2A3

If they glow, this is the place to be
User avatar
Greg
Social outcast
Posts: 3198
Joined: Wed May 23, 2007 11:14 am
Location: Bristol, UK

#1 2A3

Post by Greg »

So, what's your preferred or best sounding make? New Chinese, Russian, Hong-Kong meshplate or anything NOS etc?

I'm just revisiting an old amp I've not played with for a while which is 2A3 output and I still like it alot. I'd be interested in any recommendations on 2A3's currently available. Thanks. Looking forward!
Lee S
Old Hand
Posts: 664
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:39 am
Location: UK

#2

Post by Lee S »

I like the sound of the Shuguang 2A3C that I am using now. Nice smooth open but weighty and yet detailed sound and quite reasonably priced too.

Cheers,
©2020 Lee
User avatar
david C
Old Hand
Posts: 640
Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2007 5:12 pm
Location: south west London

#3

Post by david C »

another vote for Shuguang 2A3C I used them for a while,

currently using Full Music meshplates from China, to me they are the best, from what I understand they are identical to the TJ that Brian Cherry sells but a lot cheaper
David

Wasps are the Katie Price of the Animal Kingdom - utterly pointless and bloody irritating!
User avatar
Dave the bass
Amstrad Tower of Power
Posts: 12273
Joined: Tue May 22, 2007 4:36 pm
Location: NW Kent, Darn Sarf innit.

#4

Post by Dave the bass »

I'll throw a spanner in here...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MATCHED-PAIR-2A3- ... 5ad5f541f5

I've got TJ Mesh's and those Sovtek 2A3 in that link. To my ears the TJ's go up higher buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut there's summat about the cheap Sovtek 2A3 sound that floored me in Monkey, it's got ooomf that I'd not heard in a 2A3 amp before.

Both are good mind, just different flavours.

DTB
"The fat bourgeois and his doppelganger"
Lee S
Old Hand
Posts: 664
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:39 am
Location: UK

#5

Post by Lee S »

I noticed that with the meshplate 300Bs. Ever so open, detailed, airy and delicate, but seemed to lack that weight, body, meaty-ness or "oomph" as Dave calls it. Maybe a trait of meshplates or TJ/Fullmusic? Dunno...

Sovteks are good too. Been using those for almost 2 years and you can't go wrong with them TBH. Very good all-rounders. So I am also guessing that any of the Electro Harmonix range will be good too. Gold Grids should be nice.

I have not and will not bother with NOS. Too much hassle to get a good pair and unless you have access to a valve tester, you only have the word of the seller that they ARE actually NOS and they cost a small fortune.

Never tried JJs either.... Yet.

Anyone here tried the very expensive Shuguang 2A3-Zs ?? Treasure edition or somthing, with a carbon and alloy components inside. They may well be VERY nice..... :shock:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Matched-Pair-Shug ... 25581dc9de

Something to ask Santa for next year maybe ???

HTH

Cheers,
©2020 Lee
User avatar
Dave the bass
Amstrad Tower of Power
Posts: 12273
Joined: Tue May 22, 2007 4:36 pm
Location: NW Kent, Darn Sarf innit.

#6

Post by Dave the bass »

MrI's got/had some EH GG's plus quite a few others IIRC, a while back we did a compare/contrast session. He's got some old 'uns too and yes they did sound very good, very similar to the TJ's, 'floated' along very nicely but silly dosh now as you say Lee.

Those JJ 2A3-40's are physically mahoosive and I'm pretty sure that AndrewI reported they sounded 'big' aswell, I'm sure he'll be along in a while, he's done a fair bit of 2A3-ing I believe.

DTB
"The fat bourgeois and his doppelganger"
User avatar
andrew Ivimey
Social Sevices have been notified
Posts: 8307
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2007 8:33 am
Location: Bedford

#7

Post by andrew Ivimey »

oh all right then... all IMHO

- Shuaguang very cheap 2A3s (might be dual plate, can't remember where they are) which you can still shell out up to £50 a pair for - forget it.
- Sovteks - cheeky buggers! but greyish in the final fling.
-EHGGs - inside the glass they look eactly the same as Sovteks - they sound better.
- Shuaguang 2A3Cs, the first pair I borrowed I was not impressed with - whatever else they were doing, they distorted. Since then I have two marvellous pairs for PP work - no reservations - seriously worth their price.
- TJs delicate and beautiful - they come into their own with Lowthers (if the Sidcups are any good that is) In Amity they were required to work hard and came up with what I'd be very happy with - the amp was that good, too. So, for something rock and rollish like Loftin White - maybe not, but for an amp capable of wonderful resolution then they are that good.
-RCA twinplates... yeah, very nice indeed and it is difficult not to get nostalgic for and age I never knew; how 'vintage' they sound; warm detailed with loads of bass too - just rather exp[ensiev and who knows what you are buying from the numerous odd bods out there selling 'test very strong' and you can't tell till you get them home.

- Ancient single plates - I have never.. hugely expensive and I guess I'll never know.

- Mahooosive JJs (300Bs with 2.5volt filaments - ridiculous!) very powerful indeed but you have to rack up the HT. Otherwise they are just very good 2A3s.

- there are some French vinatges - que faire!
- and loads of odds and sods - there are Mullards out there, Haltron, Zaeux I have and really they are just RCAs I think.

On the hole then, the 2A3Cs are handsome, very god value and do the job splendidly well. I am saving the TJs for 'best' (which actually means they won't get used (what a waste) as I am usually as happy as Larry just swapping over and the older,dirtier, more unprepossessing, and cheap a valve is, the better!

p.s. one of my sovteks (I've had eight sovteks in my time) works as it should and the other has only half the filament light up. I cannot hear the difference - so much for a) my hearing(?) b) 'matched' valves!

Larks!
User avatar
Mike H
Amstrad Tower of Power
Posts: 20157
Joined: Sat Oct 04, 2008 5:38 pm
Location: The Fens
Contact:

#8

Post by Mike H »

Dave the bass wrote:I'll throw a spanner in here...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MATCHED-PAIR-2A3- ... 5ad5f541f5
I like the blurb on that!

.
 
"No matter how fast light travels it finds that the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it."
User avatar
andrew Ivimey
Social Sevices have been notified
Posts: 8307
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2007 8:33 am
Location: Bedford

#9

Post by andrew Ivimey »

OOOOOOo I think I'll have to read it again, but at the end of the article we are only talking about a valve.

Is one implicatoin that Mike Mathews (for whom I used to work <a long time ago>) that he bought the Saratov factory? I knew he bought a factory, but this one?

And why not?
User avatar
Greg
Social outcast
Posts: 3198
Joined: Wed May 23, 2007 11:14 am
Location: Bristol, UK

#10

Post by Greg »

Thanks for your replies. It seems to me that the cheapest of all, Sovtek's continue to be well regarded. This is what I'm using now. Thereafter, Shuguang 2A3C are good within the affordable stakes.

Certainly like others, I'd be interested in any views from those with Shuguang 'Treasure' series.

This is all about a revisit to my tweaked WAD 2A3PSE. Over the passage of time, the original design has been well ridiculed by members here, especially with regard to the O/P Tx's. I'm doing it now because I've lent my WAD 300B PP clone to 'Peperoni' so I needed to fire up another amp, albeit I've not played with it for about five years. I'm liking what I hear. As I retain faith in my own ears, I'm inclined to bring it to the next Owston. I'd like others to listen and be prepared to give me an honest opinion on it's sound. I'm prepared to have it rubbished, however, simply, my ears tell me it is actually a good sound. At home it sounds great and has qualitities the 300B PP clone does not. Strings and vocals are more real and I'll swear (I need to check when I get the 300B PP back) bass is deaper and more revealed.

Thereafter, if there is a viable future for this amp, I'd be interested in an upgrade to the O/P Tx's if members continue to concur this is required.
simon
Thermionic Monk Status
Posts: 5600
Joined: Thu May 24, 2007 11:22 am
Location: People's Republic of South Yorkshire

#11

Post by simon »

I had Sovteks in my LW and thought they were nice. Then I tried RCAs, and as Andrew says, they made the Sovteks sound a little grey. Not heard the Shuguangs - they sound like an interesting valve. Been thinking about playing with 2A3s again recently.
IDM
Old Hand
Posts: 249
Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 5:50 pm

#12

Post by IDM »

Hi,
I am looking for low microphonic 2a3's (for preamp use) and wondered about the 2A3C. Does anybody have any experience of how microphonic the 2A3C's are? Alternatively which other 2A3's do people find to be non-microphonic?

Cheers
Ian
User avatar
IslandPink
Amstrad Tower of Power
Posts: 10041
Joined: Tue May 29, 2007 7:01 pm
Location: Denbigh, N.Wales

#13

Post by IslandPink »

Greg wrote:This is all about a revisit to my tweaked WAD 2A3PSE. Over the passage of time, the original design has been well ridiculed by members here, especially with regard to the O/P Tx's. ......... I'm liking what I hear. As I retain faith in my own ears, I'm inclined to bring it to the next Owston. I'd like others to listen and be prepared to give me an honest opinion on it's sound. I'm prepared to have it rubbished, however, simply, my ears tell me it is actually a good sound. At home it sounds great and has qualitities the 300B PP clone does not. Strings and vocals are more real and I'll swear (I need to check when I get the 300B PP back) bass is deaper and more revealed.
Greg, I think the output trannies are one of the best bits of that amp - no probs there . The two main weaknesses as I remember it, and with the benefit of playing around with the one I have, and other amps, are :

(i) power supply ( mains ) marginal in capacity and sags under load, hence affecting bass and dynamics.
(ii) driver valve ( 6SN7 @ about 2.5mA ) is inadequate even to drive one 2A3, and not 2x 2A3 - hence you get a rather 'vintage' and undynamic sounds - which works OK on some things, to be fair . You really need a driver with 15mA or so to give a clean and extended top-end . You can't do that with the existing mains trannie though :(

It would be great to rebuilt it with a separate power supply, or just a bigger mains tranny with some extension mods to the height of the box . Then sub something like a C3g triode at around 15-20mA as the driver - bingo !
"Once you find out ... the Circumstances ; then you can go out"
User avatar
pre65
Amstrad Tower of Power
Posts: 21373
Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2007 11:13 pm
Location: North Essex/Suffolk border.

#14

Post by pre65 »

Someone (I forget who) told me the original design had a pentode driver, but WAD insisted upon a triode.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Edmund Burke

G-Popz THE easy listening connoisseur. (Philip)
User avatar
Greg
Social outcast
Posts: 3198
Joined: Wed May 23, 2007 11:14 am
Location: Bristol, UK

#15

Post by Greg »

Hi Mark,

Thank you. I still find it a great amp. I don't think it lacks dynamics and has plenty of bass albeit not as well controlled as the 300B PP. Several months ago when Colin visited for a minifest with his Edingdales, Max commented that he preferred the 2A3PSE over the 300B PP with these speakers. I've done a lot of work on the 2A3PSE which has produced good sounding benefits. I will bring to the next Owston for those interested In a listen.

Regards,

Greg
Post Reply