Proclamations are difficult to back up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
True
'I've nor heard
every EL34,88,120,150 tube amp ever made. based on a few models,, these tubes **pretty much** all sounded the same.At least to me ears.
hardlya nuance difference.
THe pre tubes in each design responded much more to preference.
I'm a Tele fan.
So like yeah,,here I am thinking 2A3 wow doube tubes,, read the descript,, now that i think about it, it might have added the one word PP, but also thought it did say, SET...The Inet only mentioned the 2A3 in a SET design,, so I'm thinking its a SET tube.
Someone here on Audiogon, noted it may be a PP,, My tech confirmed and brought the ad up on his computer,,anyway, he said, **you might like this chinese budget amp,,then again...**.
Yaquin has always been in my mind like Ming Da, Dared, the low budget end of chinese gear..
WEll turns out I much prefer this 2A3 in a PP vs all KT varieties, (exception is Jadis' new KT170, which looks promising but at 10x's the price of this lil Yaquin..).
Anyway, listening to a classical cd recorded poorly from Russian Archives, sounded fantastic on the 2A3.
Faith Hill never sounded as good.
There is no doubt, this 2A3 out performa s , all KT designs.
I've yet to hear Full Music Mesh plates (my tech mentioned its nota true mesh, more like perforated metal..), still from what I've read the Mesh offer nice resolutions.
The Jadis Defy7 will be great in more comples symphonic orch,,but for all other music, this 2A3 will beat out the Defy.
SET Shootout China VS The USA
2A3 SET from china arrives any day now.
The tech who loaned me his UX250 (aka 50 Tube) amp, with a 12AU7 in front + a 6BH7 (??) , has incredible pure Cobalt out trans. ($1k+ each back in 2000, now no longer in production). . he will help me set up the 2A3.
Has a AX+AU my 2 fav front tubes anda quad of 2A3's.
My speakers are pure neutrality, no coloration, no distortion,.
So whatever amp/ source you plug in, will register the nuances inherent in the circuit.
Will be very interesting.
USA has pure cobalt out trans which gives the edge in power, but the china 2A3 has a 2 tubes per channel.
Gonna be interesting and will post a YT upload with comments,
AFTER TESTING IS COMPLETEED.
Hand on to your horses at the OK Corral.
Grab a beer at the saloon,
sundown shootout at the edge of town.
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Your tech is correct, perforated metal plate rather than a true mesh design. EML makes a genuine mesh tube, they are costly. You could still really appreciate the sound of the Full Music perforated plate tube once acquired. I can understand why you are attracted to DHT tubes (101D in my preamplifier and 300b amplifiers). Pure musical beauty if implementation is done well. I feel that you're on a good path. Charles |
^^^+1 Totally agree! I also prefer the 2A3 over a 300B in a pure SET amp.^^^ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yet how often do I see 300B and 2A3 mentioned as options offered in a design. AS though they were closely matched in terms of performance. My tech urges me to avoid the 300B in any part of a design, (845 w 300B as driver). He has no issues with the 2A3. Then again there are fans of the 300B that love their pure linear SET soundstage. My tech mentioned the 300B original intent for the tube was telecom usage. Meaning fq cut off in both ends of the band width spectrum. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
^^^^Your tech is correct, perforated metal plate rather than a true mesh design. EML makes a genuine mesh tube, they are costly. You could still really appreciate the sound of the Full Music perforated plate tube once acquired.^^^^ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yes I’ve seen the EML’s , out my budget. The TJ FM *mesh* is definetly a different material, and will offer a different soundstage vs his NOS RCA’s 1940’s he is offering me. great price at $100 each. But is the TJ FM pseudo mesh plates that interest me most. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I should also mention, last time I heard the KT88 was in the Thors and also a single FR speaker. Which makes the testing imbalanced/skewed. Adding a 2nd 6 inch FR with the 2A3 alters the testing. IOW the only way to properly test a KT88 PP to a @a# PP, is with same exact speakers. This may be 6 months before I retube the KT88 amplifier. Preliminary guess is that the 88 will perform better in a Dual FR /double tweeter system vs the previous Single FR/and Thor system. Yet I strongly suspect the 2A3 to come out nuances superior vs the KT88. How each perform in complex symphonic, is anyones guess. Stay tuned.,,,plenty more to come.... |
@mozartfan which flavor of ice cream does your tech tell you to eat? The 300b in the right circuit, just like the 2a3, can be exceptional…but not all of them. Full range drivers can sound exceptional…but not all of them. This is from a happy 300b, full range single driver speaker owner. Its just not my only system. |
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