SET amp owners thread

Went over to Leifs today to pick up a pair of WE 300b and Takatsuki 300b to be tested in my 300b amps. The wife and kids are staying in the cabin up north in the Lofoten islands a couple of weeks and I have time for some serious testing. The shoot out will be between Full Music 300b (came with the amps),WE and Takatsuki.

IMG_2612.jpegimage.jpg
 
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crosswind said:
Went over to Leifs today to pick up a pair of WE 300b and Takatsuki 300b to be tested in my 300b amps. The wife and kids are staying in the cabin up north in the Lofoten islands a couple of weeks and I have time for some serious testing. The shoot out will be between Full Music 300b (came with the amps),WE and Takatsuki.

View attachment 133007View attachment 133008
Click to expand...
Looking forward to your thoughts on each of these tubes!
 
I’ve heard mixed reports on the reliability of the Takatsuki tubes. Not sure if the reported failures are isolated incidents or a more general pattern. In general I find NOS Western Electric tubes incredibly reliable. They seem to keep going with hardly any change in their characteristics. The recent reissue of WE is not as reliable. As always, it’s hard to determine any real patterns here.
 
Hello all, I am new to the forum. I am a tube junkie and love to try out all different tubes.
Because of the bad habit, I owned over 40 amps.
Here are my latest tryouts.

IMG_0328.JPGIMG_0355.jpg

At last, I can try out the Osram DA30 in my new amp. CZ-501D ( 3.5V of 310A made in Japan ) pentode 300B SET.

It is a different beast than the WE300B tubes. IMG_0339.JPGIMG_0349.jpgIMG_0338.JPG

The WE437A interstage 300B is much better match than 417A.

From my experience with my amp and speakers, 300B can sound quite different various circuits.
The only ones I have not tried is the TA-300B. I am happy with the WE300B and the KR 300B XLS if I need extra bass. The Sophia princess mesh plate for my PSET for that mid range bloom. The emission lab 300B xls didn't work for me. Great highs but no bass.

The DA30 different from the 300B sound. In comparison to the similar WE91B circuit amp (All WE 274b/310a/300b tubes) I have with 300B, this tube seems to be smoother and good drive. The 4V AC filament works well here. I didn't need to convert to DC. Maybe because it is slightly more powerful than the 300B. I am waiting on VR40 and GEC DA30 to try them out.

In the interstage amp, the highs are better than the capacitor coupled. In my C3g driver 300B, it is definitely more bass and high focus. The 6Sn7 driver in both the capacitor coupled and the interstage 300B configuration seems to be mid and high focus. Bass can be better but it needs to increase the gain. I have not modify my amp to increase the driver gain on the 6sn7 interstage 300B.

I also have 2A3, 45,46 SET and 6L6 SE, 6V6/6L6G SE in triode, EL84 SE as well. They are all different.

My speakers are Tannoy GRF memory TWW and DIY JBL 077/375 ( potato mesh )/130A ( C34 folded horn cabinet ) with DIY L300 crossover plus I also have a DIY cabinet for 12" Philip full range and Jensen co-axials. Going to try out the vintage 15" coaxial when I get a chance.
 
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we421a said:
Hello all, I am new to the forum. I am a tube junkie and love to try out all different tubes.
Because of the bad habit, I owned over 40 amps.
Here are my latest tryouts.

View attachment 133083View attachment 133082

At last, I can try out the Osram DA30 in my new amp. CZ-501D ( 3.5V of 310A made in Japan ) pentode 300B SET.

It is a different beast than the WE300B tubes. View attachment 133084View attachment 133085View attachment 133086

The WE437A interstage 300B is much better match than 417A.

From my experience with my amp and speakers, 300B can sound quite different various circuits.
The only ones I have not tried is the TA-300B. I am happy with the WE300B and the KR 300B XLS if I need extra bass. The Sophia princess mesh plate for my PSET for that mid range bloom. The emission lab 300B xls didn't work for me. Great highs but no bass.

The DA30 different from the 300B sound. In comparison to the similar WE91B circuit amp (All WE 274b/310a/300b tubes) I have with 300B, this tube seems to be smoother and good drive. The 4V AC filament works well here. I didn't need to convert to DC. Maybe because it is slightly more powerful than the 300B. I am waiting on VR40 and GEC DA30 to try them out.

In the interstage amp, the highs are better than the capacitor coupled. In my C3g driver 300B, it is definitely more bass and high focus. The 6Sn7 driver in both the capacitor coupled and the interstage 300B configuration seems to be mid and high focus. Bass can be better but it needs to increase the gain. I have not modify my amp to increase the driver gain on the 6sn7 interstage 300B.

I also have 2A3, 45,46 SET and 6L6 SE, 6V6/6L6G SE in triode, EL84 SE as well. They are all different.

My speakers are Tannoy GRF memory TWW and DIY JBL 077/375 ( potato mesh )/130A ( C34 folded horn cabinet ) with DIY L300 crossover plus I also have a DIY cabinet for 12" Philip full range and Jensen co-axials. Going to try out the vintage 15" coaxial when I get a chance.
Click to expand...

Great entry to the forum - but incomplete without pictures of your DIY speakers.
 
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we421a said:
Hello all, I am new to the forum. I am a tube junkie and love to try out all different tubes.
Because of the bad habit, I owned over 40 amps.
Here are my latest tryouts.

View attachment 133083View attachment 133082

At last, I can try out the Osram DA30 in my new amp. CZ-501D ( 3.5V of 310A made in Japan ) pentode 300B SET.

It is a different beast than the WE300B tubes. View attachment 133084View attachment 133085View attachment 133086

The WE437A interstage 300B is much better match than 417A.

From my experience with my amp and speakers, 300B can sound quite different various circuits.
The only ones I have not tried is the TA-300B. I am happy with the WE300B and the KR 300B XLS if I need extra bass. The Sophia princess mesh plate for my PSET for that mid range bloom. The emission lab 300B xls didn't work for me. Great highs but no bass.

The DA30 different from the 300B sound. In comparison to the similar WE91B circuit amp (All WE 274b/310a/300b tubes) I have with 300B, this tube seems to be smoother and good drive. The 4V AC filament works well here. I didn't need to convert to DC. Maybe because it is slightly more powerful than the 300B. I am waiting on VR40 and GEC DA30 to try them out.

In the interstage amp, the highs are better than the capacitor coupled. In my C3g driver 300B, it is definitely more bass and high focus. The 6Sn7 driver in both the capacitor coupled and the interstage 300B configuration seems to be mid and high focus. Bass can be better but it needs to increase the gain. I have not modify my amp to increase the driver gain on the 6sn7 interstage 300B.

I also have 2A3, 45,46 SET and 6L6 SE, 6V6/6L6G SE in triode, EL84 SE as well. They are all different.

My speakers are Tannoy GRF memory TWW and DIY JBL 077/375 ( potato mesh )/130A ( C34 folded horn cabinet ) with DIY L300 crossover plus I also have a DIY cabinet for 12" Philip full range and Jensen co-axials. Going to try out the vintage 15" coaxial when I get a chance.
Click to expand...
Username definitely checks out. Wish you could post more pics of all your amps. Thanks for sharing!
 
IMG_7653.jpg




L1003161-CaryforsaleRL.jpg


The stock with Cary's fully upgraded Cary CAD 300 SEI LX version is great. I felt it can be better as it is not as holographic as I would like.

The tight space inside of the Cary amp makes it hard to put in larger parts. I ended up shifting capacitors to make room for larger size capacitors.

After some audition with different coupling capacitors, Deulund was pretty good but I felt that Milflex bypass + Audyn Copper max was better.

Audyn is darker tone than the Deulund tinned copper. It balanced well with the bypass capacitor.


IMG_7651.jpg
 
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we421a said:
View attachment 133107




View attachment 133108


The stock with Cary's fully upgraded Cary CAD 300 SEI LX version is great. I felt it can be better as it is not as holographic as I would like.

The tight space inside of the Cary amp makes it hard to put in larger parts. I ended up shifting capacitors to make room for larger size capacitors.

After some audition with different coupling capacitors, Deulund was pretty good but I felt that Milflex bypass + Audyn Copper max was better.

Audyn is darker tone than the Deulund tinned copper. It balanced well with the bypass capacitor.


View attachment 133106
Click to expand...
I have something you might want to try, depending on the value of the caps. While we audiophiles have been playing around with exotic materials for the last few decades, the industry in general has been working on cap improvement too. There is a kind of ceramic(!) cap known as an 'NPO' that may well be one of the most neutral parts made, owing to a zero temperature coefficient and other specs that really look quite good on paper as far as audio is concerned. One audiophile/engineer friend of mine commented that 'they are first zero distortion capacitors ever made'.

They make versions with leads (most are built for surface mount). Their values are pretty precise- about 1-2% tolerance which is a lot tighter than most film caps. The parts are tiny, despite being available in higher Voltages needed for tube amps.

We tried some just for fun since they are also inexpensive. They are excellent (with no need for a bypass cap of smaller value) and I suspect they will be finding their way into our products. You might look into them (I don't know if the values you need are available or not).
 
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Welcome to WBF, we421a!
 
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Atmasphere said:
I have something you might want to try, depending on the value of the caps. While we audiophiles have been playing around with exotic materials for the last few decades, the industry in general has been working on cap improvement too. There is a kind of ceramic(!) cap known as an 'NPO' that may well be one of the most neutral parts made, owing to a zero temperature coefficient and other specs that really look quite good on paper as far as audio is concerned. One audiophile/engineer friend of mine commented that 'they are first zero distortion capacitors ever made'.

They make versions with leads (most are built for surface mount). Their values are pretty precise- about 1-2% tolerance which is a lot tighter than most film caps. The parts are tiny, despite being available in higher Voltages needed for tube amps.

We tried some just for fun since they are also inexpensive. They are excellent (with no need for a bypass cap of smaller value) and I suspect they will be finding their way into our products. You might look into them (I don't know if the values you need are available or not).
Click to expand...
Thanks for idea Ralph. Are they position constrained (power supply, interstage, output), or can they go wherever there's value overlap?
 
IMG_0372.jpeg
Can anyone tell me what’s the difference between Osram DA30 from the left , GEC DA30 center, and the VR40 on the right? VR40 looks exactly same as the Osram DA30

Thanks

SamIMG_0373.jpeg


Are these PP5/400 or just cross reference?
This is from British Royal Air Force code
 
Last edited:
we421a said:
I have not tried the mesh plate yet. I didn't like the sound of the vintage as they sounded too slow and lacked bass extension in my setup.
Have you used JJ 2A3-40? It sounded the best in the Sun Audio 2A3 SET as well as my DIY 2A3 SET
Thanks
Sam
Click to expand...
I have tried several tubes. The Full Music mesh are detailed and with good bass. Even better than other mesh I have tried. The Sovtek were just OK. The EH and Shuguang are good and hold their own. The JJ and Full Music are a step above for me.

2A3tubes.jpg
 
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