Tag Archives: integrated

I should confess that I’m biased towards tubes (pun intended). I’ve owned a number of tube-based amps, preamps, and phonostages. There is one thing that has all the time drawn me to their sound. Tubes appear to seize musicality in a means that their solid-state counterparts usually don’t fairly equal. My favourite amplification tube is the 300B. Though not with out limitations, it has an exquisite, lush sound that pulls me into the music. I’ve monoblock amplifiers for my reference system which can be based mostly on this tube. Those conversant in the 300B would most likely stereotype it as possessing a full, blooming midrange with an excessively well mannered prime finish and an absence of management and dynamics within the backside finish. I must agree that’s a attribute description; nevertheless, should you’ve ever wished the advantages of the 300B with out its shortcomings, learn on.

When Robert Harley initially requested me if I wish to overview the 91E, I needed to decline, as a result of the 91E was simply too good an built-in amplifier to adequately overview in what was then my second system, and there was no sensible means of utilizing an built-in amp in my principal system. Having not too long ago moved to an residence, my principal (and solely) system can now accommodate an built-in amplifier and is worthy of this degree of {hardware}. At this level, I fortunately mentioned sure to Robert and, wow, am I glad I did.

A Bit about 300B Tubes

The first 300B tubes have been made by Western Electric (WE) in 1938. The tube was in steady manufacturing for 50 years, however in 1988 that got here to a halt. These tubes have been extremely desired once they have been in manufacturing, however significantly so after manufacturing ceased—some WE NOS 300Bs have been fetching hundreds of {dollars} apiece. I’ve had expertise with many 300Bs from Shuguang, Genelex, JJ, and Electro Harmonix, however haven’t had the pleasure of listening to Western Electrics despite the fact that manufacturing resumed in 1997. These new tubes are trustworthy reissues, however constructed to a a lot larger normal of producing and efficiency. While not cheap at $1495 a matched pair, they don’t seem to be stratospherically priced the way in which many NOS tubes are today.

I’ve ample expertise with 300Bs basically and love their sound. But I used to be by no means keen to pay for an NOS pair of WEs. Most new 300B tubes promote within the neighborhood of $150 to $220 per tube. So, one would instantly surprise why the brand new WE tubes are so costly relative to their competitors. There was a big sound high quality distinction among the many earlier tubes I attempted, however sadly those I most popular failed on quite a few events. (I purchased 4 tubes at one level and needed to substitute all of them inside six months. Two have been inside their 90-day guarantee interval; two weren’t. I not purchase this model of tube as a result of it’s simply too costly to exchange the tubes so steadily, to not point out the effort.) This is the place WE actually units itself aside by providing a five-year guarantee. That’s unparalleled for tubes and significantly stunning for an influence tube. The CEO of Western Electric, Charles Whitener, informed me that he has prospects who nonetheless have tubes in service from his first manufacturing run in 1997. That is over 20 years operating!

A Bit in regards to the “New” Western Electric

Charles Whitener had bought a earlier firm in one other business efficiently and was on the hunt for one thing new. He was captivated with high-end audio and famous the rising costs of 300Bs. He considered this as a chance and regarded for a strategy to faithfully deliver again the WE 300B. First, he had to purchase the naming and expertise rights from AT&T (the final homeowners of Western Electric). It took a very long time and lots of makes an attempt to lastly get AT&T to agree. In 1992, he began the revival. For his employees, he used individuals who had been with WE beforehand, working within the unique plant. With this experience and infrastructure, the pathway was clear. But, as any entrepreneur will let you know, there are all the time sudden challenges. For the brand new WE, glass was the problem. Unfortunately, the brand new firm misplaced a key worker who knew how you can make the glass. This delayed the primary launch till 1997. After that, WE assumed it could be clean crusing, however that was not the case. AT&T bought its WE plant to an investor, who turned the constructing into workplace area. The new WE misplaced its lease in 2002 and moved to Huntsville, Alabama. An analogous challenge occurred on this location, and in 2016 WE moved to Roseville, Georgia, and has been there since. (See the Factory Tour sidebar.)

In a chat with Charles, he described the design targets of the 91E very clearly. He wished the luxurious sound that’s so attribute of the 300B however with out the shortcomings. His need was for it to sound good from prime to backside, with low hysteresis. He described the challenges in reaching this purpose with single-ended topology, which usually wants large transformers that by their very nature are going to have important hysteresis. Additionally, Charles wished an ultra-low noise flooring, which is a problem for single-ended tubes and significantly for a 300B, which has a straight heated filament.

As you may anticipate, Charles wouldn’t have informed me about his targets had he not already achieved them, so I’ll spare you the suspense. The query stays, how is it attainable? There are some distinctive elements of the design that made Charles’ targets attainable. One was operating the tubes in Class A2. The A2 design is basically Class A that drives the grid of the tubes a bit of larger, delivering higher output. This achieve technique is definitely not new in any respect; actually, the essential circuit design is kind of outdated. But, to my information there isn’t every other 300B amplifier utilizing it. The second and patented portion of the design is the Steered Constant Current Source or SCCS. The fundamental concept of this patent is to extend the present on the idea of the load on the output terminal. Thus, if the load will increase so does the present, and if the load decreases so does the present. A 3rd attention-grabbing design parameter is the transformer itself. The A2 and SCCS enable for a smaller and lighter transformer, which helped meet Charles’ design purpose of lowered hysteresis. The transformer can also be distinctive in that it lacks the same old a number of faucets for varied impedance hundreds. There is only one set of binding posts; to alter the nominal impedance the transformer must be swapped out. This is definitely very straightforward to do due to the way in which the 91E is designed. Though it ships with no matter nominal impedance the unique purchaser specifies, it’s good to know that should you swap audio system and must make this alteration, the swap is comparatively simple and fairly priced at $999 for a second transformer. (According to Charles additional faucets on the transformer degrade sonics, so he opted for maybe an easier, albeit costlier strategy to favor the absolute best sound.)

The result’s a dependable single-ended 300B built-in amplifier with double the output energy (round 18–20 watts) that what one would usually anticipate. Yes, Charles achieved his technical targets, however the true proof is simply how good this built-in sounds.

Initial Setup

The 91E has six single-ended analog inputs, together with a phono enter that may be modified from mm to mc through a swap on the again panel. I presently don’t have a phono system arrange, so I used to be not capable of take a look at the phonostage. There can also be a Bluetooth antenna and connection. This was a bit of stunning to me, as Bluetooth audio high quality is proscribed and positively less than the sonics of the remainder of this product. Nevertheless, I wound up actually liking the characteristic as a result of I used to be capable of join my TV to the 91E through Bluetooth. No shock that it was infinitely higher than the built-in TV audio system. There are three outputs: the usual speaker binding posts, a line-level output, and a preamp output.

Installing the 300Bs is a bit of difficult in that it’s essential to open the “chimney” that homes the tubes. A hoop that may be rotated holds down a glass cylinder and grate. The ring is rotated barely counterclockwise utilizing a red-colored spanner software included within the equipment. The directions may very well be a bit of clearer on this space. There is multiple spanner software, so a drawing that exhibits which spanner and simply how the “chimney” is opened would have helped. Each of the tubes was labeled, one for the suitable channel and one for the left channel. While the tubes are matched, they’ve barely completely different beneficial properties. Each amplifier is calibrated for the tubes that can be utilized in it. The preamp part’s ECC81 tubes are put in on the manufacturing facility.

The unit had been damaged in for a day on the manufacturing facility, however I felt it most likely wanted extra time. I anticipated I would want to bias the tubes as effectively over the primary few days, however I used to be happy to find the 91E is auto biasing. The tubes are biased every time the amplifier is turned on. It takes about 30 seconds to heat up, then 30 seconds to watch and bias the tubes. The microcontroller within the 91E makes use of an analog-to-digital converter to pattern the plate voltage and present after which alter the grid voltage to the right worth. Tubes will drift over time, so this can be a nice characteristic. I’d have favored to know what sort of drift was occurring, significantly within the first week or so, however there isn’t a suggestions to the person as to what the bias settings are. I anticipate that the WEs drift lower than another makes of 300B, however I’ve no means of realizing for sure.

Initial Listening

At first hear, I might inform there was want for some break-in. There was a bit of harshness and imbalance, which I anticipated. I figured it could take a few weeks to get one of the best sound from the 91E. To my shock, the break-in gave the impression to be full in a matter of hours, reasonably than days or perhaps weeks.

Being very conversant in the 300B sound, I needed to begin with a collection of vocals. Roon was variety sufficient to combine a Holly Cole playlist for me, which additionally included Jane Monheit and Melody Gardot, amongst many extra of my favorites. This was an ideal start line and, wow, did the amp sound good with none substantial break-in. I used to be cooking dinner whereas casually listening and was already impressed. My spouse even commented on how good it sounded. She wouldn’t name herself an audiophile, however she has gotten a bit of spoiled by good sound. It was instantly apparent to her, because it was to me, that this was, certainly, a really particular piece of audio gear.

Curiosity

Having owned many tube amps and preamps I’ve discovered how a lot sonic change can happen by altering tubes. It’s normally enjoyable, however generally it may be irritating. I’ve a pleasant assortment of 300Bs, although they’re in storage. I did take into consideration digging them out and seeing simply how a lot of the sound high quality I used to be having fun with was a results of the WE tubes and the way a lot was owed to the 91E. But within the guide, there’s a clear warning: “The 91E was designed for operation with Western Electric manufactured 300B electron tubes. The software of non-original or replica-type 300B tubes might end in weakened efficiency, distorted sound, or sudden habits, probably harming each the amplifier and mentioned reproduction tubes.”

As a reviewer, I felt it essential to heed this warning. I’m certain the sound is a mix of each an excellent tube and a circuit that appears to be purpose-built for the WE glass. Although I’ll seemingly by no means actually know the reply to the query I posed, I received’t lose any sleep over it. The 91E sounds so extremely good, who cares?

Serious Listening

When you hear a system come collectively and actually gel, it not seems like a mix of assorted items of audio tools making an attempt to faithfully reproduce music; it seems like the true factor. The tools will get out of the way in which, and it turns into all in regards to the music. How the textures of a saxophone that resonate all the way in which from the reed to the horn tackle the three-dimensional high quality of the true instrument, or how a vocal feels as if the singer have been leaning over and whispering in your ear, like she or he have been truly current within the room. I used to be already experiencing this with the 91E, and I used to be simply getting began.

The WE’s output energy of round 20 watts is effectively fitted to my very environment friendly (94dB) audio system, which additionally current a simple load to drive. Nominal impedance is 4 ohms. The precise impedance throughout the audible frequencies varies from 2 ohms to 14 ohms. This is a tube-friendly pair of audio system. (This isn’t true for all audio system, so understand that difficult-to-drive hundreds might not fare as effectively.)

I continued with extra feminine vocals and jazz, which is generally what I take heed to anyway. Every observe I performed simply made me need to play extra. I might take heed to this amp for hours, and on the primary day of set up I did. And whereas vocals and jazz sounded one of the best I had heard on my system, I wished to see how different musical genres carried out. A system that may solely play one kind of music effectively is much too restricted for my musical tastes.

Starting off straightforward however nonetheless offering barely extra of a problem, I wished to see how the drum solo in Dave Brubeck’s Take 5 fared. The drums are dynamic but in addition have quite a lot of delicate texture to them (the load of the drum strokes range, and the drumheads’ tone is effectively pronounced). The 91E captured this in addition to I’d ever heard it. So, that simply naturally led me to see how effectively the 91E might deal with John Bonham on the drums. I personally just like the older Led Zeppelin; I and II are my go-to albums. Christopher Huston, who I labored with at Rives Audio for a few years, recorded Led Zeppelin II and was usually requested how he obtained the sound of these drums, because it actually is spectacular. Chris is extremely humble and would steadily reply: “I didn’t. John Bonham did. I simply documented it.” He later informed me he recorded the drums with solely three microphones. Three microphones? Now, that’s really superb! It is protected to say the WE 91E reproduced every thing Chris Huston “documented,” and it was magical. It captured the pace and pure uncooked dynamics of that distinctive sound John Bonham was well-known for!

I wished to proceed to steer towards an increasing number of troublesome forms of music to problem this amplifier. Dead Can Dance’s “Yugula” is an excellently recorded piece from the band’s Into the Labyrinth. It runs the total tonal vary, from very low bass to extra delicate vocals, keyboards, chimes, and sounds that give a way of area to the composition. All these delicate tones might be misplaced, and in some circumstances the depth of the bottom frequencies is usually rolled off, lowering the breadth of the soundstage. With the 91E, I used to be happy with every thing I heard. It felt just like the low frequencies have been all there, whereas the delicate overlays nearly floated in area, with extra dimensionality than I used to be accustomed to. Everything I used to be throwing at this built-in amp was seemingly too straightforward for it.

Several days later I made a decision to see if I might discover the bounds of the amp with Foo Fighters’ Medicine at Midnight. Here, the amp sounded a bit strained and compressed, and the underside finish thinned out. I then performed Eiji Oui Mephisto and Co., an excellent Reference Recording. On actually giant, dynamic passages, of which there are various, I heard the identical factor—a little bit of pressure and compression and a thinning of the underside octaves. Because these items have been a lot more difficult from a scale and dynamics standpoint, I assumed that the 20 watts of those 300Bs had lastly discovered their limits. But I used to be improper.

Just a few days handed, and I continued to be impressed with this built-in. I discovered myself scratching my head about what I had heard earlier. There was simply no pressure or compression on what I used to be listening to at this level, and I couldn’t consider that these two albums I examined sounded the way in which they did. So, I went again to each, and (now) they sounded unbelievable. There was no pressure, no compression, and a full backside finish. Not solely was the underside finish full, but it surely was additionally effectively managed and much better than I’ve ever heard from a 300B amplifier. Additionally, all of the mid and upper-end frequencies remained intact all through these difficult passages. I believe this has loads to do with the SCCS expertise, for the reason that huge voltage swings that always happen for decrease frequencies can create havoc with the present being delivered. After a bit extra experimenting, it grew to become clear that this amp wants extra warming up for every listening session than I had initially allowed. Sufficient warmup—round 45 minutes—leads to a a lot greater sonic distinction than I’ve heard with most amps. It’s nearly like a swap, the place the amp locks in and decides it’s sport time. Since I usually let the tools heat up with out listening significantly for some time, I didn’t actually admire simply how necessary this warm-up interval was with the 91E. Now that I do know this, it’s actually not a problem to me. But if you’re auditioning this built-in, you should definitely let it heat up amply earlier than passing judgment.

One portion of my listening was with a number of Edgar Meyer albums. These included Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile Uncommon Ritual, Appalachian Waltz, and Short Trip Home. Edgar Meyer’s bass enjoying is fantastic, and lots of of those albums are simply plain enjoyable. The distinction of sounds, significantly with Chris Thile’s mandolin, was fantastically reproduced—a delight to take heed to. Both devices have been completely true to their character. This might not have been probably the most demanding assessments, but it surely was pleasant.

Conclusion

The 91E is a really particular product. It has actual innovation in design that isn’t hype. It is delivering sound high quality past what I’ve beforehand heard from any 300B amplifier. The areas that it excels in redefined for me simply how nice a few of the recordings I listened to are. The finest sound I’ve achieved on this method was listening to jazz and vocals. The presentation was so natural and fluid that I simply wished to soften into the listening chair and hear for hours. The solely time I used to be not impressed was when the amp wasn’t adequately warmed up, and that was my fault, not that of the tools.

If you might be available in the market for an built-in tube amplifier and have ever been uncovered to the gorgeous sound that 300Bs can supply, the 91E is a should audition. And whereas not cheap at $15k, I discover it to be a particularly excessive worth for what it delivers. I’m very joyful WE is again and looking out ahead to extra improvements. Very extremely really useful! 

Specs & Pricing

Power output: 20Wpc into 8 or 4 ohms
Inputs: Six line, one phono (all RCA), Bluetooth v4.2
Outputs: Speaker degree on binding posts, preamplifier out, line out (all RCA)
Tube complement: ECC81 (preamplifier), one pair Western Electric 300B (output)
Dimensions: 18.9″ x 15″ x 11.1″
Weight: 49 lbs. (transport weight 94 lbs.)
Price: $14,999 (black or champagne), $15,999 (nickel)

WESTERN ELECTRIC
201 West Gordon Ave
Rossville, GA 30741
(404) 352-2000
westernelectric.com

The publish Western Electric 91E Integrated Amplifier and 300B Tube appeared first on The Absolute Sound.