[Kw6]

Hi,

I want to hear from people who own or have heard the ANK interstage 300b monos with standard transformers or the upgraded C core. Btw is interstage the best for driving 300b?

Thanks!

[rodge827]

Hi Kw6
 I do own a pair of the 300d Interstage mono single ended amps. Currently I have the standard EI transformers but upgrading to triple C core very soon. 300b’s are Western Electric and I’ve had JJ’s and Genelex Gold Lions. Is Interstage 300b the best way to go? Depends on your speakers I had a highly modified capacitor coupled 300b at one time that sounded superb! Depends on your budget and needs. What speaker are you driving?

Chris

[Kw6]

Thanks for sharing your experience with me! I will be using Forte IVs. Btw can you elaborate more on the how sound is with interstage 300bs. Is it more meat on bones. I was surprised when review of Stereophile wrote Meishu Tonemeister didn't do air. Everything shouldn't be airy but some things are. My current amp is Cayin 300b Mk II from 2019!

[FullRangeMan]

Its accepted among engineers that IT is better than coupling caps to any tube.
EI and C core OPTs have different sounds, choose for the kind of sound you like.

[Kw6]

Thanks Fullrangeman!

[Jaytor]

I built a pair of monoblocks based on the ANK 300b C-Core Interstage Monoblock kit, but I made a number of modifications and built my own enclosure. I have a build thread on the Steve Hoffman forum. https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/ank-300b-interstage-monoblocks.1112018/. 

I'm very pleased with the way they sound. I'm using Western Electric new issue tubes. I've probably averaged 7-8 hours/day for the past 16 months and they've been rock solid. They replaced a pair of Pass XA60.8 monoblocks. Vocals sound absolutely gorgeous. They are completely silent - no audible hiss or hum from my 98db/w speakers. Soundstage is wide and deep.

I should note that I am using powered woofers which cover up to about 170Hz, so I can't really comment on the low bass performance.

[Kw6]

Very beautiful set up!🙂

[Kw6]

Hey guys!

Does interstage configuration used in ANk 300 b monos yield a very strong holographic image. I mean lot of meat on bones sound? Thanks!

[jjss49]

sweet setup jaytor!

what speakers are those?

[FullRangeMan]

Hey guys!

Does interstage configuration used in ANk 300 b monos yield a very strong holographic image. I mean lot of meat on bones sound? Thanks!

No. The IT will drive the output tube, not the OPT or the speaker.
The sound characteristics good or bad are created primarily by the loudspeaker and the room, if the loudspeaker are xoverless there is a good chance of a real 3D soundstage, unless the speaker emit sound only to front. 

[Jaytor]

Very beautiful set up!🙂

sweet setup jaytor!

what speakers are those?

Thanks guys. The tall light-gray columns are DIY GR-Research Line Forces. These are two-way line arrays using six Bohlender-Graebener NEO10 drivers, and sixteen NEO3 (from GR-Research) drivers. I built the crossover using the best parts I could source and still fit in the available space.



The woofer towers are DIY GR-Research Triple-Threat servo controlled woofers (three 12" woofers). The combination is right up there with the best speakers I've heard.  There are a few six-figure speakers I've heard that I think sound a touch better, but not by much.

Hey guys!

Does interstage configuration used in ANk 300 b monos yield a very strong holographic image. I mean lot of meat on bones sound? Thanks!

I think the sound you get from a zero feedback SET amp will depend a lot on your speakers and I don't really know how to predict. Without feedback, the output impedance of a SET amp is fairly high, so the power delivered to your speakers will depend on how the speaker impedance changes with frequency.

My Line Force line arrays only play down to about 170hz, so the powered woofer towers handle the lower few octaves. With these speakers, my 300B amps sound really nice with a huge soundstage and good separation of instruments/voices. I have heard speakers where the instrument/vocalist position was a bit more sharply focused, but these generally have a narrower soundstage and are not quite as three dimensional.

I'm not sure how much of the soundstage and imaging are due to the amp vs the speakers, but this amp is better than any of the other amps I own (or recently owned) - the best of which was probably the Pass XA60.8 monoblocks.

The 300B amps have glorious vocals, which is probably the most important thing to me. Singers sound like you could reach out and touch them.

Before I finished building these speakers, I was using GR-Research NX-Oticas. The NX-Oticas play an octave lower (without subs) and are not as efficient (at 92 to 93db/w), but played plenty loud with the 300B amps. The amps did a decent job driving these speakers, but there were some things I liked about the Pass amps better (particularly the mid-bass "slam"). This is not the case with the Line Forces, which I suspect is due to improved efficiency (98db/w) and a simpler impedance curve.

If you are looking for a well designed 300B kit that sounds excellent, I think the ANK kit is a good choice. There are likely better SET designs available through the DIY audio community, but not as an easy to build kit.

[Kw6]

Ok thanks for all the great answers and tips here!🙂

[Kw6]

One more thing. I was at a dealer this weekend and heard their Jadis Orchestra  integrated Ref El34 which is pure class B and sound was very close to their pre power Jadis JA 30MK II KT120 Class A. How come shared the family sound?

[FullRangeMan]

One more thing. I was at a dealer this weekend and heard their Jadis Orchestra  integrated Ref El34 which is pure class B and sound was very close to their pre power Jadis JA 30MK II KT120 Class A. How come shared the family sound?

I dont understand your question.
What I have read about Jadis is these amps use normal quality parts but the OPT are high quality made in house.

[Kw6]

No. The IT will drive the output tube, not the OPT or the speaker.
The sound characteristics good or bad are created primarily by the loudspeaker and the room, if the loudspeaker are xoverless there is a good chance of a real 3D soundstage, unless the speaker emit sound only to front. 

.

Ok gotcha thanks!🙂

[Jaytor]

One more thing. I was at a dealer this weekend and heard their Jadis Orchestra  integrated Ref El34 which is pure class B and sound was very close to their pre power Jadis JA 30MK II KT120 Class A. How come shared the family sound?

Both of these amps are push-pull design. The Orchestra integrated is actually class A/B (not pure class B), so it is biased into class A enough to eliminate crossover distortion. The JA 30 is a similar topology, but is much more heavily biased so that it operates in class A up to 45 watts using KT150 tubes. It will produce less power in class A using KT120 tubes.

The difference between class A and class A/B is fairly subtle compared to other aspects of the amplifier. As FullRangeMan pointed out, the quality and design of the output transformers has a significant affect on the sound, and I suspect they are somewhat similar in design between these two amps.

[Kw6]

Both of these amps are push-pull design. The Orchestra integrated is actually class A/B (not pure class B), so it is biased into class A enough to eliminate crossover distortion. The JA 30 is a similar topology, but is much more heavily biased so that it operates in class A up to 45 watts using KT150 tubes. It will produce less power in class A using KT120 tubes.

The difference between class A and class A/B is fairly subtle compared to other aspects of the amplifier. As FullRangeMan pointed out, the quality and design of the output transformers has a significant affect on the sound, and I suspect they are somewhat similar in design between these two amps.

Thanks for the clarification! Btw I may consider the real Audio Note Conquerer Silver. Can the ANk interstage fully loaded 300b monos sound same or better? I don't want to spend money if I don't have to.  Thanks again!

[Jaytor]

Thanks for the clarification! Btw I may consider the real Audio Note Conquerer Silver. Can the ANk interstage fully loaded 300b monos sound same or better? I don't want to spend money if I don't have to.  Thanks again!

The ANK C-Core Interstage Monoblocks use similar quality components, but I think the Interstage design will be a bit better than the capacitively coupled AN Conqueror Silver. Also, the monoblocks will have considerably better channel separation since the Conqueror uses a shared power supply.

The Conqueror gives you more tube rolling options since it uses a 6SN7 for the driver stage. The 6SH7 used in the ANK kit is much less expensive, but there aren't a lot of NOS and new production options for this tube.