2. amps-preamps
  3. 126064-1835

2A3 Tube Opinions

Looking to add a pair of 2A3's for my amps that are full/meaty leaning towards the vintage sound.  Currently running EML Solid Plates and love them, but looking for more weight to the sound.  Thanks for any advice.
arthursmuck

Showing 2 responses by larryi

larryi
3,757 posts
 
I find that, among the low-powered triodes, the 2a3 is one of the leaner sounding tubes.  It does not deliver either the punch or the weight that most other tubes deliver.  I have run a number of new as well as old stock 2a3s in my Audio Note Kageki, and none really stick out much as far as more weight in the bottom end.  I have run both the meshplate and non-meshplate EMLs, the non-meshplate has a tighter sound overall, and the meshplate delivers a huge soundstage and the sound seems to bloom into a large space (some might say slightly phasey sound), but, but I don't think either could be said to deliver more weight (associated with a more pronounced upper bass) than the other.  

I would hesitate to suggest old monoplates because they are so expensive, but, the ones I heard did sound somewhat warmer.  I just think that the leaner sound is somewhat inherent in the 2a3 character.  You might be better off experimenting with different driver and input tubes.  These tubes make a big difference in the character of tube amps.

Good luck.
larryi
3,757 posts
 

Arthur,

There are a lot of different 300B amps out there that sound better, to me, than the Sophia, but, decent amps are somewhat costly because they employ quite expensive output transformers.

Among the most common low-powered triode tube types--the 300B, 2a3, and the 45, I personally like the sound of the 45.  The 45 has tighter and more punchy bass than the 300B (by comparison, the 300B tends to be flabby and a bit overblown in the upper bass, lower midrange), and is not as lean sounding as the 2a3 (sort of in the middle between the two others); the downside being it delivers even less power than the 2a3.

It sounds like you are looking for a range of different sounds from your collection of amps.  A pushpull EL34 amp would certainly be a good candidate.  If the chosen amp can run other tubes in that family of tubes, I personally like 6L6 tubes for the sound even though they do not put out as much power.  There are some other rare tube types that sound fantastic in pushpull amps, like the 349, 271 and the extremely rare 252.

Another completely different area to explore are output transformerless amps.  This type of amp tends to be extremely lively and dynamic sounding. 

More to discover