300B or 845?


am new to tubes.
I have read the archives.
Can anyone explain the inherent differences between the sonic character of 300B and 845 tubes?
Given the amp cicuits are good and built to utilise the strengths of the tube - what differences are audible on 96db sensitivity speakers?
My music is all acoustic - and 90% is female vocal. I love the sound of a sweet intimate vocal - there are not that many - plus single instruments: guitar, viola, flute, fiddle. I like melody and rhythm. I don't cope with massed instruments be it orchestral or rock bands.
Any advice is deeply appreciated.
eril

Showing 1 response by dejanm

You already probably figured out that there is no clear and unique answer to your question. It also depends a lot on your taste. And you could see that there are more than 2 options - somebody mentioned also 2A3, which is also a valid option concerning the sensitivity of your speakers.

Generally speaking, 845 are tubes that provide more power than 300B (sometimes 300B's are used as drivers for 845's). This power you do not really need, because your speakers are going to work just fine with SET 300B of about 13 W per channel at 8 ohm. The precondition is of course that the amp has been made decently.

It is true that NOS WE 300B are very expencive. But the good alternative is to go for Chinease copy: TJ 300B, which is very good and costs somewhere about $250 each. Or Svetlana 300B ...

2A3 is also very interesting alternative. It is somewhere about 6W at SE mode and it can sound really magically. Especially with female vocals, acoustic instruments,...

Another alternative would be SET with 6C33. This tube provides healthy 15W/8 ohm in SET mode and it sounds powerful and amazing. BAT, Einstein, Graaf and many others are using this Russian tube.

But there are several reasons why 300B triode is called, for decades now, the queen of all triodes ...