300b INTEGRATED AMP Suggestions


This will be my first post here but I have enjoyed advice from this site for quite some time.  

After living for many years with the Rogue Cronus Magnum I am interested in downsizing a bit to a smaller, more finessed system built around a 300B integrated amp.  I am intrigued by what I have read about SET amps and given my small room and musical preferences I think this could be a fun switch.  I have been looking at the Cary CAD-300sei amp and am leaning that direction but wanted to put this out there to see what comes back before I jump.  (I like the reviews and the positivity around Line Magnetic as well, however I'd like to stay away from the 845 tubes for heat reasons)  My musical preference is generally around folk, singer/songwriter, jazz etc but not limited to.  My budget is around 5k new or used.

I know speakers are a huge part of this equation as well.  I currently have some KEF r5 speakers that I would likely be looking to replace with something from Zu's line depending on where I end up with an amp decision. 

I'd love to get any recommendations.
dholmes189

Showing 8 responses by oddiofyl

"If someone doesn’t like the 300b or believes that it is too expensive, okay that’s fine and understood. The OP expressed a specific interest in 300b SET amplifiers and I can completely understand this and yes encourage and support him. The premium tier 300bs are expensive and in my opinion worth it. You receive superb sound quality and impressive tube life longevity. An excellent tradeoff in my estimation."

My sentiment , exactly 
I've had a number of tube amps over the years and wanted a SET....  the 2a3 wasn't quite enough power for me ,  the 300b 's 8 watts should be plenty .   The parts spec on the ToolShed amp is high,  it will use Amorphous Core OPT  made from Hitachi FineMet ., 1% tolerance resistors,  silver foil coupling caps.    If its as good as other ToolShed owners have told me it will be , I'm not going to worry about what 300b replacements cost.    I have heard more than a few people say the new WE300b are worth every penny.   
Thats good to hear,  I can't wait !!!    My amp is now in queue to be built, should have it by the end of the year.   Should sound great driving my Forte
I originally thought two Decware Zen mono.  Thought about Whammerdyne 2a3 amps , but I didn’t think 2 watts would be enough for a 99dB sens speaker.  
My last few amps were 40  watts and could drive several 88-89 dB sens speaker to fairly loud levels so 8 watts should be plenty 
Ok, look at the price of that amp... then look at the amp. It is essentially hand built .   then , hold onto that thought and see what mainstream amps are the same money.  Quite a few , but are they built like that?  Probably not.   So when you compare you’ll see that a lot of these smaller “one man show” builders put A LOT of love into their builds .  If you think of the time to build an amp like that or the one I’m having built it’s really a solid value