@alycat It's most likely due to the high cost of the item. Happened to me with a Rel subwoofer that was never opened. On a high priced item, they wait till it gets to the return center before issuing a refund,
Ordered a Willsenton R300
Everything I have read about this 300b tube amp has been very positive, particularly Steve Huff's review on his website. I have always thought I would love the sound of 300b tubes and this is my chance to get one for a very modest price. It ought to drive my Spatial Audio M4 Triode Masters very nicely. I will report back my impressions of the amp when it is fully revealed to me.
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Purchased Willsenton R8 from Amazon. Showed up last week DOA! Warning, Difficult to get your money back. And my wife and I are Prime members for over ten years now.I did not buy from third party seller. This was not from "tube Hi-Fi specialist" that they now have aded to their listings. Amazon says easy return but it was not! Had to make many phone calls and they told me it can take up to 30 days for refund. Is has been weeks and I am still waiting! |
Musiclover, I might be well off base, but before I went all digital, I connected my phono preamp to my Don Sachs preamp by way of one of the inputs on the Sachs preamp. That is assuming you are using the R300 as an integrated amp. TT > phono preamp (with no volume control) > preamp > amp > speakers. With the R300, it would be TT > phono preamp > R300 > speakers. I can't see why the R300 remote wouldn't function normally. |
Lovely thread. I might be buying one of these soon. Hopefully they’re up on Amazon soon. Does anyone know of it’s possible to use this amp with a phono preamp that doesn’t have volume controls? I swear I read the R300’s volume control is inoperable when using it as a power amp. I can’t seem to find where I read that though. Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me. Too much research. |
I have both an R8 and now an R300 as well. Everything Huff said is right on the money. They each have a different presentation. I prefer the 300B sound but the R8 kicks serious enjoyment as well. Ordered from Amazon in case I needed to return it. It's not leaving this house. It is the perfect match for my new Sonus faber Lumina II speakers. Hard to drive with 8 watts? Not in the least. The Luminas are 86db sensitivity and 4 ohms. The R300 does not break a sweat. I'm listening to Blues now at between 70 and 80 db SPL. Effortless grunt at 10 o'clock. Not a hint of clipping. Those transformers are priceless. |
I join Charles is affirming your enjoyment of the tube amp. I listen to mine everyday and those 300b produce a sound more to my liking than any KT88 or high end SS amps I own. Of course you need to pair them with the right speakers. It is a modest unit which might serve like a "gateway drug" to move on to more high-end 300b amp, That is where I am headed. Replacing the tubes is gonna be huge "but dart" when it is required. Ouch! |
I just received the R300 through Amazon. Phwoooooaaaarrrrr. Lovely sounding amp, but I am only a few hours in - keep in mind also that I got it to compare with my purely digital setup (Cambridge Audio 851N + 851W into PSB T3s) and I am only really at the beginning of playing around with my audio setup beyond speaker placement and room adjustments. As a newbie, I can wholeheartedly recommend this amp and price point at getting into tubes. My speakers are 91db and very easy to drive, and particularly as I am not a loud volume listener (except when I've had a bit more bourbon than usual) they are an excellent choice for someone like me. First listens from this morning: Esbjorn Svenson Trio Initial impressions are that the dynamics are much more alive than with the Cambridge Audio - much better and more natural volume control. No surprises with a tube setup it is a much warmer and richer sound. Now to give it a couple of weeks of listening to get those tubes settled in. |
Two weeks in and counting for the R300. Honestly, I enjoy the sound beyond my expectations for an amp at this price point. I ran it as an integrated for 5-6 days to get my Forte IV's dialed in and to get a sense of space. The music was alive and palpable. So far the amp seems to be a great match for the speakers. I inserted my Primaluna Dialogue Premium pre and ran the R300 as a power amp. This was not a subtle change and it took a bit to understand what I was hearing. The sense of realism increased. The spaciousness increased. I wanted to warm the voices and boy, did that do it. The sound is not fatiguing. I feel that I am hearing the music as the musicians wanted it heard. The bass is tight, real, and not boomy. The mids are - well, I'm running Klipsch Heritage speakers. I'm not hearing the brightness I heard with the KR Antares (albeit with different speakers). Right now I am running all stock tubes with the exception of a pair of Mullards in the pre. I have some tube rolling ahead of me but I could live with what I have now for a while without regret. This has been a promising purchase so far. I hope those of you who bought the amp are enjoying it as much as I am. |
@musiclover1 and charles1dad: My concerns as to whether the R300 would match well with my JM Reynaud Offrande Supreme v.1 speakers turned out to groundless. What I'm hearing is a warm, palpable presentation with no sense of fatigue whatsoever. Keep in mind that I'm in a small apartment which dictates lower listening levels. Still, I'm getting tight, punchy bass, a warmish enveloping midrange and crisp highs. I'm sure the transformers in the R300 aren't the best available but I suspect their quality is higher than one might expect at this price. I prefer this amp to the First Watt M2x amp it replaced. Also, I'm using the R300 as a power amp only. While it sounds great as an integrated, I have a Cary SLP-05 preamp that's just too good not to use. The combination is amazing. My first 300B purchase has worked out very, very well. |
I just received the Willsenton R300 from China Hi-Fi. First off, to state the build quality is good, is a gross understatement. The build quality is as good or better than some $5k amps that I’ve owned. As for parts quality, that is another matter. Some will complain that the tubes, caps, resistors, rca and speakers jacks could be better but I’m not sure yet as to if changing them to premium parts will morph the amp into something much better. I don’t have much time on the unit yet and my speakers aren’t very sensitive but the sound it’s producing is quite good. VERY QUIET, very spatial, smooth with good bass. I definitely need to give it some more time to “burn in” but right from the start, excellent sound overall. And no, this is not my first tube amp. It is also not my first SET amp. And no, it is not the best amp I’ve ever owned. Not yet at least. However, I have owned amplifiers that cost in excess of $5k and what I’m hearing initially has me feeling that this amp can hold its own with the big boys. Of course it isn’t the best for everyone or every situation but the Willsenton R300 sounds amazing and initially it feels as though it has an amazing build quality. For $1000 plus $250 ish in shipping, I just don’t see how you can go wrong. Once the unit settles in and I pair it with a more appropriate speaker, I will get a feel for areas that I might like to make some changes (caps, resistors, tubes). And truth be told, my gut has me feeling that any of those changes will only yield slight potential increases in sound. All too often people overstate the effects of changing parts. I’ve heard positive differences in swapping parts and I’ve heard negative differences in changing parts to boutique parts. It’s a recipe, season to taste but it’s not as easy as you would hope.
Sorry for the ramble and Happy New Year. |
A follow-up to my original post. I have been playing my new CCS Audio 1TD-X speakers (87 db sensitive with an 8 ohm nominal impedance) and the Willsenton drives them nicely at normal listening levels, but runs out of gas at higher SPL's. No SPL limitations driving my Spatial Audio M4 Triode Masters. I checked the bias for the second time in 3 months and it is spot on on both channels. I love the performance of this modest integrated than I am going to move way up the food chain of 300b amps. More about this later when I get the new amp. With the right speakers, this Willsenton is way up there in the sound performance vs cost equation. Its fit and finish completely belies its cost.
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I’m interested to. @garyalex ,does it pair well with your JM Reynaud speakers? Charles |
Howdy, all. I have been off the site for many years and am just returning. My 17-year-old CD player recently bit the dust which got me back into the search mode. I decided it was time to upgrade and downsize my gear. I came across reviews of the R300 and ordered one on December 13th from China HiFi Audio since Amazon was about 5-6 weeks out to ship one. The amp arrived in Denver on December 21st and I was able to bring it home yesterday after some local delays by the shipping company. It arrived in excellent condition. It is as described by other owners and reviewers in terms of apparent build quality and aesthetics. It is a lovely piece. I have only been running it for a few hours so a lot of break-in time ahead. I have owned tube amps (Jolida, AirTight, Conrad Johnson, KR Audio) but this is my first long-desired 300B. I cannot make a fair comparison to my old gear since I also recently changed out my speakers, cables, and IC's, but I can say I am very much enjoying what I am hearing, so far. I am planning on rolling in a pair of PSVANE T-Series CV181-TII's after the holidays. Looking forward to more listening and reading posts from other R300 owners. Cheers, Rick |
I found this information. Input sensitivity is changed when used as a power amplifier compared to integrated amplifier usage. So quite possibly the preamplifier section is thus bypassed when used as power amp.
Charles |
It is possible that the preamplifier section of your Willsenton is passive rather than active. The 5U4G is the rectifier tube. The 6SN7 or the 6SL7 is the diver tube for the 300b power output tube. If your amplifier has an active preamplifier stage then it’s likely to be the 6SN7 (A popular preamplifier choice). Charles |
I am using the amp as a power amp at the moment, connected to my tube preamp. I assume the two 300b and 2 5U4G tubes are in play when it functions as a pure power amp and thus might benefit from tube rolling, but how about the 2 6SN7 and one 6SL7 tubes... are they not involved when its run as just a power amp and not as an integrated amp? |
Just to share some experience with the 300B. I have the original Willsenton R-300B model from a couple years ago. That one has a balanced set of inputs. Very nice amp. From rumors online I believe Willsenton are made by the same factory as Cayin and Prima Luna. You can see the resemblance to Cayin in build with the newer version Willsenton R300 model. I also have the Muzishare X9 (made in Line Magnetic factory) which in addition to 300B tubes sports Nichicon filter caps and Mundorf coupling caps although at a higher $1700 price point. The sound from that amp with Klipsch Heritage line of speakers is magical. Looking to find a little more thump for my Forte IV I did decide to also give the Muzishare X10 a try (SET KT-150) at 25W per channel. Just received it today. Bass thump is there at the slight expense of the organic magic of the 300B tube (which lacks a bit on bass control). The X10 is more resolving and in control of the music while the X9 flows with the music. So a trade off between the two but both excellent depending on your particular music tastes - Jazz versus rock etc. Although both amps have not been in my collection long enough to truly break in yet so I expect a decent amount of improvement in tone over time.
Looking forward to more reports on the Willsenton R300. Does the remote do finer increments on the volume pot now that prior models? That was my only real complaint from past Willsenton amp models. Otherwise they are fantastic sounding and a great value.
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This comment particularly stands out because this was my immediate reaction to placing a 300b SET into my system the very first time. The sound quality and presentation was more tactile, authentic and certainly more engaement emotionally. This was over 13 years ago and it has remained this way. So, I can completely relate to your newfound joy with the Willsenton R300.It will be difficult for you to bring listening sessions to an end. You just want to listen, and then listen more. I’m happy for your discovery. Charles |
Gents, I have had the amp running for most of a week, now powering my Spatial M4 Triode Masters. I had a musician pal come by last weekend to listen to some music. He knows my system very well and noticed the difference right away with the new amp controlled by my Sachs preamp. The music seems so alive and realistic that I listen for hours, just palpably real. Driving the Spatials as loud as I could tolerate, there was nary a hint of distortion or breakup. If the amp doesn't capture the top of the top end, it is not a bother as my ears don't hear much above 9 kHZ. The mid-range is just sublime, warm and seductive. Reliability aside for the moment, I will go out on a limb and say that this amp is very near the top of my list of reasonably-priced audio gear that delivers on its promises (at the top of the list is my Oppo 103D). This amp needs the proper speakers to perform its best... as Charles said above, "The more efficient the speakers, the better the results." As with the 6SN7's, there is real magic in 300b tubes. Heck, there is magic in all tubes! If the Class D designers can reproduce this sort of sound, then they are really on to something. My VTV Audio amp with the Purifi module, while very good, sounds nothing like this Willsenton amp. |
Thanks for the encouragement, Charles. One potential limitation is the modest output of the amp. I can almost turn it WFO with my Gallo Stradas which are 87 db sensititive and I could possibly bear it a bit louder (briefly), but still pretty much wide open, the speakers do not distort. My Spatial M4 Triode Masters will be an easier load to drive. One other thing. The amp runs really hot so one needs plenty of space around the amp to allow it to dissipate the heat. |
I was informed that the amp would arrive at the end of November, but it actually showed up today! I have it connected to my Gallo Strada's playing an FM jazz station. The amp is a heavy beast and the fit and finish seems first rate, particularly at this price point; it looks just beautiful. The pots turn with a firm ease. It has 4, 8 and 16 ohm taps. It was double-packaged with good foam around it. It comes with very good instructions. Right out of the box, I was enveloped with a warm and luscious sound with a sweet sense of immediacy to the music. Now I will admit that I have liked most amps I have owned, but moved up or sideways from them. However, this is exactly the sound I was hoping for so perhaps I am hearing what I seek to hear. It likely needs plenty of hours to run in, but rarely have I heard brand new amps sound this good right out of the box. This doesn't sound like my Wells Audio Immorata SS amp or Don Sachs' tube amp at all... such a nice midrange and warm sound. More in due time. |
Ok thanks Don, appreciate the comments. Are you still selling new gear through your website? |
Hi The 300b project is not a commercial product now. It may be next year in partnership with someone, but it is not my place to do business here at all. Not appropriate. I am sorry, but I stopped modding gear or working on vintage gear maybe 4 or 5 years ago. Just no time or desire. If I didn't build it, then I no longer touch it nor look at it..... Just too many other projects. I don't want to seem like I am dismissing the 300b integrated in question here. I am sure it is very good value and would have a pleasing sound. As we have discussed, it can no doubt be improved with better signal path parts. It will have a limit due to the circuit and power supply design, but could still sound quite good. Just not superb. It simply cannot go to that level because of the basic design, and that is just fine because that was not what it was intended to do. The 300b project I am doing with Lynn is an attempt to make a state of the art amp, so not really the same design goal:) Build the best amp you can, and then figure out what it has to sell for. There is no price point target. cheers, Don |
Hi Don. Will your new 300B be available for sale at some point in the future? Also, I have a pair of 45 single ended mono blocks and I wanted to send you a picture of the underside to see if you could make any improvements. Would you be willing to take a look if I send you an email? Thank you sir. |