Mastersound 300b Compact-thoughts???

SS rectification can sound good or bad like all things it depends on the implementation. I had a great tube rectified amp I now own a great SS rectified amp. I have not heard the Mastersound 300B however.

it got good reviews a decade ago. But at 12 watts what are you going to be powering? I love my 300B Woo amp with a lot of current powering my headphones.   But you need very efficient speakers and the right sized room. Then it could be a great choice.

This is one of two integrated amps I did not bring in to demo (the other being the Dueundici) due to the low power and lack of speakers to properly show the amplifier.  

I have had the Compact 845 as well as the Evo 300B.  The Evo 300B was an incredible amplifier and possibly my favorite overall integrated they made.  It had twice the power and much more current though so it was able to handle some things the Compact 300B simply wouldn't.  

The Compact 845 is an excellent all-around integrated and the most popular model.  Even with this one, I found the amp to sound great with speakers with 2 or 3 drivers maximum.  Once you started pushing four or more, the amp began losing control of the speaker.  The Evo series does not suffer this fate.

The MastersounD products are very good products but they need to be in the right environment to shine.

Sorry to revive an old thread, but can't find much info on this amp online...

I've been considering this amp since it was recommended to me by the speaker-maker of my speakers, but I have some concerns - notably the 15wpc rating on it. As a SET 300b amp, that seems quite high. I'm used to seeing half that in SET applications for 300b, so I'm a little wary as this may negatively impact tube life - which, considering the cost of these 300b tubes, would be a dealbreaker.

Anyone have any experience, thoughts, insight, etc? Reviews online are all quite old and for previous iterations of this model or for the 300b SE or 845.

@mmcgill829 

I've been considering this amp since it was recommended to me by the speaker-maker of my speakers, but I have some concerns - notably the 15wpc rating on it. As a SET 300b amp, that seems quite high. I'm used to seeing half that in SET applications for 300b, so I'm a little wary as this may negatively impact tube life - which, considering the cost of these 300b tubes, would be a dealbreaker.

These are valid concerns. 15 watts from a single 300b is very high and certainly suggests that the chosen operational points are very aggressive and pushing the 300b quite hard. In this scenario a shortened tube lifespan is very likely. The sweet spot for SET 300b is usually 6 to 8 watts per channel. Now there could be some innovative circuit that can achieve this level of power without stressing the 300b. If so I’m unfamiliar with such.

Charles