300b lovers
I have been an owner of Don Sachs gear since he began, and he modified all my HK Citation gear before he came out with his own creations. I bought a Willsenton 300b integrated amp and was smitten with the sound of it, inexpensive as it is. Don told me that he was designing a 300b amp with the legendary Lynn Olson and lo and behold, I got one of his early pair of pre-production mono-blocks recently, driving Spatial Audio M5 Triode Masters.
Now with a week on the amp, I am eager to say that these 300b amps are simply sensational, creating a sound that brings the musicians right into my listening room with a palpable presence. They create the most open vidid presentation to the music -- they are neither warm nor cool, just uncannily true to the source of the music. They replace his excellent Kootai KT88 which I was dubious about being bettered by anything, but these amps are just outstanding. Don is nearing production of a successor to his highly regard DS2 preamp, which also will have a unique circuitry to mate with his 300b monos via XLR connections. Don explained the sonic benefits of this design and it went over my head, but clearly these designs are well though out.. my ears confirm it.
I have been an audiophile for nearly 50 years having had a boatload of electronics during that time, but I personally have never heard such a realistic presentation to my music as I am hearing with these 300b monos in my system. 300b tubes lend themselves to realistic music reproduction as my Willsenton 300b integrated amps informed me, but Don's 300b amps are in a entirely different realm. Of course, 300b amps favor efficient speakers so carefully component matching is paramount.
Don is working out a business arrangement to have his electronics built by an American audio firm so they will soon be more widely available to the public. Don will be attending the Seattle Audio Show in June in the Spatial Audio room where the speakers will be driven by his 300b monos and his preamp, with digital conversion with the outstanding Lampizator Pacific tube DAC. I will be there to hear what I expect to be an outstanding sonic presentation.
To allay any questions about the cost of Don's 300b mono, I do not have an answer.
@alexberger Yes, but only at radio frequencies. No shielding at audio frequencies, and for that reason steel is likely a better choice if you're running single-ended. We use aluminum chassis in most of our stuff, but its balanced and so does not need shielding to be quiet. |
Alexberger, the Cinemag input and interstage transformers are under the top plate. These are the third generation of the custom Cinemag transformers we started with. The two Monolith transformers are visible on the rear of the top plate. The other things under the top plate (right side) are the B+ and filament regulators, and the master soft-start circuit, with an external 12V trigger. The point-to-point and turret-board wiring under the audio side (left) is very simple, with only transformers, tube sockets, cathode resistors and bypass caps. No current sources or other gizmos. |
The Statements are the previous versions. I strongly urged Don to use a spacious layout, with all components on a single layer. Easier to build and signal-trace. Don ran with the suggestion and improved it by putting all the power supply components on the right side of the chassis, all the audio circuits on the left, with a shield between the two sections. The wiring for the audio section, in particular, is really simple ... transformers, tube sockets, cathode resistors, and bypass caps. The wire lengths for each half of the circuit are symmetric, while cathode resistors, bypass caps and local grounds go to turret boards next to the tube sockets. The bigger chassis also run cooler, as you might expect, since heat-emitting components are further apart, and the top plate is now 18" wide. The Blackbirds might look big, but they fit just fine on standard racks. Sonically, the Statements and the Blackbirds are pretty close. They are all descendants of the original Karna amps, which date back to 2003. Unlike the Karna amps, the Statements and Blackbirds are on two chassis instead of four, which vastly simplifies grounding. Here’s a picture of Gary Pimm (foreground) and Gary Dahl (background), taken in 2003. The Karna’s have the distinctive blue chassis, and the separate power supply chassis are behind the amplifiers. The AMT-1's are Gary Pimm's speakers.
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Here’s a close-up of the 2003 Karna amplifier, showing one channel of the audio chassis, with the power supply chassis out of sight. These have been my personal amplifiers until I received a pair of Statements about eight months ago. Note the aviation-grade Amphenol connector on the rear of the chassis. All connectors and cables are rated for 1.5 kilovolts, using transmitter-grade coax cables to carry the two separate B+ voltages to the audio chassis. In case you are wondering what all these tubes are doing, the input tube is a 5687 (or 7119), the drivers are old-stock 45’s, the outputs are 300B’s, one pair of VR150’s are for the drivers, and a single VR150 is for the input tube. The single EL34 is a current source that feeds the VR tubes. The four blue-painted cylinders emerging from the chassis are General Electric industrial motor-run capacitors. The Statements and Blackbirds are an update of this over-the-top project. I was doubtful the Karna could ever be manufactured until Don came along, with his lengthy experience making the Valhalla (KT66) and Kootenai (KT88) amplifiers. Not only is it more compact, the new Don Sachs power supplies are an order of magnitude better ... and they didn’t exist in 2003.
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