[Drewligarchy]

I have been unable to locate a used quad of anything much less the KR 2A3 HP anywhere to replace my unlamented EML quads. I had hoped that somewhere somebody would have a storewide discount for BF but apparently that does not happen for tubes(thanks Woo). So I need a little advice and opinions.

My choices: 1) Bite the bullet and pay full price for the KR HP tubes. No one talks about the standard KRs so don't know if they are a viable option. I am feeling the shadow of diminishing returns as they are just godawful expensive. $2590

2) RCA 2A3 I know where I can get a quad of NOS Black Plate Amplitrex tested with matching 1951 dates for $900-1000. The seller has perfect feedback and offers 30 day returns.

3) Psvane ACME 2A3 $1100-$1200 People seem to like them but have concerns about reliability

4) Sophia Electric There has been some talk on here about the Sophia rectifiers but none about the power tubes. I really liked the Sophia Princess 300B I had in my WA5. Sophia offers a 2A3 Mesh for $900. Sophia also offers 3 different models of 300B 2.5v from $900-$1500.

Any thoughts or alternatives are welcome. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

I can only speak to the KR HPs and Psvane ACME 2A3 as those are the ones I have.

The ACME 2A3 works really well with the LCD-4. I think the KRs with the LCD-4 are too much of a good thing, but that's just in my opinion. I haven't tried the LCD-5, but from what I've read, it's brighter than the LCD-4 - so unsure what to recommend - but you have, so you can make a better judgement. I haven't had any reliability issue with the PSVane but it depends on the sound your after - a bit more energy (ACME), or a bit more bloom (KR). Also, from what I've read the RCAs might provide a nice balance - but I have never heard them.

 

[joseph69]

4) Sophia Electric There has been some talk on here about the Sophia rectifiers but none about the power tubes. I really liked the Sophia Princess 300B I had in my WA5. Sophia offers a 2A3 Mesh for $900. Sophia also offers 3 different models of 300B 2.5v from $900-$1500.

I had no idea that SE offered the 2A3 or 300B 2.5v.

 

[GPD1]

I have been unable to locate a used quad of anything much less the KR 2A3 HP anywhere to replace my unlamented EML quads. I had hoped that somewhere somebody would have a storewide discount for BF but apparently that does not happen for tubes(thanks Woo). So I need a little advice and opinions.

My choices: 1) Bite the bullet and pay full price for the KR HP tubes. No one talks about the standard KRs so don't know if they are a viable option. I am feeling the shadow of diminishing returns as they are just godawful expensive. $2590

2) RCA 2A3 I know where I can get a quad of NOS Black Plate Amplitrex tested with matching 1951 dates for $900-1000. The seller has perfect feedback and offers 30 day returns.

3) Psvane ACME 2A3 $1100-$1200 People seem to like them but have concerns about reliability

4) Sophia Electric There has been some talk on here about the Sophia rectifiers but none about the power tubes. I really liked the Sophia Princess 300B I had in my WA5. Sophia offers a 2A3 Mesh for $900. Sophia also offers 3 different models of 300B 2.5v from $900-$1500.

Any thoughts or alternatives are welcome. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Just ordered the KR 2A3 HP from tube amp doctor at a decent discount due to the VAT not being charged as I live in HK. (They did incorrectly send the non HP version but that has been sorted and the HP are on the way )

 

[joseph69]

I've accumulated a good amount of hours on my WE 417A drivers and I know I mentioned previously that their price point with Woo adapters was high and of course it's still not a dollar for dollar, improvement (but what is?) but I will say that I'm enjoying them immensely with my EML 2A3 S power tubes and UE 596 rectifier.

In short, they make a nice difference in the entire spectrum, literally.
Instrument separation, placement, height, depth, bass impact and fullness, black background and detail retrieval and musicality are all brought to light very, very nicely. If you're considering the upgrade, do it, you won't be disappointed, at all.

PS: The WE 417A's can be a little noisy both, ambient as well as through the headphones drivers
at times, and sometimes they're dead silent (w/Utopia...havent listened to another headphone yet) but once you turn up the volume there is no trace of noise from the tubes to distract you from the music. I've also noticed they're getting more quiet with more burn in.

 

[pippen99]

I was going to do that but I waited to see if a domestic seller would have a BF discount. Two days ago the HP was marked as unavailable on their website. I have checked twice today and was still unavailable.

 

[GPD1]

I was going to do that but I waited to see if a domestic seller would have a BF discount. Two days ago the HP was marked as unavailable on their website. I have checked twice today and was still unavailable.

Yeah that’s strange. i just checked and not seeing it at all. I know it was apparently just for sale in the US only.

 

[pippen99]

I've accumulated a good amount of hours on my WE 417A drivers and I know I mentioned previously that their price point with Woo adapters was high and of course it's still not a dollar for dollar, improvement (but what is?) but I will say that I'm enjoying them immensely with my EML 2A3 S power tubes and UE 596 rectifier.

In short, they make a nice difference in the entire spectrum, literally.
Instrument separation, placement, height, depth, bass impact and fullness, black background and detail retrieval and musicality are all brought to light very, very nicely. If you're considering the upgrade, do it, you won't be disappointed, at all.

I could not justify that kind of money but I did want to try these. I bought my adapters from @Deyan and got some matching date near NOS WE 417A from a reputable seller. I spent about a sixth of what Woo wanted so unless those things were dipped in Unicorn tears I am good. I hear the same things you hear.

 

[joseph69]

I spent about a sixth of what Woo wanted so unless those things were dipped in Unicorn tears I am good. I hear the same things you hear.

Never said they were, and never said you weren't, nor did I mention what I'm hearing due to their cost.
I was just expressing my liking for the tubes after some better burn in from the time I receiving them.

 

[Drewligarchy]

OT post:

Now that my system is nearing completion (or as I lie to myself about it), I finally bit the bullet and ordered a high-end transport/streamer to replace the Auralic Aries Femto / Matrix XSPDIF 2 I had been using for quite some time. A Lumin U1. No Auralic Aries G2.1 as the Lumin has been reviewed as playing warmer, it's silver and has true BNC outputs for my Chord DACs. As an aside, I absolutely love the Lumin U1. It somehow sounds better, but it's just so damn stable and operates like a real high-end transport. Anyhow, now that I've accumulated great sounding and nice looking components, I'm trying to upgrade my rack from the good value but inexpensive Pangea Vulcan stand. I also have a matching Pangea Vulcan Amp stand that my PS Audio Powerplant P12 is on (but isn't yet, right now it's just sitting on a glass shelf on the floor, temporarily.)

Looking for something high quality, and not insanely expensive (Nothing over 2-3k), ideally with glass shelves, and perhaps in black or a dark wood. Something that would set off the silver components well. As you can see my components are almost all silver, except for the Enleum Amp 23r and the Opto DX, but I've made it work as best as I can. PErhaps I get a small inexpensive glass laptop shelf or something that allows me to separate the Enleum amp and M Scaler - because the Enleum amp does get hot.

At this point I'm just focusing on aesthetics to make it as nice looking as possible. I already have all the gear that I want at the moment. Maybe a new headphone somewhere along the line.

I would like a 4 shelfer and accompanying amp stand or something similar as I like the height both ergonomically and because its the same height as my glass headphone table not pictured to the left. Any recommendations are much appreciated.

 

[ThanatosVI]

OT post:

Now that my system is nearing completion (or as I lie to myself about it), I finally bit the bullet and ordered a high-end transport/streamer to replace the Auralic Aries Femto / Matrix XSPDIF 2 I had been using for quite some time. A Lumin U1. No Auralic Aries G2.1 as the Lumin has been reviewed as playing warmer, it's silver and has true BNC outputs for my Chord DACs. As an aside, I absolutely love the Lumin U1. It somehow sounds better, but it's just so damn stable and operates like a real high-end transport. Anyhow, now that I've accumulated great sounding and nice looking components, I'm trying to upgrade my rack from the good value but inexpensive Pangea Vulcan stand. I also have a matching Pangea Vulcan Amp stand that my PS Audio Powerplant P12 is on (but isn't yet, right now it's just sitting on a glass shelf on the floor, temporarily.)

Looking for something high quality, and not insanely expensive (Nothing over 2-3k), ideally with glass shelves, and perhaps in black or a dark wood. Something that would set off the silver components well. As you can see my components are almost all silver, except for the Enleum Amp 23r and the Opto DX, but I've made it work as best as I can. PErhaps I get a small inexpensive glass laptop shelf or something that allows me to separate the Enleum amp and M Scaler - because the Enleum amp does get hot.

At this point I'm just focusing on aesthetics to make it as nice looking as possible. I already have all the gear that I want at the moment. Maybe a new headphone somewhere along the line.

I would like a 4 shelfer and accompanying amp stand or something similar as I like the height both ergonomically and because its the same height as my glass headphone table not pictured to the left. Any recommendations are much appreciated.

Always love to see posts about Systems nearing completion.

I like to think that my own reaches this Status soon as well. Similar to you I want a streamer upgrade and wait for the ever postponed Wavelight Server.

This week I had the chance to grab a used T+A MP2000R, fitting to my PA2000R, but ultimately decided against it and will wait for the Wavelight Server.
After the Server I'd like to think of my system as endgame and complete.
From then onwards only considering new releases as changes.

Thanks for brining that Vulcan rack to my attention, looks nice unfortunately not available in my country at the moment.

I still don't have any rack and use Ikea Kallax righr now.

Only readily available and affordable rack I know is the Monoprice XL.

Aesthetically among my favourites is the Naim Fraim

 

[pippen99]

+1 on the Lumin U1. I had one for several years. It is a very nice piece. The Lumin App was much more stable than the Auralic App. Where are you hiding the power supply? I have much the same setup using a Vulcan X stand for my Dac and amps and a Vulcan amp stand for my Stellar P3 regenerator. The Vulcan stands are a good value and does the job for me. My system is in my bedroom and not on public display so I do not feel the need to upgrade. Good luck with your search!

 

[Drewligarchy]

+1 on the Lumin U1. I had one for several years. It is a very nice piece. The Lumin App was much more stable than the Auralic App. Where are you hiding the power supply? I have much the same setup using a Vulcan X stand for my Dac and amps and a Vulcan amp stand for my Stellar P3 regenerator. The Vulcan stands are a good value and does the job for me. My system is in my bedroom and not on public display so I do not feel the need to upgrade. Good luck with your search!

Thanks! Power supply is under the bottom shelf of the stand with my uptone 1.2.

 

[Ciggavelli]

OT post:

Now that my system is nearing completion (or as I lie to myself about it), I finally bit the bullet and ordered a high-end transport/streamer to replace the Auralic Aries Femto / Matrix XSPDIF 2 I had been using for quite some time. A Lumin U1. No Auralic Aries G2.1 as the Lumin has been reviewed as playing warmer, it's silver and has true BNC outputs for my Chord DACs. As an aside, I absolutely love the Lumin U1. It somehow sounds better, but it's just so damn stable and operates like a real high-end transport. Anyhow, now that I've accumulated great sounding and nice looking components, I'm trying to upgrade my rack from the good value but inexpensive Pangea Vulcan stand. I also have a matching Pangea Vulcan Amp stand that my PS Audio Powerplant P12 is on (but isn't yet, right now it's just sitting on a glass shelf on the floor, temporarily.)

Looking for something high quality, and not insanely expensive (Nothing over 2-3k), ideally with glass shelves, and perhaps in black or a dark wood. Something that would set off the silver components well. As you can see my components are almost all silver, except for the Enleum Amp 23r and the Opto DX, but I've made it work as best as I can. PErhaps I get a small inexpensive glass laptop shelf or something that allows me to separate the Enleum amp and M Scaler - because the Enleum amp does get hot.

At this point I'm just focusing on aesthetics to make it as nice looking as possible. I already have all the gear that I want at the moment. Maybe a new headphone somewhere along the line.

I would like a 4 shelfer and accompanying amp stand or something similar as I like the height both ergonomically and because its the same height as my glass headphone table not pictured to the left. Any recommendations are much appreciated.

I'm going to be a bad influence, but have you considered the Sean Jacobs DC4 for your DAVE and M-Scaler? It's black though, but maybe they could change the color of the case for you. It really does make everything sound better (albeit at a cost)

 

[Drewligarchy]

Always love to see posts about Systems nearing completion.

I like to think that my own reaches this Status soon as well. Similar to you I want a streamer upgrade and wait for the ever postponed Wavelight Server.

This week I had the chance to grab a used T+A MP2000R, fitting to my PA2000R, but ultimately decided against it and will wait for the Wavelight Server.
After the Server I'd like to think of my system as endgame and complete.
From then onwards only considering new releases as changes.

Thanks for brining that Vulcan rack to my attention, looks nice unfortunately not available in my country at the moment.

I still don't have any rack and use Ikea Kallax righr now.

Only readily available and affordable rack I know is the Monoprice XL.

Aesthetically among my favourites is the Naim Fraim

Pangea is a house brand of the online retailer Audio Advisor which does ship internationally. Though certain countries may be excluded. Did you check out the site to see if they'd ship to you?

 

[Drewligarchy]

I'm going to be a bad influence, but have you considered the Sean Jacobs DC4 for your DAVE and M-Scaler? It's black though, but maybe they could change the color of the case for you. It really does make everything sound better (albeit at a cost)

Yes, Cig. That's the one I still have the itch for. How long can you make the cord connecting the DC4? If I did it, I'd probably get a second rack and put them right next to eachother - so I'd have one with black components and one with silver components - if It would work. Half of me wants to keep the Dave stock, and the other half says to go for it.