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01/24/25 at 09:33:48 



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My First Month With 300B Amp (Read 39 times)
Tony
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"Life without
..music is
inconceivable"
A.Einsteln

Posts: 703
My First Month With 300B Amp
Yesterday at 22:15:13
 

Today, I've had the Decware 300B amp for one month, and it is NOT going back. That probably does not come as a big surprise to anyone, but it almost did go back. For me, the 300B was not love at first…listen.

A little background: This was my fourth Decware amp. As the original owner, I have had and sold both the Torii MKIV and the 84UFO. A local seller put up a perfect 84UFO25 that I grabbed a couple of years ago, and I don't think I will ever part with that amp. So, when I recently referred to the Decware 300B in a post here, I said, "Right out of the box, the sound was......" Well, it wasn't good, and I was stunned.

When I turned the amp on with no music playing for the first time, all I could hear was a hum. Immediately, I reached for the hum control knob on the amp. With that control, I adjusted the hum level from what I initially heard to an even worse version. I was crestfallen. I had waited 31 months, 1 week, and 2 days for a "hummer."

To fill in some missing pieces of information, an amp that hums is a trip wire for me. I'm binary: hum negative, no hum positive. My first Decware amp had a hum that I found unacceptable. I returned it for further investigation, and Steve determined the hum level was within acceptable limits. So, I had some history there. When I heard the hum as the 300 B powered up, I thought, "This isn't going to work for me."

Over the following listening hours, my initial response softened as I found that with music, I could carefully adjust the hum control to a point where I could not hear it any longer. Still, however, I could not let it go. It seemed imprinted on my ears, and I knew it was still there. With more time, this internal struggle continued.

I called Decware and made an appointment to talk with Steve. In a nutshell, Steve explained that eliminating the hum (apparently, that could be done) would also eliminate some of the available audio bandwidth, which makes the 300B extraordinary. As the amp's designer, he felt that was not a good choice. Instead, he chose to preserve that bandwidth and provide a means to control the hum to a level that cannot be heard at the listening position - at least by most listeners. His explanation was a perfect reframing statement for me. Managing rather than eliminating the hum resulted in better sound quality.

Finally, Steve said to experiment with the hum control and give the amp more time to settle in. If I was unhappy, I could send it back, and we would work on other options. Hearing that, I started to relax. I did what Steve suggested, and the hum issue vanished over the following days and weeks. It is still there when the amp turns on but is not discernible with music. I found that I could relax and be captivated and enchanted by the amp's sound and music. My concern and attachment to the hum completely fell away. Like I said above, this amp is not going back.
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SEWE300B | STR-1002 | ZBIT | Cambridge CXNv2 | Denafrips Terminator DAC | Denafrips Gaia DDC | Decware I/Cs | Decware Pwr Cbls | ZWIRE Speaker Cbls | Omega SAHOM & KEF KC62 | Furman Cond l GIK Room Trmt
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Lon
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"Love without
guts is
worthless!"
Philip K. Dick

Posts: 25185
Re: My First Month With 300B Amp
Reply #1 - Today at 00:37:07
 
Tony, thanks for weighing in. I didn't get that sort of information and conversation with Steve, but I sensed that was the goal. I heard the hum right away too, BUT, with the music it was not present in any discernible way and the sound seduced me. As the amp settled in the hum diminished. With differing tube complements the hum differed. What I found did the most to regulate and almost eliminate the hum was find just the right 300B tubes (for me these turned out to be the Shuguang Black Treasure 300B-Z Collector's Edition) and the proper gain structure between source, ZBIT, ZROCK2 and SEWE300B. I found that lowering the volume of the amp, increasing the gain of the ZBIT, finding the right frequency realm with the ZROCK2 and then making volume adjustments as I listened with my DAC source gave me fantastic sound and hum I just didn't hear even without music. Now I've zero amp envy--I love this system and what it does.

What also helped me fall in love with the SEWE300B was how it interacted with my HR-1 speakers. My SE84UFO3 Monoblocks with all the mods (what closely resembles a SE84UFO25 I believe with the unique property of monoblocks) drove the HR-1 speakers I believed very well in my room. But the SEWE300B just gave them a bit of breathing room and their blood pressure was lowered a bit is how I imagine it. A great match!

I know now that the amp has revealed its true nature to you that you will be enjoying listening so much, and will find just the right way to make it sing in your system. Congrats on the LONG wait and the other side of it, and I know many of us will want to hear your continuing impressions.
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HR-1,ZBIT,ZROCK2,SEWE300B,CSP3-25mod; Rega RP3 all GrooveTracer mods;PSAudio:PST+DSD, DAC Mk II, P15,NPC,PowerBases,AC-12 pwr cbls, Reference spkrcbls; Mapleshade SamsonV3; VooDoo:Cremona+Amati interconnects, IsoPods; headphones: Sennheiser HD800S,ZMF Ori,Oppo PM1
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Gilf
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Posts: 229
Re: My First Month With 300B Amp
Reply #2 - Today at 03:19:18
 
Thank you for this update, Tony. I’m living vicariously through you. Even though we were right next to each other on the list you’ve had your amp a month now and I’m still waiting for mine, and getting no response from Decware when it will arrive.

I haven’t posted much lately but still listening daily and reading the forums more than daily. As others have posted in other threads today I rely on the forums for news and improvements in my own system, listening, takeaways, and tweaks.

Since my placing my order I’ve moved twice and most recently found myself in a new listening room again. My last was one of the best I’ve had and this new one not nearly as good sonically but the whole package is the best I’ve ever had, so no complaints here. I’ve been putting more time than ever on my tuner for the last month as I’ve got two really good radio stations here; an independent jazz station and a college radio station. I’ve been contemplating if Sarah is going to be worth the investment as I love my UFO25 so much. Reading your story has me chomping at the bit and wondering if I’ll keep it once the day finally comes that I take ownership. I don’t see an STR in my future as I have a long way to go just to get back to sound I was getting in my last room with the same equipment, but all in due time.
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CAJames
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"I've run every
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lane."

Posts: 2261
Re: My First Month With 300B Amp
Reply #3 - Today at 04:28:54
 
Nice update Tony.

Quote:
...an amp that hums is a trip wire for me...


Yes. Like you hum is a trigger for me. And my 300B amp, from STL, had it... with my favorite 300B tube. I used two pairs of 300B tubes, one "bargain" Chinese from Billington, was very quiet. But my high dollar Takatsuki 300Bs had some hum. Not a lot, but I could hear it in my chair if the room was quiet. The Billington 300Bs sounded very good, esp. once I got the other tubes in my preamp and the 300B amp right, but once I heard the Takatsukis, and esp. once they were fully broken in (about 500 hours, FWIW) they were better in ways that I'll call subtle, but important. They had more space and more detail and they sound was more "liquid." Not exactly warm, but pointed in that direction and with the right music they made the most beautiful music I've ever heard anywhere, either live or recorded. Realistically it was too beautiful to be real, like a photo of a sunset that has been over processed so you think it might be a fake.

So, one question is what 300B tubes are you using? And to you have any plans to try others? Another question, the one I'm really interested in, is how you compare the 300B to the UFO25. But I'm happy to wait until you feel like answering that one.
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[FOOBAR2000 | Jay's CDT2 MRK3] -> Denafrips Terminator 2 + Gaia
Sumiko Pearwood -> Mapleknoll Athena -> Luxman SUT -> Mapletree Phono 3E
STR-1002 -> Woo WA22 -> 2x UFO25s, balanced monos
Omega SAM , Hifiman Arya, Audeze LCD-XC
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