JE labs 2A3 evaluation

[tenderland]

Well the amp is done and here is my impression, The speakers I am using are Fostex 167 in a small BR enclosere . The speakers may not be totaly broken in . all signal tubes are Sovtek. Jensen copper in oil
coupling caps, Rikem ohm resistors. blackgate caps on driver stage
Sprague atoms elswhere.

The sound ... warm ... sweet .. ? NO . sounds a little harsh to me
The low end is poor
It is very detailed , clean, very little hum


I thought it would sound a bit better than it does.
Any one have any sugestions ? thoughts?

I decided to test with pair of B & w and wola one ch much lower than other . The fun never ends Jeff

[tenderland]

reseating 2A3 took care of low signal 1 ch
much more mellow with B&w ..... maple syrup
I wold have thought the tube amp would have tamed the Fostex .

[arnoldc]

You won't get low end slam on a 167 on a small BR cabinet. You may also want to treat the cone of the Fostex to minimize its "shouting effect."

I also have a JE Labs 2A3 with MagneQuest OPT and together with my Altec speakers, gives me bass slam and depth.

[kusojiji]

Hi,

I just completed a JE Labs 300B stereo amp. I used Hammond iron, Riken Ohm resistors, Jensen PIO, ASC oil caps (big and sloshy), and a Sprague Atom 40uf first cap. With TJ300B tubes, this thing puts out a lot of bass. I have B&W DM640's and DM602 S2's. Both speakers put out a lot more punch at low listening levels than my SS amp.

I don't know how 2A3's compare, but I thought that they were almost the same as 300B's with less power. Don't kill me if I'm wrong!! ;-)

[tenderland]

I guess I was not expecting the 2a3 to sound brighter than SS
using the Fostex


Jeff

[Bas Horneman]

I think you had the Russian 6sl7 right? They are reputed to be harsh sounding and microphonic. Maby try some of the new EH..don't know if they also made a new 6SL7..i know they brough on the market a new 6SN7 that is better than the old ruskies.

[SHiFTY]

Just a quick pointer- if you have built the 2001 edition JE labs, it shouldhave fairly good bass due to the cathode follower. I found I much preferred the cathode follower to SRPP.

I would also reommend the other ideas- try some different brands and see how you go.

Also it is fairly depndent on what output trans you use, some are much beter than others.

[GSI]

BG caps needs a month or two break-in period.

[tenderland]

Well I just can not listen to the amp very long using the Fostex.
It is very nice using a pair of B&W DM 601. The OPT is hammond 1627se
I think I am going to change the 6sl7gt (Sovtek) with JAN Syl or phil

ps: It is the 2001 edition I just cant figure out why the SS
sounds better with the Fostex , maybe the B&W mask the harshness
of the amp , one thing the 2A3 is more detailed.


Signed : drowning in analysis

[arnoldc]

Originally posted by kusojiji
Hi,

I don't know how 2A3's compare, but I thought that they were almost the same as 300B's with less power. Don't kill me if I'm wrong!! ;-)

Hi, I also made the JE Labs 300B DX version, and they were slower in comparison to my JE Labs 2A3.

Originally posted by tenderland
Well I just can not listen to the amp very long using the Fostex.
It is very nice using a pair of B&W DM 601. The OPT is hammond 1627se
I think I am going to change the 6sl7gt (Sovtek) with JAN Syl or phil

I'm using RCA red-base 6SL7 for whatever it's worth