What to upgrade first Tubes or Caps?

[Eddie TT]

WE 300B's are $1499 a Matched Pair.

That $1499 could buy me a stellar pair of output Caps

What is better to upgrade first? is there a ratio of how much to spend tubes and how much to spend on caps, 1 to 1, 2 to 1,.....?


Eddie Tyrie

 

[Paul Birkeland]

There are a whole ton of different 300Bs available for under $1500.  If the WE tubes have caught your interest you could certainly start there.

 

[Ivan303]

Speaking from my own experience with the BeePre2...

Don't hear too much difference between sets of 300B, from EH 300B to WE 300B, even a pair of low power 300B types, the AVVT A5's, about the only difference I can distinguish is that a very microphonc set of KR 300B are still very microphonic and unusable, but that's about it.

Guessing at the ridiculously conservative operating points (100V?, 40-50ma?) it really doesn't matter much?

Also just guessing that better output caps might clean it up a bit but cleanliness is really not an issue with the BeePree IMNHO.

Still not used to the 'harder', more emphasized upper register of the BeePre2, but that just may mean I'm used to  my prior 6sn7 pre and it was more MELLLLLOW in the upper registers?

Could be.

Have done the first half of the 'Sweet Whispers' mod (active load of 300B?) but yet to do the second part with looses the balance control which I will miss.

 

[Doc B]

That's an interesting observation. I find that the BeePre circuit tends to lean a bit more towards soft on the top end rather than hard. What are you running it into?

 

[Ivan303]

That's an interesting observation. I find that the BeePre circuit tends to lean a bit more towards soft on the top end rather than hard. What are you running it into?

MonAmour's running Emission Labs Mesh 2A3s at the lower current setting with Solen Teflon (green) coupling caps as the only upgrade so far.  WAY better than it should be based on cost of construction.  Ideal power range for 106dB horns.

As I am 'even older than you', my 'top end' isn't very 'top end'.  I'm guessing the 'hard' sound I am hearing is from 5K to 10K above which my hearing fizzles out.  Disconnected the Fane horn tweeters on my Edgar Titans and it's not up in the Fane range as I ain't hearing much up in the Fane horn tweeter range.

Again, guessing the 6SN7 preamp I have been using for years may well have a mellower-than-most top end.  Maybe a bit muffled over the whole range?

Couple hundred hours at least on the EH 300B and that did not mellow the BeePre2 out much.  Also some of Charlies first generation 300Bs, now at least 20 years old but still good sound very much the same.

In fairness my family room system is all SS with an Ayre integrated driving Joseph  Audio Pulsar stand mounts and it's just as bright and hard to my ears but I'd expect that from SS and monkey coffins.

Toobs and Horns and Vinyl system is located in an attached, 1 room casita (400 sq ft room).  If you folks get the shunt regulator mods on the market I'll see what that does.

In the mean time I'll just have to be a bit less MELLLOW.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Solen Teflon (green) coupling caps

I would recommend putting the SM caps back in your MonAmours.

 

[Ivan303]

I would recommend putting the SM caps back in your MonAmours.

Could.

Easy enough to do.

But the Teflon caps didn't seem to add and 'hardness' or 'brightness' when I originally put them in, albeit while still using the older 6SN7 pre-amp.

 

[RestoredSparda]

Imo I'd go with upgraded caps first.  I got a pair of gold lion and could tell absolutely zero difference between the stock EH tubes. So little difference in fact that I sold them.

However, moving to vcap ODAM were a large upgrade. Performed very similar to vcap ODAM in my mainline. More transparent, more detail, and smoother top end.