Airtight ATM300 vs. Cary 300SEI

Cary is really not in the same league as Airtight. That's why you see so many used Cary. Transformer is the heart of a SET amplifier. Both Sun Audio and Airtight use Tamura transformers. Sun uses the OEM and Airtight uses the regular version. Sun 300B SE amp uses 6SN7 driver which I think is a better driver for power amp. both units use tube rectifying. Sun has a choke in the power supply circuit. All their amplifier can be ordered as a kit. 3 models are available. SV300BE is the stereo SE version. For 20% more, you can have the SV300-BTE monoblock version which has independent power supply circuit and grounding for each channel. I have a PP monoblock and upgrade all the wiring to Cardas and the capcitors to MIT RTX polystyrene and the big electrolytic to Black Gate. It has beat every 300B that I have heard including the med price Audionote, Wavelengths,Cary, Audion and many others. You can order them direct from Sun Audio in assembled form or kit. The best price is from the Hong Kong distributor but you can check around for prices. If possible, order the unit without the tubes. You will want to have WE 300Bs, red base RCA 5692 for the 6SN7, RCA 5U4G and Tungsol or RCA 6V6. Ask about upgrading the electrolytics to Blackgate and the film capcitor to MIT RTX or better. I think the Hong Kong distributor is more flexible on these. But you can call around and see.

The english site for ordering direct and distributor list:

http://www2.big.or.jp/~sunaudio/index_e.html

The price in Japanese Yen

http://www2.big.or.jp/~sunaudio/sv.html

Good Luck
Terry

Thanks, Terry, for the great feedback. Yes, I've considered Sun...Now you have me really going. Is there a qualitative difference between the regular and OEM Tamura Transformer? I would assume not, but your mentioning it has me wondering. What do you consider to be the best film capacitor for this application (Audionote Tantalus?)? Internal wiring is a tough one. My experience with Cardas internal, phono & spkr wire is that they tend towards the richer end of the spectrum, sometimes losing dynamic contrasts. With that said, XLO and the like make me run from the room screaming. I use NBS & Kondo AN, depending on the application, but really dont have the experience to comment extensively on internal wire. Anyone's opinion on these more esoteric aspects would be appreciated (Come on, where are you die-hard SE folks!)Thanks Asa.

I have compare OEM and regular tamura transformers. The regular seems to be bigger in size. Regarding the capacitor choice, it is partly a personal preference. I know I don't like MIT polypropene in this application. I am happy with MIT RTX but I will try Auricap if I am building another pair.

Hey Egg- Where can the Auricaps be purchased? I figured I should give them a try. Of the MIT line, have you tried the Polyprops and tin foil, PPFX-S ? These are very good and in some applications, I prefer to the RTX. Also, the copper foil-in-oil caps (Jensen, Angela, etc..) are simply amazing! I'll be trying some silver foil-in-oil caps in about a week. Should be interesting! Good luck.

auricap is available from

http://www.audience-av.com/passive.htm

and michael percy.