845, 211 and 300B power tubes

aKnyght

aKnyght

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i will never part with the almarro, a beloved family member...

however, have begun thinking about adding a sibling and thought i would tap the collective experience here on various power tubes.

in particular, i am interested to know more about 845, 211 and 300B tubes.

it would be great to hear generic, high-level comments on these tubes ...what characteristics would you attribute to each tube type and what distinctions / differences are there between them ?

also, are there any other tube types i should be looking at that are 8 wpc or greater in a SET amplifier?

thanks !!
 
I have a 300B and an 845 amp. They are both wonderful sounding tubes; I've heard the 845 described as the king of triodes. I installed Sophia Princess Royal Princess tubes in the 300b amp and the sound is ethereal - the voice float out of the speakers. Love this tube. The 845 is generally a bit more powerful sounding then the 300b for harder to drive speakers. These are probably my two favorite tubes. For comparison's sake I also have an EL84 and and EL34 amp. You have to try them all out and see what you like.
 
thanks for these characterizations -- very helpful !

from what i have been able to read, some think the 211 tubes are somewhere in the middle, having characteristics of both the 845 and 300B -- power and finesse but not in full proportion. don't know how accurate or not this characterization is.

>> curious what efficiency speaker you are using with the 300B [mine are 97 dbl efficient in a 14' x 25' x 8.5' room] ?
 
I had Coincident Frankenstein 300B amps and they drove my 92db Audio Kinesis speakers with ease.
The impedance load of the speaker plays into the mix also.
Not sure what yours are.
 
good to hear - thanks for the info.

my speaker [nominal] impedance is listed at 8 ohms.
 
aKnyght said:
i will never part with the almarro, a beloved family member...

however, have begun thinking about adding a sibling and thought i would tap the collective experience here on various power tubes.

in particular, i am interested to know more about 845, 211 and 300B tubes.

it would be great to hear generic, high-level comments on these tubes ...what characteristics would you attribute to each tube type and what distinctions / differences are there between them ?

also, are there any other tube types i should be looking at that are 8 wpc or greater in a SET amplifier?

thanks !!
Click to expand...

My experience with 300B is limited to an Audio Note amp that I didn't find satisfying, but I've owned two 845-based amps - Art Audio Carissa and Consonance Cyber 845 monos. Both are very powerful compared with 300B or PX-25 for that matter. I've also had an Art Audio PX-25 that was far and away better than the AN 300B. Almost as powerful and exquisite for smaller scale music. 845 better for big scale music. I was using 102 dB speakers at the time. Some claim that 211 sounds a little more musical than 845 but it has appreciably lower power so you need to work out the pros and cons.
 
joeinid said:
I would love a dead quiet 211 amp.

I ran across this upcoming piece from Triode Labs/Finale.

211 — TRIODE LAB
Click to expand...


Frank Ng builds nice pieces but he will also tell you noise is inescapable with his gear unless your sources (preamp/line stage) have <5-6 db of gain. He will build a low gain version of any of his amps to accommodate owners with line stages outputting >10 db.

I don't have direct experience with gear by Thomas Mayer of Vinyl Savor but from those that know, his 211s are among the best available.
https://www.audioshark.org/amplifiers-8/thomas-mayer-6314.html?highlight=thomas+mayer
 
Thank you very much. I have not heard of Frank but yes on Thomas. His gear looks awesome.

puroagave said:
Frank Ng builds nice pieces but he will also tell you noise is inescapable with his gear unless your sources (preamp/line stage) have <5-6 db of gain. He will build a low gain version of any of his amps to accommodate owners with line stages outputting >10 db.

I don't have direct experience with gear by Thomas Mayer of Vinyl Savor but from those that know, his 211s are among the best available.
https://www.audioshark.org/amplifiers-8/thomas-mayer-6314.html?highlight=thomas+mayer
Click to expand...
 
It's hard for me to pick a winner since most tubes are in amplifiers that were designed around them...

Still, the 845s in the Viva Auroras provide a highly-captivating musical experience, IMO.
 
How about this beauty?

Viva Solistino.
 

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It really depends on the amp and speaker combo.

I have Nagra VPA 845 pp (50w) and Audionote UK Shinri 300b SE (8 w) driving my 107 dB Avantgard Duo Mezzos.

I was convinced I needed more than 10 w on my Duo Mezzos until I tried the 8 w Shinris. The 50w Nagra sounded better than the Shinri driving my friends 96 dB ANUK speakers,but the 8w Shinri are clearly better sounding with the Duo Mezzos and don’t give up anything in terms of bass, treble or dynamics to the Nagras. It was even more noticeable when I upgraded to AN newest 300 b molybdenum 4300e tube.
 
Please overlook all the wires lying about, I just wished my baby was up and running again. Don't get me wrong I'm loving the T+A Amp 8 I bought from Randy, but as good as the Amp 8 is, and it's very good! It's still not what my baby was. Perhaps after 20 years I just grew in love with her looks and sound?


Thetubeguy1954 aka Tom S.
 

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