300b lovers


I have been an owner of Don Sachs gear since he began, and he modified all my HK Citation gear before he came out with his own creations.  I bought a Willsenton 300b integrated amp and was smitten with the sound of it, inexpensive as it is.  Don told me that he was designing a 300b amp with the legendary Lynn Olson and lo and behold, I got one of his early pair of pre-production mono-blocks recently, driving Spatial Audio M5 Triode Masters.  

Now with a week on the amp, I am eager to say that these 300b amps are simply sensational, creating a sound that brings the musicians right into my listening room with a palpable presence.  They create the most open vidid presentation to the music -- they are neither warm nor cool, just uncannily true to the source of the music.  They replace his excellent Kootai KT88 which I was dubious about being bettered by anything, but these amps are just outstanding.  Don is nearing production of a successor to his highly regard DS2 preamp, which also will have a  unique circuitry to mate with his 300b monos via XLR connections.  Don explained the sonic benefits of this design and it went over my head, but clearly these designs are well though out.. my ears confirm it. 

I have been an audiophile for nearly 50 years having had a boatload of electronics during that time, but I personally have never heard such a realistic presentation to my music as I am hearing with these 300b monos in my system.  300b tubes lend themselves to realistic music reproduction as my Willsenton 300b integrated amps informed me, but Don's 300b amps are in a entirely different realm.  Of course, 300b amps favor efficient speakers so carefully component matching is paramount.

Don is working out a business arrangement to have his electronics built by an American audio firm so they will soon be more widely available to the public.  Don will be attending the Seattle Audio Show in June in the Spatial Audio room where the speakers will be driven by his 300b monos and his preamp, with digital conversion with the outstanding Lampizator Pacific tube DAC.  I will be there to hear what I expect to be an outstanding sonic presentation.  

To allay any questions about the cost of Don's 300b mono, I do not have an answer. 

 

 

whitestix

 

Spatial Audio at the Southwest Audio Festival, with the new Q3 dual 15" dipole speakers and the latest Revelation Series Raven preamp and Blackbird power amps. The pint-sized Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC is tucked behind the Raven preamp.

I just returned from Dallas, and I have to tell you that our room was one of the top two or three in the show.  Danny Ritchie (GR Research) came by and told us our room was his pick for best sound of the show.  Sam Whitt, the speaker designer at Spatial, just completely nailed that new Q3 speaker.  It is superb....  Of course the preamp and amps driving it didn't hurt either:)

If Spatial is at the Seattle show this year, yes, I will be there. I had a lot of personal stuff that precluded my attendance at Dallas, but it sounds like the SWAF was great experience and a good time for all.

Don tells me there is a lot of serious tech in the new Q3 speaker, and of course Don and I have rolled in a lot of new tech into the preamp and power amp since the Seattle show.

I expect I’ll be working with Joseph Troy Crowe on completing the notorious "Beyond the Ariel" speaker project started many years ago on DIYaudio. This will be a non-Spatial project, just between me and Troy, but it will be open-source.

My work with Don and Spatial will continue ... in the short term, I need to write the product manuals. If there is demand for new electronic products, I will be part of that, but Spatial designs their speakers with their own design team in Salt Lake City.