franczyk Posted April 10, 2005 Share Posted April 10, 2005 Has anyone ever done a side by side comparison of the Paramours vs the Moondogs or DRD 300Bs from Welborne? I was wondering how they compare. Does one have any distinct differences/advantages over the others? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dflip Posted April 10, 2005 Share Posted April 10, 2005 You are kidding, right. A $1500+ set of monoblocks in kit form vs. a homemade kit that is good value for the money. I'm sure others will chip in, but if you do a search you will get some responses and I think the overwhelming consensus is the Moondogs hands down. These amps are not in the same category and shouldn't be compared against one another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaaaz Posted April 10, 2005 Share Posted April 10, 2005 very true you would have to compare equal products such as welborne drd 300b against bottlehead parabee,the quality of the transformers between the paramours and the moondogs or drd wouldnt make a fair comparison Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 IMO the Paramours will give you 95% of what the Welbornes will provide. The last 5% is what costs so much... but the Paramours are very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leok Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 I haven't compared directly, but have compared some of the circuitry. I started with the Moondogs a few years ago. The Moondogs produced almost no power supply noise at all and the power transformer runs cool. I replaced the output transformer with a parallel feed transformer/inductor/cap from Magnequest and Solen respectively. I found there was better frequency extension, high and low, and better detail (instrument harmonics and material characteristics, as well as recording space ambience). I am talking unamplified acoustic instruments with recording space ambience (not studio added echo). The parallel feed parts are high quality, more like what you would get in a Parabee. By the way, I use a 4 Ohm output transformer, and I find that the lower impedance is important. The Welbournes and some Bottlehead amps use multi-tap transformers. The Paraglow would have to be specified and looks like they don't normally offer a 4 Ohm option. However Magnequest does make the appropriate 4 Ohm output parallel feed transformer. I think the parallel feed approach is the way to go. However, with the less expensive parts in the Paramour, you may hit a dead end if you go to upgrade in that all of the iron and caps have to be replaced. The Paramour may give you a taste of what you can really get with the Parabee or Paraglow. The Welbourne DRD amps, I'm certain, sound very good and have absolute top quality components. If you're not looking to hear the difference between two 18th century Italian violins played by the same performer (and I can do that with both of my tube amps) then the Welbourne simply appears to be a slightly more conservative approach. Leo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franczyk Posted April 12, 2005 Author Share Posted April 12, 2005 ---------------- On 4/10/2005 10:36:55 PM Dflip wrote: You are kidding, right. A $1500+ set of monoblocks in kit form vs. a homemade kit that is good value for the money. I'm sure others will chip in, but if you do a search you will get some responses and I think the overwhelming consensus is the Moondogs hands down. These amps are not in the same category and shouldn't be compared against one another. ---------------- No, I wasn't kidding. Im new to this, so I was asking an honest question. Now Im glad I did! Im looking to get my first SET at some point, and I think Ive settled on getting the Cornwalls (as soon as a nice pair become available). It sounds like 2a3 amps are really "where its at" with Cornwalls and other Klipsch, so I am feeling it out and asking questions. Thanks for all your help. Now for a followup question: How do the 300B amps and the 2a3 amps compare when driving Klipsch, in particular the Cornwalls? Should I start a new thread for that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franczyk Posted April 12, 2005 Author Share Posted April 12, 2005 Or another question: How do the Welbornes compare to the Wright 2A3 amps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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