One thing I learned in development of the NiWatt amplifier is that you can’t take anyone’s word for it (I actually knew that).
I’m poking the bear here, but my point is that like any architecture, 300B amplifiers are wildly different and one person’s assessment of a tube plugged into their amplifier is very likely to be different from how that person would respond if he plugged those tubes into your amplifier.
A large majority of 300B amplifiers (when driving appropriate speakers) have a big, fat upper bass and lower midrange. This has been the "knock" on 300B amplifiers, but in fact, the original 300B tube design is very flat in its frequency response. Most of a 300B amplifier’s "sound" comes from the power supply and the driver circuit implementation. Needless to say, these design attributes differ greatly in different designs.
With that disclaimer, if you want a good, reliable inexpensive 300B, get a JJ. If you’re cork sniffing (guilty as charged), pick up a set of Emmission Labs from Tubes USA (no affiliation, but he’s great guy): http://www.tubesusa.com/
Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier Design
I’m poking the bear here, but my point is that like any architecture, 300B amplifiers are wildly different and one person’s assessment of a tube plugged into their amplifier is very likely to be different from how that person would respond if he plugged those tubes into your amplifier.
A large majority of 300B amplifiers (when driving appropriate speakers) have a big, fat upper bass and lower midrange. This has been the "knock" on 300B amplifiers, but in fact, the original 300B tube design is very flat in its frequency response. Most of a 300B amplifier’s "sound" comes from the power supply and the driver circuit implementation. Needless to say, these design attributes differ greatly in different designs.
With that disclaimer, if you want a good, reliable inexpensive 300B, get a JJ. If you’re cork sniffing (guilty as charged), pick up a set of Emmission Labs from Tubes USA (no affiliation, but he’s great guy): http://www.tubesusa.com/
Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier Design