Then, after various tests, he finally figured out that AppluaseAudio used a 100V transformer, which would be fine if used in Japan, but wholly inadequate for the US. Anyway, even he was, at first, stumped as to what was going on. A real gem of a guy, I’m thinking in the same way as Déjà vu Audio’s resident Vietnamese amp-maker. He is in his late sixties, trained in Old World Vietnam, and knows his way around any circuit, tube or solid state without need for schematics. Took it to my whiz of an electronics repair man (who actually makes his own SET and PP amps, by the way). I opened it up to see a small capacitor in the PSU section that basically had exploded, with some wax from the transformers seemingly oozing out from the holes (where wires are routed) when inspected inside. Then one day, the fuse popped again and I smelled something had burned. I replaced them with some new production equivalent ones (5AR4), and it was good for a while. But then the two tube rectifiers burned out. Fuses popped changed them out, ready to go again. I noticed some electrical quirks early on, like on my third week of use. On some music, the PX300B sounds a bit too “damped”, whereas the Chinese may have some brightness, but it is also replete with more liveliness and “jump”. Doctorjohn in an earlier response to a comment mentioned that changing out the stock 300Bs is not an urgent need, and I would have to agree. I then proceeded to get a pair of Gold Lion PX300B to replace the Chinese 300Bs that came stock with the amp. These gave the amp some of the inviting warmth in tone that I was looking for. So I scored a pair of RCA 6F5/6GV8 (obscure tubes = low price) and put those in. Further reading educated me on the 6F3 tube actually being the correct equivalent one. The available volume was very insufficient, and I don’t even listen that loud. I initially got some Russian 6F3 tubes from eBay as my research concluded that those were equivalent tubes. I proceeded to break it in and noticed some tinniness to the sound which I attributed to the stock tubes, especially the front end. When I got the amp, I plugged it in using beater speakers first, in case something goes awry. I actually was initially interested in the 211 version but was apprehensive about the higher voltages involved and, as you will see later, my feelings were validated. Price, even with the higher shipping cost, was very reasonable. I believe Shindo uses something similar or exactly the same configuration. I immediately liked the styling cues from old Western Electric amps (mine even have a Western Electric logo plate on the front by special request, instead of the stock one), liked that it has a choke, tube rectifiers, and also the use of 6F3 front-end tubes instead of the usual 6SN7. So back to the present, I was browsing Aliexpress, and happened upon the AppluaseAudio 300B amplifier. What led me to sell them before was, I think I got tired of the preponderance of second-harmonic distortion which fattens up everything, albeit making everything sound mellifluous. and custom-made mono’s using Tango transformers) for quite a while now. I have been missing the sound of single-ended 300B (mine was at various times a Cary, Audio Note’s. Hence, the Nait 1, Rega Planet (love the hinged lid opening), NOS DACs purchases. And when I say endgame, I don’t necessarily mean high-ticket, I just mean highly desired. I also had the thought of maybe reacquiring these same equipment as “endgame” (as young folks like to say) purchases for me. During the initial phase of the pandemic, I had some time in my hands to reflect back on all the equipment I’ve had over the years that gave me the most pleasure using and listening to.
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