I'm definitely interested in checking out the pre-built 300b amp. I have a pair of Klipsch Cornwalls with a Willsenton R300 on them now but would love a more polished design. I think Walnut should be the default choice. As far as placement of the input jacks, I'm more interested in sound, so put them where you need to.
Great Video, I'll be watching very closely to your ST70 build to see which components you upgrade from what is supplied in the kit. Ive paid attention to the fact that you have already upgraded the speaker output jacks. Thank you
Oh so nice.... I would love to see a PSE version of this 300B amp as well! I find more often, even with highly sensitive and easy loads, I like a bit more power than a 300B SET, but that frikin sound is so beautiful...... PSE may be where I need to end up.
Not a fan of PSE designs, trying to find two EXACT matched tubes is impossible, which is unlike solid state. Any mismatch in any way in the tubes in parallel cause sonic issues.
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics I truly believe that is asking for trouble as well. I have read several statements from experienced guys who have built PSE, and very often end up in designs that indeed do work, but can't compete with SET when it comes to upper frequencies detail and spatial information. Then again, of course experimenting is always a good thing according to me, so go ahead and try yourselves!
Input jacks on top or front , close to the input tube is the way it should be done . Common sense and quality build and quality components for a quality tiode amplifier is indeed the better way to go .....you make the right choice ! Pay also attention to use good wiring and point to point build .
That sounds really nice, and I would be in-line to buy...As to pricing and parts quality, I would check out what Victor Kung, who is the NA distributor that sells ELEKIT and Sunvalley. I do have Sunvalley SV-S1616D [300B] point to point + Hashimoto H-20-3.5U + Coupling Cap V-CAP ODAM.
I am all in on the 300B project, especially if you can get more dynamic bass out of all this quality hardware. The white oak base would be perfect, rca inputs on top (best isolation) and come up with an attractive “cage” design to pseudo hide them - like a tube cage. For pricing I have pondered Dennis Had at around $4800 used to $5500 new includes WE tubes and his own custom iron), an Audio Note Kit top of the line (includes tubes)for $4500 or assembled for $5500. But neither of these are at the level you’re describing. I looked at trying to get my hands on a Japan 300B and the price was over $10,000. Think you are close to being spot on with pricing. Great discussion on your part today and love disclosing what it honestly takes to build a top performing amp. Separate topic, once I got up there in price my eyes drifted to an 845 amp.
@ Both 300b with regulated heaters and B+ with top notch parts. Lundhal output iron in the Elekit case and Audionote coupling caps and tantulum non magnetic resistors.
PC board construction, regulated fixed bias not cathode bias, DC/DC circuits that sound like are probably switch mode etc. So no not the same thing but I get people want an under $1500 to be the same as a 5K amp.
I like input jacks on top with very short wire to the input tube socket . Studying the Western Electric 300B tube data I gleaned using an output transformer with a higher than suggested Primary impedance , in addition to slightly less power & 2nd harmonic distortion , Dramatically reduces the odd-order harmonic distortion . Like 25dB . I did that with my Welborne Labs Moondog 2A3's .
i alwys thought the jacks on top thing was for budget home build amps, where the chassis is one metal plate on top of a wood box. if its anywhere over a grand aint there usually a legit chassis with the RCA and speaker jacks in the rear?
I built a TSE-II 300B amp for about $1500 and it sounds as good as any other 300B amp I have ever heard. It only uses the best Edcor has to offer, though.
@ I never said you should. In fact, in the US, there’s no way to grow a business at those prices. I was just commenting on the idea one has to spend thousands to get good sound. The really fancy parts are not required for that. It’s just that people attribute magical properties to them…because they are soooo expensive.
I am all in for your new 300B iteration. I plan to build one, with Rod Coleman's heater power, gyrator circuit instead of choke and Trafonica (poland) output transformes - they outbid Tango's price by the same quality... and I want to afford build another one, according to Andrea Ciuffoli design (D3A input tube).
Not sure if you’ve even delved into the guitar amp world, but I’ll bet you could do pretty well making guitar amps. Some of those “boutique” handmade guitar amps fetch a pretty penny, and you obviously know your way around under the hood of tube electronics.
Say the height of the wood is 4" could you bend one end of ali top plate at 45 degrees where you attach your inputs this will make it easier to plug them in
Gotta go for the better arn out of the box.... RCAs in the back... although... it would be crazy different to have all the connections in the front, and just the powr ware just in the back.. Maple is my favorite... i'd go Maple all day.
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics What made me buy from Mr Yough Ahn is the fact that he does his own transformers. I have his 6S33S /6С33С 14 watts tube amp too. Sound good to my ears ( My main amps are Quicksilvers V4 monos )
300B DRD / Loftin-White stacked power supply topology.Two tubes: Russian 6C45 (I use a W.E. 437a) driving a 300B.(I use the EML 320B) two tubes (actually 4 if you include two rectifier tubes), direct simple signal path.. sonic nirvana. probably don't need a pre-amp as there is a ton of gain with the 6C45. I'll send you a schematic if you like to look over. also check out SILK tranformers.... good stuff and right there with the Japanese big boys
Sorry, no I'm not familiar with their newest models. Now I did initially build my budget 300B amp using an older published "Sun Audio/JC Morrison" direct coupled cascade design using a 6SN7, and it was horrible, barely made 2W before the driver stage farted out. This is the same design the Reisong A50 uses and it suffers the same issues. Not sure if the modern Sun Audio amps use that same design or not.
Yamamoto is no longer making the ammeter that you included in your original design. Unless you have in mind some alternative shunt ammeter, I suppose that you are going to have to remove the ammeter from the production you're proposing. Am I right?
Might figure out something else if I can find an ammeter that doesn't look cheap. It's really not required using cathode bias but is nice to be able to verify it's in spec.
Right now I have no plans to ship outside of the US, partly because of some of the restrictive CE requirements, the fines for not following the weird rules each country seems to have and the liability involved.
Other problems are warranty service, HUGE shipping costs if a problem does arrise or I am paying some repair shop $$$$, I have no way to test 230/240V amps before shipping etc. And like I have no idea what this means or what sort of fines are involved "Product safety testing and certification is mandatory for the Swiss market." www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/switzerland-labeling-and-marking-requirements
if theres any current production 6SN7/6SL7 thats favored its not EH or JJ its "tung-sol." not sure the best place to buy some that are rigorously screened for noise and microphonics, but thems the consensus favored among the russian and slovak.
Made an 300 b amp with dc heating and costy comonents, 25 years ago ,and was told i wold hear the difrence if i bought tango or magnequest output transformers, all exsept fore a heater transformer wich was norwegian made was italian marocony ,and those italian transformers were always big and iron.I dont have 300 b tubes fore setting it up,and it needs a service,but played well fore manny years,ther was no noise problem, but i felt the 300b tubes didnt last tousands of ohurs.The price on the marocony transformers was low, i mean to remember i put the 300b tubes to 70 ma? It was a lovley amp, big condensators and 1937 circuit,with dc heating, it was ment fore cinema sound in 1937. When western electric introdused the tube. Best wishes fore the prodject,237v ac in my contry.
As for the 300B amp product design, I'd go Oswalds Mill Audio, only better. Rustik oak base made from reclaimed wood (with lots of wear marks and imperfections), a metal plate for mounting tube sockets, transformers etc. and on top a decorative slate panel with cutouts and laser engravings, so that the metal plate and fasteners are invisible. On the back I'd go for silver speaker sockets (no red/black coloring, no metal plate) and black lettering ("R"/"L", "8", "4", "0", etc.). I'd estimate GBP 500 or so for that, if the lettering in the wood on the back is made with steel number/letter punches and black paint. Real fire branding would be a cool alternative. Yeah, bit unusual I guess. But you asked.... 😅
First time I’ve enjoyed watching a video where someone just spoke about a future video!! Love the enthusiasm!
All jacks on the back. Walnut would be great as a base unit, but rift sawn white oak would be fantastic.
Love it! Love mine! Get the FM 3! The emm 801 is so cool the “ Stereocator” retro cool
Your plans for 300B amp sounds very interesting. I like all your ideas! Can't wait to see one!
I'm definitely interested in checking out the pre-built 300b amp. I have a pair of Klipsch Cornwalls with a Willsenton R300 on them now but would love a more polished design. I think Walnut should be the default choice. As far as placement of the input jacks, I'm more interested in sound, so put them where you need to.
Great Video, I'll be watching very closely to your ST70 build to see which components you upgrade from what is supplied in the kit. Ive paid attention to the fact that you have already upgraded the speaker output jacks. Thank you
I have an Elekit 300B that I didn't build but, not crazy about it so I might be interested in yours. I like maple.
I prefer the RCA jacks in the back. Then they dont interfear with other components in the hifi furniture.
Also the cables dont have to pass hot tubes.
Oh so nice.... I would love to see a PSE version of this 300B amp as well! I find more often, even with highly sensitive and easy loads, I like a bit more power than a 300B SET, but that frikin sound is so beautiful...... PSE may be where I need to end up.
Not a fan of PSE designs, trying to find two EXACT matched tubes is impossible, which is unlike solid state. Any mismatch in any way in the tubes in parallel cause sonic issues.
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics I truly believe that is asking for trouble as well. I have read several statements from experienced guys who have built PSE, and very often end up in designs that indeed do work, but can't compete with SET when it comes to upper frequencies detail and spatial information. Then again, of course experimenting is always a good thing according to me, so go ahead and try yourselves!
Walnut and I think I would be interested in one of those
Input jacks on top or front , close to the input tube is the way it should be done .
Common sense and quality build and quality components for a quality tiode amplifier is indeed the better way to go .....you make the right choice !
Pay also attention to use good wiring and point to point build .
Thanks Frank.
I would vote for RCA jacks on the back.
That sounds really nice, and I would be in-line to buy...As to pricing and parts quality, I would check out what Victor Kung, who is the NA distributor that sells ELEKIT and Sunvalley. I do have Sunvalley SV-S1616D [300B] point to point + Hashimoto H-20-3.5U + Coupling Cap V-CAP ODAM.
I can't even begin to compete in price with those kit folks, I'll just close my shop.
I am all in on the 300B project, especially if you can get more dynamic bass out of all this quality hardware. The white oak base would be perfect, rca inputs on top (best isolation) and come up with an attractive “cage” design to pseudo hide them - like a tube cage. For pricing I have pondered Dennis Had at around $4800 used to $5500 new includes WE tubes and his own custom iron), an Audio Note Kit top of the line (includes tubes)for $4500 or assembled for $5500. But neither of these are at the level you’re describing. I looked at trying to get my
hands on a Japan 300B and the price was over $10,000. Think you are close to being spot on with pricing. Great discussion on your part today and love disclosing what it honestly takes to build a top performing amp.
Separate topic, once I got up there in price my eyes drifted to an 845 amp.
The 300B sounds rather exciting
Your description of the 300b amp sounds a lot like the Elekit TU-8900 from VKMusic. Worth taking a look at that amp kit.
Well sorta I guess. They are both 300B amps...
@ Both 300b with regulated heaters and B+ with top notch parts. Lundhal output iron in the Elekit case and Audionote coupling caps and tantulum non magnetic resistors.
PC board construction, regulated fixed bias not cathode bias, DC/DC circuits that sound like are probably switch mode etc. So no not the same thing but I get people want an under $1500 to be the same as a 5K amp.
I did an Elekit 300b and Victor is great. But if you could do an Audio Note Kit EL84, I would really like that!!!
I like input jacks on top with very short wire to the input tube socket . Studying the Western Electric 300B tube data I gleaned using an output transformer with a higher than suggested Primary impedance , in addition to slightly less power & 2nd harmonic distortion , Dramatically reduces the odd-order harmonic distortion . Like 25dB . I did that with my Welborne Labs Moondog 2A3's .
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Will you be showing howto DIY the 300B build?
Of course.
i alwys thought the jacks on top thing was for budget home build amps, where the chassis is one metal plate on top of a wood box. if its anywhere over a grand aint there usually a legit chassis with the RCA and speaker jacks in the rear?
I've got some idea on how to put them on the back, but there are several 10-20K amps built that way.
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics i had no idea.
I believe every decware amp is build that way.
I built a TSE-II 300B amp for about $1500 and it sounds as good as any other 300B amp I have ever heard. It only uses the best Edcor has to offer, though.
I won't build stuff at that price point, period. If it has to be that cheap to get folks to buy it, I just won't build it.
@ I never said you should. In fact, in the US, there’s no way to grow a business at those prices. I was just commenting on the idea one has to spend thousands to get good sound. The really fancy parts are not required for that. It’s just that people attribute magical properties to them…because they are soooo expensive.
I am all in for your new 300B iteration. I plan to build one, with Rod Coleman's heater power, gyrator circuit instead of choke and Trafonica (poland) output transformes - they outbid Tango's price by the same quality... and I want to afford build another one, according to Andrea Ciuffoli design (D3A input tube).
Do you know of any real world sound comparisons of these Trafonicas vs Tango or Hashimoto?
Not sure if you’ve even delved into the guitar amp world, but I’ll bet you could do pretty well making guitar amps. Some of those “boutique” handmade guitar amps fetch a pretty penny, and you obviously know your way around under the hood of tube electronics.
The problem is I don't play a guitar and "tuning" the sound that is "good" isn't something I would be able to test or likely even recognize.
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics fair enough.
Love what you do. Keep it up!!👍🏻
RCAs on the rear. Default wood mahogany.
Hello Steph, have ever looked at the Aric Audio amps? You both seem to have similar thoughts from an amateurs prospective.
Say the height of the wood is 4" could you bend one end of ali top plate at 45 degrees where you attach your inputs this will make it easier to plug them in
Input Jacks in the back of the chassis
Yeah, I hear this loud and clear and found a way to fairly easily do this with a wood chassis.
Please do the 300B, would very much enjoy that and will likely build it! Sold my Sun Audio 2a3, modified to 300B years ago and regret it since..
Do you think this new 300 B amp you’re designing will sound better than that ST 70?
It's a different sound signature.
So sorry if I missed it, but did you say what temperature you set the soldering iron at?
I normally use 750 deg F
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronicsthank you!
How about a push pull 300b amp that uses interstage transformers, if cost is no concern.
I feel like you lose a lot of the second order harmonic magic doing that.
I like red wood
Gotta go for the better arn out of the box....
RCAs in the back... although... it would be crazy different to have all the connections in the front, and just the powr ware just in the back.. Maple is my favorite... i'd go Maple all day.
input on top is cool . Like my Fluxion Preamp. ( Fluxion is a hand made brand from Canada )
His stuff is cool.
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics What made me buy from Mr Yough Ahn is the fact that he does his own transformers. I have his 6S33S /6С33С 14 watts tube amp too. Sound good to my ears ( My main amps are Quicksilvers V4 monos )
On the top will help keep cost and difficulty down
I've found a fairly simple solution to this :)
Oak is a good neutral wood to use but my favorite is cherry wood. It's not exotic and looks good with black transformers.
Cherry is nice, my bedroom furniture is made from that.
Good Morning .
Morning!
300B DRD / Loftin-White stacked power supply topology.Two tubes: Russian 6C45 (I use a W.E. 437a) driving a 300B.(I use the EML 320B) two tubes (actually 4 if you include two rectifier tubes), direct simple signal path.. sonic nirvana. probably don't need a pre-amp as there is a ton of gain with the 6C45. I'll send you a schematic if you like to look over. also check out SILK tranformers.... good stuff and right there with the Japanese big boys
I've already got the design I plan to use, but feel free to send me your schematic.
Are you familiar with Sun Audio 2A3 or 300B kits with Tamura transformers?
Sorry, no I'm not familiar with their newest models.
Now I did initially build my budget 300B amp using an older published "Sun Audio/JC Morrison" direct coupled cascade design using a 6SN7, and it was horrible, barely made 2W before the driver stage farted out. This is the same design the Reisong A50 uses and it suffers the same issues. Not sure if the modern Sun Audio amps use that same design or not.
they should add pictures to the instructions agree
Hi, do you think ZERO NFB design is a good idea for SE 300B tube amp? thx
Yes, definitely. Otherwise, just use some other tube.
Yamamoto is no longer making the ammeter that you included in your original design. Unless you have in mind some alternative shunt ammeter, I suppose that you are going to have to remove the ammeter from the production you're proposing. Am I right?
Might figure out something else if I can find an ammeter that doesn't look cheap. It's really not required using cathode bias but is nice to be able to verify it's in spec.
Hello I would be interested in a 300B. I live in Europe and would need 220 Volts, hope this will be possible. Kind regards Andreas
Right now I have no plans to ship outside of the US, partly because of some of the restrictive CE requirements, the fines for not following the weird rules each country seems to have and the liability involved.
@ Switzerland here, so no weird of these EU regulations, as far as I am informed.
Other problems are warranty service, HUGE shipping costs if a problem does arrise or I am paying some repair shop $$$$, I have no way to test 230/240V amps before shipping etc. And like I have no idea what this means or what sort of fines are involved "Product safety testing and certification is mandatory for the Swiss market." www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/switzerland-labeling-and-marking-requirements
if theres any current production 6SN7/6SL7 thats favored its not EH or JJ its "tung-sol." not sure the best place to buy some that are rigorously screened for noise and microphonics, but thems the consensus favored among the russian and slovak.
thanks.
Made an 300 b amp with dc heating and costy comonents, 25 years ago ,and was told i wold hear the difrence if i bought tango or magnequest output transformers, all exsept fore a heater transformer wich was norwegian made was italian marocony ,and those italian transformers were always big and iron.I dont have 300 b tubes fore setting it up,and it needs a service,but played well fore manny years,ther was no noise problem, but i felt the 300b tubes didnt last tousands of ohurs.The price on the marocony transformers was low, i mean to remember i put the 300b tubes to 70 ma? It was a lovley amp, big condensators and 1937 circuit,with dc heating, it was ment fore cinema sound in 1937. When western electric introdused the tube. Best wishes fore the prodject,237v ac in my contry.
Oh well, I think it is a fair price for all you will do but, that will be out of my price range, unless I save up for a while.
Elekit?
www.elekit.co.jp/en/product/
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics The distributor has TU-8600s and TU8600s Lundahl Version in stock.
Walnut
👍❤️🫂
Walnut, or quarter sawn white oak. Absolutely no red oak.
As for the 300B amp product design, I'd go Oswalds Mill Audio, only better. Rustik oak base made from reclaimed wood (with lots of wear marks and imperfections), a metal plate for mounting tube sockets, transformers etc. and on top a decorative slate panel with cutouts and laser engravings, so that the metal plate and fasteners are invisible. On the back I'd go for silver speaker sockets (no red/black coloring, no metal plate) and black lettering ("R"/"L", "8", "4", "0", etc.). I'd estimate GBP 500 or so for that, if the lettering in the wood on the back is made with steel number/letter punches and black paint. Real fire branding would be a cool alternative.
Yeah, bit unusual I guess. But you asked.... 😅
ChiFi is not HiFi.... 🙂
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Please stay away from PayPal. I have had four credit cards compromised in a 10 year period by nonsense happening at PayPal.
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