Paramount
Parafeed Single Ended 300B or 2A3 Amplifier Kit
Shown here with optional Bottlehead badges. Model not included.
VSAC 2008 special edition Paramounts
one of the 18 VSAC 2008 Paramount amps
For VSAC 2008 we will be showing a new speaker system that will demonstrate new approaches to using single ended amplifiers with lower sensitivity drivers.
VSAC 2008 Paramount 300B amps under construction
An extreme example for sure, the system will utilize no less than 18 Paramount amplifiers to drive six drivers in each channel. The amplifiers are under construction right now, and are being finished with copper hammertone chassis plates and natural finished alder bases floating on black risers. The transformer bells and mounting hardware are finished in a deep gray reminiscent of iron. Binding posts on these special edition amps are the excellent quality posts from Exodus Audio.
Chassis plate features copper Hammertone over aircraft industry primer, alder base is finished in a durable satin polyurethane and features a black riser. Bell ends and screws are individually blued by hand.
As you can imagine, making this large a number of 300B amps is a expensive venture. To defray the costs of such an extreme system we are selling these amplifiers in pairs. They can be picked up at VSAC 2008 at the end of the show or we can ship them to you following the show. The amps are being built by Doc B. with the assistance of his technicians, with Doc supervising each step of the way.
Price for these custom assembled amplifiers is $1700 per pair, plus shipping
e-mail Eileen at queen@bottlehead.com
or call us at 360-697-1936 to purchase one of these nine pairs of amplifiers.
Six pairs are now left - these are going fast at this price!
Paramount - a new level of quiet, linear performance with 300Bs or 2A3s
A curious situation arises once you have created kits that become classics like the Paraglow SE 2A3 amp and the Parabee SE 300B amp. It's difficult to decide when to update them in order to incorporate the ideas for improvement that are acquired during their long production run. Do you add a bit here and there, and call it "Mark II", or do you let a lot of cool ideas come together at once, retire the original kits, and make a new kit that's a level above the old?
For Paramount we chose the latter approach, and Paul Joppa created a worthy heir to a legacy of top end Bottlehead DHT amp kits that include Afterglow SE 2A3, B-Glow SE300B Paraglow parafeed SE2A3, and Parabee parafeed SE300B. Paramount is our finest high quality single ended, parallel feed, directly heated triode amplifier kit, consisting of a pair of monoblock amplifiers that can be configured as 8 watt per channel parafeed SE 300B amps or 3 watt per channel direct coupled parafeed SE 2A3 amps. Parts are supplied to allow creation of either circuit, with the builder choosing either 300B tubes or 2A3 tubes to be included with their kit. Conversion from one circuit to the other is possible with some parts changes and some rewiring.
The maximum power output of up to 9 watts in 300B configuration allows the Paramount to work very well with high end loudspeakers of sensitivities as low as 93dB. The option for wiring the circuit as a 3W direct coupled 2A3 amp means that Paramount will deliver the musical subtleties that high sensitivity horns are so good at picking out. Wired either way you get the articulate bass, sweet midrange and extended treble that parallel feed, active loaded and shunt regulated Bottlehead products are known for.
The circuit
The input stage consists of a 12AT7 tube. One half is configured as an actively loaded voltage amplifier using our Camille Cascode Constant Current Source for super quiet, dynamic, linear performance. The other half of the 12AT7 operates as an actively loaded hybrid shunt regulator for the voltage amplifier, giving the driver stage great extension of both bass and treble information. The output stage may be configured for either a 300B tube or 2A3 tube using cathode bias. A custom Bottlehead plate choke loads the output tube and the output is via a high quality parallel feed coupling capacitor and custom Bottlehead parallel feed output transformer with 4,8 and 16 ohm taps to work with a broad range of speakers. In 300B configuration the two amplification stages are R-C coupled. In 2A3 configuration the additional voltage headroom is used to employ direct coupling between the stages. Both configurations use zero feedback.
The power supply
A custom Bottlehead power transformer supplies Schottky rectified, choke filtered DC to the 300B or 2A3 filaments and high voltage is supplied to the driver stage shunt regulator and the output stage plate choke via smooth sounding Schottky rectifiers and a conservatively designed CRC filter for quiet operation. The power supply components mount on a compact PC board that attached directly to the terminals of the power transformer for a very efficient layout.
The chassis
The chassis layout utilizes the latest 8" x 10" format as employed in the recently released S.E.X. amp and Foreplay III kits. Each monoblock's grained and laser cut aluminum plate is .080" thick, and includes our unique Hole Shrinker socket adapter which allows for future experimentation with octal based tubes in the driver stage. The chassis plate sits in an attractive Pacific Northwest alder wood base that you assemble and finish to taste. All of the inductors are mounted under the chassis except for the power transformer, resulting in a clean look that highlights the beauty of your glowing tubes. Input, output and power entry jacks are at the top rear of the chassis plate. A easily accessible power switch sits at the top front of the chassis, and an equally easy to access hum balance pot resides next to the output tube.
Component quality
Laser cut chassis plates and alder wood base kits are made for us here in the Pacific Northwest. Our custom Bottlehead inductors come from Northern California. Rectifiers are Cree high voltage Schottkys for B+ and high current Schottkys for filament DC. Capacitors are a combination of Panasonic ECPQ (U) polypropylene, Solen polypropylene, and Panasonic TSU electrolytic. Resistors are carefully selected for each application and include carbon composition grid stoppers, 1% metal films for precise voltage and current tolerances, and overrated wirewound resistors for output tube cathode loads. Hookup wire includes both Alpha teflon insulated 22 ga. solid core copper wire for high voltage connections and Belden solid core shielded twisted pair for super quiet signal wiring.
Specifications
Power 300B - 8.5 Watts, 2A3 - 3 Watts
S/N 78dB at 8 Watts output, hum typically 0.6 mV RMS, depending upon the output tube used
Bandwidth: 16Hz to 34kHz at -3dB
Sensitivity: full power at 0.625v (300B); about 0.4v (2A3)
Gain: 12.5 at the 8 ohm tap (21.5 dBV)
Will Paramount work with my 90 dB speakers?
This question is always a tough one to answer because everyone has a different taste in music style and playback levels, and everyone has a different listening environment. While some folks are happy using amps as small as 2 watts output with 90dB sensitive speakers, we suggest 93dB minimum sensitivity speakers for use with the 8 watt 300B version of Paramount and 97dB minimum sensitivity speakers for use with the 3 watt direct coupled 2A3 version of Paramount, as a rough guide. However, if you have tried other low powered amps with your lower sensitivity speakers and liked what you heard, chances are Paramount will sound great to you as well.
What makes a Paramount in 2A3 configuration cost more than a Paramour? Does it really sound any better?
While sonic quality is a very subjective issue, we offer upgraded products only if we feel you get a tangible, worthwhile sonic improvement for the additional money spent on greater circuit sophistication and higher parts quality. Kits are the focus of our business, not boutique parts; sound is what matters to us; and circuit design is our forte. That's why you will find Bottlehead designs in some of the best mastering studios in the world. We take months and even years to develop a new product, and once it's released, the carefully considered design and componentry allow it to stay around for a nice long run. In the case of Paramount vs. Paramour, the Paramount in 2A3 configuration offers the following circuit and component improvements over Paramour:
direct coupling of stages is possible due to the higher power transformer voltage, sounding faster and more dynamic
shunt regulated driver stage gives a sense of greater bandwidth and a more quiet background
bigger, better custom Bottlehead output transformer gives deeper and cleaner bass response
DC powered choke filtered filament supply on the 2A3 gives a super low noise floor and thus, higher resolution
conversion to 300B operation is possible by virtue of a bigger custom Bottlehead power transformer
Paramour has a reputation as a well regarded SE2A3 amp. After a 6 year run there are very few competing SE2A3 amp kits left in the market. Take the sonic quality leading to that dominance in the market and turn it up a notch - that's Paramount 2A3.
How hard is it to convert a 300B Paramount to a 2A3 Paramount?
Simple! Everything but the tubes is already in the kit. Here's how
Paramount SE 300B monoblocks kit with EH 300B tubes, $1249 plus shipping.
Paramount SE 2A3 monoblocks kit with Sovtek monoplate 2A3 tubes, $1179 plus shipping.
Experimenter's Paramount kit, with BOTH EH300B tubes AND Sovtek monoplate 2A3 tubes, $1309
Your pre-order will be charged the day the kit is ordered. We do this to allow cash in advance payment to our vendors to keep the price you pay as low as possible.
Before ordering, please read:
Paramount monoblock amps kit with EH 300B tubes, shipped UPS to US address
Paramount monoblock amps kit with EH 300B tubes, shipped Air Parcel to Canadian address
Paramount monoblock amps kit with Sovtek monoplate 2A3 tubes, shipped UPS to US address
Paramount monoblock amps kit with Sovtek monoplate 2A3 tubes, shipped Air Parcel to Canadian address
Experimenter's Paramount kit with both EH 300B and Sovtek 2A3 tubes, shipped UPS to US address
Experimenter's Paramount kit with both EH 300B and Sovtek 2A3 tubes, shipped Air Parcel to Canadian address
Notes for Our Customers Outside the U.S.
Paramount is only available for 120VAC mains. At this time our shopping cart is unable to process orders from outside the US and Canada. E-mail us at the link below for assistance in ordering:
Orders outside the US and Canada
or call us at 360-697-1936 M-F 9-5 PT
Impressions
Posted by Mark Williams on January 28, 2008 at 16:03:13
Hi,
Eileen was nice enough to send me the LM431 I inadvertently broke off the 12AT7
tube while testing one of my amps.
Now, I am happy to report both Paramount 300B's are up and running and sounding
good! Thanks to everyone at Bottlehead for making such a nice set of amps
affordable.
Compared to the old kits (original Paramour and original Foreplay) this
Paramount kit has some nice improvements. I'm very happy with the new larger,
thicker top plates - lots of room to work. The IEC setup with the fuse is nice,
the binding posts are nicer than before. Having the hum pot adjustable from
topside is a well thought out feature too.
The instructions were pretty good too. I like being able to print them out on
standard size paper. And in color!
And of course the look of these Paramounts is so nice and clean!
Now for the break-in.........but I had them going all day yesterday and they
sounded fast, quiet, clean, detailed. They'll be great "big brothers"
to my Paramours.
Good job everyone! So nice to deal with you!
Mark
These 300B Paramounts ...
Posted by Rick58 (A) on September 02, 2006 at 15:47:00
have taken my system SEVERAL steps up in all the right (expected) ways, and in unexpected ones as well! and with only about 6 hours on them, with stock parts. Running Puccini SE as preamp (it does seem to have a good preamp section).
The other day, I said:
"What I hoped for in getting the Paramounts is the sound, clarity, etc. of the Puccini SE with a little more sense of space, life, and light ... a little more 'there' there."
What I did not expect is the BIG INCREASE in transparency ... the proverbial several veils lifted and window cleaned. I thought the AA Puccini SE (2002 vintage, a newer model than the more 'tubey' sounding unit that Sam T. raved about) was transparent.
Even on iTunes downloaded, burned CD songs, I am hearing a lot more stuff on favorite recordings. Dido (CD) and John Mayer (SACD) were magnificent last night (until >2am). This morning, Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories' "Stay" and "Do You Sleep?" and Matchbox Twenty (iTunes) revealed amazing amounts of background playing and singing that I now realize were indistinct before ...
Bravo Doc! Bravo Paul! Thanks for giving me the best sound I have heard in my system, maybe ever heard, period.
- Rick.
Comments on Doc's new Paramount 300bs
Posted by LewH (M) on December 15, 2005 at 09:42:07
I've had the Paramount 300bs for a couple of weeks. These were the units that Doc used as prototypes and manual shooting models.
I've done the following to them: the original EH 300Bs were swapped out for Sophia Electric Princess 300Bs, the
caps were upgrade to Mundorf and V caps. My impressions at this point:
1. with 97db speakers these amps are quiet and produce an inky black soundstage with pinpoint imaging.
2. Tone is deadnuts right on. There is no artifactual intrusion with these amps. I've not heard any other amps
combined with my Speakers that are so correct in tone. The bass is all one could hope for, deep, not rolled off, punchy with out the bloat common to many 300b designs. Highs are very smooth and extended. And of course it does what all 300bs do well:
vocals, the intimate midrange is totally captivating.
In short, the Bottlehead Paramount 300B amp is very good, and one of the great deals in DIY audio in it's stock form. Upgraded with
different tubes and caps it is absolutely top notch and would not be discounted in the company of any of the
300B Amps (read this as super expensive), that I've heard previously. I'll be using these amps at THE SHOW at CES in Vegas in a few weeks.
For any Bottleheads attending, I'll be in room 1402 at the San Tropez, come by say hello and listen.
Season's Greetings,
Lew Hardy, Vivaldi Audio
How does the new Paramount stack up to the old Paraglow?
Posted by isldkid on December 12, 2005 at 00:23:47
In Reply to: Wow! posted by Bryon on December 11, 2005 at 13:10:12:
The
Paraglow cobalts are great performers, they sound a lot more powerful than their rated 2.5 watts, but the
FAL drivers in the system right now at 95db 1 watt/1 meter are pushing the 2a3 to the max when playing large orchestral works.
The 300b Paramounts are like no other 300b amps I have used so far, they supply all the power needed, plus more of that you are there sound.
Doc and Paul have done their homework on this one.
Mods so far include 2.7uf mundorf silver output caps, 0.1uf v-cap tefs coupling in the outputs and c4s boards.
The supplied eh/300b output tubes sounds better than the Sophia mesh plates.
These are truly giant killer amps.
A vote for Paramount
Posted by MarkER on December 09, 2005 at 17:29:46
In Reply to: Paramour or Paramount? posted by AudioDave on December 9, 2005 at 17:11:48:
2A3 Paramount is awesome. Dead quiet, beautiful extension and as I wrote before, ruthless clarity. Only driving tweeters will emphasize it's strengths Especially if money is no issue. As described, it really incorporates the latest in Bottlehead good stuff. Paramour is an overachiever but Paramount takes no prisoners. Remember, it retired the
Paraglows.
For first time kit builder, is Paramount more difficult than Paramour? Thanks.
Posted by Bob W on December 05, 2005 at 07:16:42
In Reply to: For first time kit builder, is Paramount more difficult than Paramour? Thanks.
posted by ancient tones on December 5, 2005 at 06:55:49:
The Paramount is not all that difficult, mainly due to the great layout, manuals, and the use of PCB for the power supply. Go for it! They are a great deal and even at 8 1/2 watts per side... very conservative in my estimation... they drive my 4 Ohm/90dB Audio physic Virgo IIIs just fine.... caveat: I listen at reasonable levels in a small space.