Does anyone have familiarity or experience building amps from these two companies? Looking for opinions and feedback on overall quality of the circuits and output iron. A forum search hasn't provided much info
Hi Greg
There is a UK Forum called World Designs there is plenty of Info on there about the World Audio Design Kits.
There are Models of Amplifiers that I believe Andy Grove had a input to the Design, before he went on to become the Audionote Head Designer where he is still resident.
There is a UK Forum called World Designs there is plenty of Info on there about the World Audio Design Kits.
There are Models of Amplifiers that I believe Andy Grove had a input to the Design, before he went on to become the Audionote Head Designer where he is still resident.
Audio Note kits have a bit of a bad reputation for missing parts in the kits, and then getting the missing parts is like pulling teeth. Most seem to be happy with the amps/preamps, just you'd think they would be a little better organised, especially considering the price.
jeff
jeff
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I bought a ANK Kit1 300B a couple years ago, right before Christmas. Received most of the kit and waited until after the holidays to receive the remainder of the parts and tubes. The Mundorf caps were shipped later, as well as the decorative plate. That gave me time to assemble everything. I had my own tubes and caps, so I was able to listen to the amp before they were shipped from Canada.
The amp sounds great, I'm using it for the mid/high compression drivers. I also listened to the 300B amp by itself connected to Klipsch Cornwall speakers, Omega speakers and my Polk Audio RTA-12s. It sounds great with the Chinese output tubes and Tungsol 5687s, RCA 6SN7 tube and Sylvania 5U4GB rectifier tube.
The instructions were fairly clear, but I did have to do some research as to how the volume pot was connected as I originally connected the right and left channel reversed. I realized this when I listened to classical music and the violins were on the right instead of the left.
The other minor issue was one output transformer has a noticeable paint drip/run that I wished I would have noticed before installing it. If I ever have to do any work on the amp I'll change the output transformers around.
Otherwise, the amp sounds good. All the components are high quality and was a good value for the money for me. I don't know if I'll ever buy some new manufactured WE 300B's for it, mostly because I don't know if I can really hear any huge difference between output tubes. I know there are subtle differences, just not subtle enough for me to justify the high price.
The amp sounds great, I'm using it for the mid/high compression drivers. I also listened to the 300B amp by itself connected to Klipsch Cornwall speakers, Omega speakers and my Polk Audio RTA-12s. It sounds great with the Chinese output tubes and Tungsol 5687s, RCA 6SN7 tube and Sylvania 5U4GB rectifier tube.
The instructions were fairly clear, but I did have to do some research as to how the volume pot was connected as I originally connected the right and left channel reversed. I realized this when I listened to classical music and the violins were on the right instead of the left.
The other minor issue was one output transformer has a noticeable paint drip/run that I wished I would have noticed before installing it. If I ever have to do any work on the amp I'll change the output transformers around.
Otherwise, the amp sounds good. All the components are high quality and was a good value for the money for me. I don't know if I'll ever buy some new manufactured WE 300B's for it, mostly because I don't know if I can really hear any huge difference between output tubes. I know there are subtle differences, just not subtle enough for me to justify the high price.