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2A3 Tube Opinions

Looking to add a pair of 2A3's for my amps that are full/meaty leaning towards the vintage sound.  Currently running EML Solid Plates and love them, but looking for more weight to the sound.  Thanks for any advice.
arthursmuck
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,235 posts
 
Hi Arthur, 
I didn't mean to exclude the Line Magnetic amplifier.  I was under the impression that you had sold it. You don't have an "issue" just exceptionally  good taste 😊.  Selling the Dartzeel is a bit of a surprise. 
Art, when Jeff Day (Positive Feedback online) reviewed the Sophia 300b SET he was using the same speakers as you.  He was absolutely giddy in his praise of this pairing. So I can understand your enthusiasm. 
Charles, 

charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,235 posts
 
Arthur, 
Regarding el 34 amplifiers I heard a Jadis this year at Axpona and it was "very" good sounding. I'm partial to SETs  but I could certainly be happy with the Jadis given what I heard.
Charles,  
arthursmuck OP
447 posts
 
Was it an EL34 Jadis?  Their 300B amps look crazy nice. 
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,235 posts
 
Arthur, 
It was el 34 tubed integrated amplifier (not a dedicated power amplifier). So this likely isn't their top example.   Regardless, I can say unequivocally that the Jadis made music if you know what I mean. 
Charles, 
larryi
3,743 posts
 

Arthur,

There are a lot of different 300B amps out there that sound better, to me, than the Sophia, but, decent amps are somewhat costly because they employ quite expensive output transformers.

Among the most common low-powered triode tube types--the 300B, 2a3, and the 45, I personally like the sound of the 45.  The 45 has tighter and more punchy bass than the 300B (by comparison, the 300B tends to be flabby and a bit overblown in the upper bass, lower midrange), and is not as lean sounding as the 2a3 (sort of in the middle between the two others); the downside being it delivers even less power than the 2a3.

It sounds like you are looking for a range of different sounds from your collection of amps.  A pushpull EL34 amp would certainly be a good candidate.  If the chosen amp can run other tubes in that family of tubes, I personally like 6L6 tubes for the sound even though they do not put out as much power.  There are some other rare tube types that sound fantastic in pushpull amps, like the 349, 271 and the extremely rare 252.

Another completely different area to explore are output transformerless amps.  This type of amp tends to be extremely lively and dynamic sounding. 

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