Aric Audio 300B SET Monoblocks


I’ve been fortunate to have had three previous builds by Aric but nothing has approached his latest creation. After owning Arics Transcend amp and two versions of 300B stereo amps from him I decided to go all out and have Aric build the best possible 300B SET he could. Here’s what we came up with. 

300B SET monoblocks with two external, tube regulated power supplies. Hashimoto output and power transformers, Duelund coupling caps, C3M driver tubes, silver internal wiring, WBT Nextgen binding posts and RCA jacks, Furutech NCF IEC inlets, curly maple and walnut chassis lined in copper....and much more that I’m forgetting, I’m sure.

The result is spectacular and as good as the previous 300B SET’s were, this latest build is in another league all together. The power these amps provide belies their 8 watt output. Their bass output is deep, controlled and impactful. Their speed and transparency totally blow me away. Of course they display the purity of tone and 3-D qualities that SET’s are known for......in spades. The soundstage is huge. To me it combines the best qualities of solid state with the best of tubes. In other words, I love them!

While they sound more like 80 watts than 8 to me, efficient and easy to drive speakers go a long in realizing this. 

Aric has obtained new levels of excellence with this amp. It also will come at a price, as it should. I don’t know what the retail price might be as I started with his standard 300B SET and upgraded twice to get to these but I can’t imagine they could sell for less than $10k and are probably over that. Hopefully Aric could chime in with general price information and fill in all of the missing blanks I left empty. 

Just wanted to share my experience and excitement about these wonderful amps.
128x128mac48025
Aric congratulations on two excellent reviews and thanks for the clarification I was wondering why an older review was on the ETM site as a world premiere.

Dwayne Carter gave you a great review but reading it he'd never used a tube amp before and seemed a bit mystified by them. I wish it had been someone more experienced to really delve into your amp and have some relevant comparative perspective.

And what's with Mike Wright making an issue of not knowing what brand of connectors you're using? They look well made and obviously sounded good!

You  seem to be on a roll building great amps that get great reviews and happy customers keep it up!




Thanks for clarifying, Aric.

What follows is not 300B...  but it may give someone interested in Aric Audio amps a feel for Aric's work.

Mike Wright / Stereotimes:

http://v2.stereotimes.com/post/aric-audio-super-kt-pushpull-monoblock-amplifiers/


@david_ten Thank you! That was the TBT featured article from ETM from 2018. The editor contacting me to let me know they were featuring it on the home page- sweet! I also want to share the link to the review of my newest Push-Pull mono-blocks here in case anyone was interested. Note that I also have these up for sale on Audiogon currently. Thanks for taking a look and best regards! Aric

http://v2.stereotimes.com/post/aric-audio-super-kt-pushpull-monoblock-amplifiers/
I'll bet they sound incredible!I'm a fan of Aric's products too,being a very happy owner of one of his amps.Enjoy!
Thanks for the kudos on the amps all- it was definitely a long-term collaboration between Tom and I, and as much as I anticipated positive results- what we received, are more than stellar! @mac48025 - Either the C3M or the EL84 driver (which is very much built like the C3M as they are both Pentodes) are my new drivers of choice for the 300B. In top flight builds I will be using the C3M. In more "cost-effective" builds I will go to the EL84. My own personal 300B SET's are getting the mod to the C3M as soon as my tubes arrive from Italy! 
Thanks teajay, it was your review of the Transcend Amp that steered me toward Aric in the first place....so I have you to thank for that.

Thanks Charles, I look forward to having you over to hear Arics’ creation. 

These SE’s are my “forever” amps, jond. I can’t imagine what I’d have to spend to get appreciable better sound. More than I can afford, that’s for sure! 

Thanks David, you just reminded me that I need to update my Virtual System page here with new pics of these babies. 

My only complaint right now is that I don’t have the time right now that I’d like to listen to these amps. They have less than 40 hours on them and are getting better every day. 


@mac48025  Tom, congratulations on your very special custom build 300B 4-chassis SET amplifier.

It's wonderful learning more about the efforts that Aric of @aricaudio went to, to satisfy your commission, and the sublime results being delivered!

What a 'bargain' given Aric's pricing!!!

And they look terrific in the wood trim you chose.
Tom they sound like amazing amps and I am sure they sound fantastic. And congrats to Aric on a great build with premium parts! I am sure they sound amazing and you will enjoy them for many years to come.
Hi Tom,
Congratulations  on acquiring the custom built 4 chassis SET mono blocks. I'm glad to read that you're so happy with them. I have no doubts that these are outstanding in their sound quality.  An all out design/effort from Aric Audio . Terrific upgrade choices/decisions by you.and Aric.
Charles 
Thanks for putting this up Tom! Also thanks for the kind words @teajay ! I’m stoked that Tom is enjoying these monoblocks as much as I was for the several days I had them running. I have never heard that kind of speed, purity and control over the bass as well as extended highs from a 300B. This is really a combination of all of the upgrades we decided upon, but the weight of this voicing is due to the C3M driver. The C3M is an extremely linear tube, and has the current and voltage needed to over-come the 300B’s Miller Factor and also to push it’s grid when the grid becomes positive (both of these things are what are typically associated with the common "rolled off" highs or "wooly bass" people here from most 300B amps). The 300B and most DHT’s are all capable of extended frequency response on both extremes- provided the driver can avoid slewing. On the tech side of things, some of the other upgrades not mentioned in the original post include (but are not limited to): A full film capacitor power supply. Hexfred diodes in a hybrid rectifier circuit (what this does is runs a tube rectifier in parallel with the ultra-fast diodes so that there are no switching pauses in the rectification and virtually no voltage drop (common with tube rectifiers)). A low impedance power supply using a very low DCR choke for fast rise/decay times and no over-hang or bloat. Schottky diodes for the well-filtered 300B DC filament supply employing a choke. Tube damper plates which de-couple the C3M’s socket from the chassis. All film-capacitors used for cathode bypass. In fact there are no electrolytic capacitors in the signal path in any way, shape or form. This includes the power supply as the power supply IS directly in the signal path. Also, this amp is DEAD QUIET- meaning no tube rush, buzz, hum, etc. is present even with your ears right up to the speakers. With these "all out mods" and the 4 chassis design we employed (with umbilical cables), the price is $11,900 for this build (tubes included).
Hey mac48025,

Congrats!  Aric builds beautiful sounding equipment and I know you and he went " full monty" on your pair of amps.