Justin & Jerry's Hifi Blog

[jandl100]

Hmmm

I'm not sure now which type of EH 300B I have.

Looking at pics on t'web the standard EH 300B has black lettering, whereas mine are kind of gold-ish .....



So do I have EH Gold Grid 300B valves already?

[Sovereign]

Hmm ... nah ... I'm not rushing into that question.

They are sufficiently different, and the Viva sound very valve dependent, that it's not a question with an easy answer.

I know I'm just interested in your findings,

[jandl100]

I know I'm just interested in your findings,

The Viva wants to be much more laid back and relaxed than the Yaqin amp - but while some folks would fall madly deeply in love with that sound, it isn't what I want.

I need a bit of pep in the music to keep me interested -- pizzaz, I generally call it -- and, as luck would have it, the Sovtek 6SN7 I have just slipped into the Viva's sockets is the best yet in that regard. Woo!

... I reckon you can fine tune the Viva to give pretty much any sound presentation you want just by swapping around the ecc83 and 6SN7 valves!

But if you want an interim verdict, and a huge over-simplification, the Yaqin majors on Big & Bold, the Viva does delicacy and subtle insight.
The Yaqin does the 3D imaging thing better, especially with the Sovtek 6SN7 and Tung-Sol 12AX7.

I guess, with my speakers (probably around 88dB/W in-room) the Yaqin with its extra power is the better overall match for a wide range of music, but the Viva has subtleties that are very beguiling indeed!

Which to use?
At the moment, I dunno - why choose, though? I can have both!

But much more listening and fooling around with valves and ancillaries is needed to get the best out of the Viva, I feel sure.

[Dingdong]

Erm, nice display of your wireless key there Jerry.

[jandl100]

Erm, nice display of your wireless key there Jerry.

Oops. Well spotted!

Sorted - new photo now in place!

[Sovereign]

Nice one, thanks very much. What upgrades were carried out to your Yaquin before you bought it?

The Viva wants to be much more laid back and relaxed than the Yaqin amp - but while some folks would fall madly deeply in love with that sound, it isn't what I want.

I need a bit of pep in the music to keep me interested -- pizzaz, I generally call it -- and, as luck would have it, the Sovtek 6SN7 I have just slipped into the Viva's sockets is the best yet in that regard. Woo!

... I reckon you can fine tune the Viva to give pretty much any sound presentation you want just by swapping around the ecc83 and 6SN7 valves!

But if you want an interim verdict, and a huge over-simplification, the Yaqin majors on Big & Bold, the Viva does delicacy and subtle insight.
The Yaqin does the 3D imaging thing better, especially with the Sovtek 6SN7 and Tung-Sol 12AX7.

I guess, with my speakers (probably around 88dB/W in-room) the Yaqin with its extra power is the better overall match for a wide range of music, but the Viva has subtleties that are very beguiling indeed!

Which to use?
At the moment, I dunno - why choose, though? I can have both!

But much more listening and fooling around with valves and ancillaries is needed to get the best out of the Viva, I feel sure.

[Dingdong]

Oops. Well spotted!

Sorted - new photo now in place!

You can never be too careful.

There was a post on another forum about an ebayer selling a dress. She didn't notice the image of her in the mirror without any pants on.

[Ali Tait]

The front end valves often make more of a difference than the power valves.

[stupinder]

Hmmm

I'm not sure now which type of EH 300B I have.

Looking at pics on t'web the standard EH 300B has black lettering, whereas mine are kind of gold-ish .....



So do I have EH Gold Grid 300B valves already?

Dunno, Jerry but you have the same 300Bs as mine.

[Marco]

Hi Jerry.

I'd say that the Viva is not a Marco amp, though! ... it's not particularly interested in pinning me to the back wall, at least with my speakers, but it does other things very well indeed and is enjoyable and interesting to listen to (which most amps are not).

Lol!

The problem for me is that I like recorded music, reproduced through a hi-fi system to, as far as possible (and I mean as far as possible) sound like REAL music, i.e. such as is heard, un-amplified, when played by musicians using real instruments. I also demand that a system can play loudly, cleanly, as let's face it, when an orchestra is in full flow, or a rock concert is jumping, the sound is visceral and has serious gravitas, and so if you want the sound produced to approach being lifelike at home, you need a system that can reproduce, as closely as possible, the 'physicality' of that live experience, to the same degree as it portrays the more subtle (and equally valuable) subtleties of live music....

With enough attention to detail, in terms of component choice, the synergy achieved therein between those components, and the optimal set-up of them thereof, it *can* be done, and with less overall financial expenditure than perhaps one would imagine!

I don't 'do' components or systems which are imbued with too much of a 'sonic signature', or that roll-off transients and limit resolution, in order to make things sound 'nice', and for me single-ended 300B valve amps simply add too much of their own 'character' to proceedings, in order for what I've described above to become anything like a reality! Coloured and euphonic sounding? You betcha!

Yes, as you've noted, the midrange is gorgeous, but that's only achieved by adding unacceptable (for me) coloration, through the high levels of distortion that 300Bs produce, to the rest of the frequency range, which is also important! I guess it depends a lot on what music you listen to, and for some, that gorgeously creamy and mellifluous sounding midrange would complement the vast majority of their music collection, but not mine, as it's WAY too diverse!

I once heard a World Audio Design push-pull 300B amp, belonging to Greg, at one of the meets, and that was superb - undoubtedly the best 300B amp I've ever heard, so 300Bs can have 'balls' too, but would I swap it for my copper amp? Nope, not a chance!

I'll be interested in what you think of the Yaqin, compared with the Viva. The former, although far from perfect, is much more to my taste, with its vibrant, peppy and exuberant sound, if a little rough around the edges, which never fails to put a smile on your face, no matter what music you feed it. It has BALLS, baby... 300B SEs, in comparison, have marshmallows!!

Marco.