months of intense rolling and exploration of all of its tube families, I know how much sonic richness there is. If I would lose it somehow I know I would buy it again in a heartbeat, and that's not something I would say about most of the gear I owned over the years (and I owned more than I care to admit )

What's the other amp that 2x more ?

 

[krude]

What's the other amp that 2x more ?

Audio Note Vindicator Silver Signature, amazing amp but HA300MK2 is keeping up.

 

[Wes S]

Honestly I find 2 channel way easier to deal with then finding a great tube head amp.

Vintage eddie current ? Almost impossible to get.
Dna ? 1 year wait meh.
Envy, Wa23 ? Maybe but worth the cash I dunno ?
Custom builders? Oliver doesn't like headphones, Radu and aric I heard mixed things.

I am going to probably build an aegis.

For 2 channel I just buy cj and boom incredible sound and I'm on my way. Don't like cj? There's a metric crap ton of other options.. audio note, arc, vac, allnic, shindo, kondo etc etc.

In talking to some people with 'end game' tube amps they end up buying an interstage ec mk iv and then mod it with monolith and electraprint silver opts. When I saw l0rdgwyns air universe and air mountain amps it seemed to be what I was looking for but he's not able to release the design plans.


Anyway I'll keep listening to the ha300.

The Aegis is a very clean sounding tube amp, and if you are looking for a thick sound, not sure I would go that route. . .

I also didn't think the HA300MK2 was that much better than my old Pendant SE when I first got it and used only the stock tubes. That being said, once I got the Elrog's and WE's the differences were clear and the HA300MK2 became the best amp I have heard for my preferences.

300B's are expensive but the ER300B and WE300B are worth it, and this is the end of the road for my tube rolling journey as it can't get any better for my preferences. I like it thick and punchy, with crazy holographic staging and I have that in spades right now.

 

[krude]

For just getting that tuby sound with decent technicalities HA6a is really good, inexpensive, and has some really "tuby" tubes you can use with it : ) like GL KT-77 etc.

 

[jonchard]

Can anyone one playing with TOTL tubes tell me if Cayin 300b mkII is every bit as good as the Envy? The only thing separating these two is design and Rectification. When both can take Elrog/WE and CV6 derivatives, i wonder how similar they might sound?

Does the Cayin beat all for having tube rectification versus solid state, or does that not really play a part?

Cayin built a rather large and heavy separate box for rectification duties ... Is it for show?

Would love to hear your thoughts.

 

[krude]

Can anyone one playing with TOTL tubes tell me if Cayin 300b mkII is every bit as good as the Envy? The only thing separating these two is design and Rectification. When both can take Elrog/WE and CV6 derivatives, i wonder how similar they might sound?

Does the Cayin beat all for having tube rectification versus solid state, or does that not really play a part?

Cayin built a rather large and heavy separate box for rectification duties ... Is it for show?

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Roll rectifiers and you will find out. For me the changes are pretty fundamental.

Now how it stacks up against Envy? Somone would have to run the same tubes in the same system and do an indepth b2b comparison to find out. Im sure they sound a little bit different, but I doubt you could say objectively better at this level.