SET Asylum: REVIEW: Dared VP-300B Amplifier (Tube) by TimB5881

Model:	VP-300B
Category:	Amplifier (Tube)
Suggested Retail Price:	$1995.00
Description:	300B SET mono block amps
Manufacturer URL:	Dared
Manufacturer URL:	Dared

Review by TimB5881 on October 01, 2003 at 21:14:26
IP Address: 64.70.24.54

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Dared VP-300B

How does one start on a review of a new amp, with out making qualifications? Well, let me
start by saying that if you follow the Tim "the tool man" Taylor philosophy, you are not going to
like this amp! If you are the type that follows the specs on a graph a figures of distortion,
frequency response and other measurement graphs, you will only be disappointed. On the other
hand, if you are like me, and like a kiss, you will love this amp!
Ah my first kiss, I must have been maybe 8 or 9 at the time, a what a beaut I had for my first
KISS! It was a tree house, and I had plans of balcony's spiral stair cases, chandelier, you name
it was going to have it. Then, my father pointed out, KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid. I learned
my lesson. And that is where the Dared VP-300B comes in to the story. This amp is about as
simple as it gets, a few resistors, capacitors, 2 driver tubes, and the ever wonderful, mystical and
pricey, 300B, and of course no negative feed back. Do not forget that this is a Single Ended
Triode design. The chassis is a work of art, with chrome and wood, and a nice touch of a bent
bar for a tube guard. The amp itself has my wife's blessing on looks alone, you will hear more
from her latter on the sound. The tube uses two 12AU7 tubes, one as a preamp, the other as a
driver for the 300B. On the front is a volume knob, and oh yes, I forgot to mention, they are
sort of mono blocks. I say sort of, because each channel is a separate chassis, but are connected
to a third chassis that houses the power supply. The out put transformers are large and beefy,
not some wimpy little deals like on some economy amps.. These transformers are almost as tall
as the 300B tubes.
Ok, now, what about the sound of these Chinese darlings? Well, they start off very good right
out of the box, and improve some with time. For the record, these amps are not sold with the
300B (but the 12AU7 tubes are included), so I equipped mine with Electro-Harmonix Gold
300B's, which can be found on the web for under $120 a pair. The importer can supply you
with the a pair of Sino brand 300B tubes at an additional charge, and these as well are indeed
fine tubes. As the amp and tubes broke in, I noticed that the sound become even more liquid,
just flowing out un impaired, almost as if you were listening in on the actual performance. I
used a pair of JBL J325A speakers that are 3 way, ported and about 91dB efficient. Now I have
always felt that the JBL speakers in general where at best ok, but with these amps, they became
alive with music. Not slow or ponderous like they where with my Dynaco ST70, or shrilly with
my Adcom 555. The music had excellent PRAT and just flowed out. While I was breaking
them in, I constantly found myself tapping my foot along with what ever was playing
Now I am a rock and roller from way back, and I was afraid these things just would not rock,
well was I ever wrong, These amps just plain rock and roll. With my acoustic based music,
such as Mary Black's wonderful "Babes in the Woods" cd,.these really allowed the wood sound
of guitars sound whole and earthy. The drums, often the type that are struck with bare hands,
you could hear the sound of flesh before the sound of the drum. The acoustic bass sounded very
whole and solid, with the pluck of the string sounding like metal and flesh meeting. On rock,
such as Bob Dylan's new SACD release of "Oh Mercy" sound spectacular. The bass was deep
and warm, the electric guitars sounded as if you where in a club listening to Les Paul's and
Strat's playing through Fender Twin reverbs. I even dug out some techno remixs of Talk Talk,
and they had a solid full bass beat with them.
The two reference discs I used where Pink Floyd's "Dark side of the Moon" MFSL Gold Disc,
and Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells II". DSOTM starts out with the heart beat and ends with it,
and the Dared VP-300B was full and wonderful with the beats. The swirling patterns when the
man is running in the station just is hypnotic and makes you feel like they swirl around you. His
running is continuos with no brakes like some amp/speaker combo's do The alarm clock intro
to time makes me jump because of the vivid sonic layering present. The guitar on time is
stunning and full of that slid and start sound. With Tubular Bells II, I like this remake, update
sequel or what ever you would like to call it because it is one of the few cd's that I enjoy with
lots of high frequency content. This mostly instrumental has a lot of drive and passion with in
it, and the Dared play's it with great fluidity and ease. No note is blurred or held back, and the
high frequency detail that drives the information flows unhindered to you. This recording has a
wide complex spread of instruments, and is a true litmus to systems ability to resolve and present
the information. The Dared did this well with every speaker I tried them on. My wife enjoyed
these amps very much. She pointed out the delicate sound on female vocals and the detail they
presented. She also stated that they sounded very natural.
Ok, so where does this little amp set fall down, where all SET amps fall down, bass saturation
with large complex passages and detailed bass runs. For example, on Elton Johns "Funeral for a
Friend", where it picks up steam and the bass has runs up and down with grand crescendos's the
bass is not as detailed as better solid state amps, but then again it does every thing else great. It
also has trouble with inefficient speakers ( I tried a few home brew low efficient ribbon designs),
and no go. Same go's if the cross over presents a difficult load, or if the impedance swings
widely.
I also used Infinity Intermezzo 2.6 speakers, Infinity Interlude 50 speakers, and Eoson ( Arnie
Nuddel design) speakers, all with delightful results. The Infinity speakers helped improve the
bass due to the powered woofer sections, which you may wish to consider if you like complex,
bombastic music.
For such a fair price, one can get into the 300B SET scene, and what a scene it is. This amp is
a keeper, even if you are considering a much more expensive mode of 300B SET, you should
consider this one. With what you save, you could get extra 300B tubes, more music, speakers
that are better SET suited and the list go's on.

Product Weakness: As with all SET amps, the transformers can saturate on loud and complex pieces.
Product Strengths: Excellent inner detail, great extension, very good dynamics, solid images.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Dynaco ST70, Adcom 5500, Musical Fidelity A3cr
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	none
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	SCD-CE775 SACD
Speakers:	JBL J325A, Infinity Intermezzo 2.6, Infinity Interlude 50 and Eosons
Cables/Interconnects:	Monster
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Rock, Blues, Pop
Time Period/Length of Audition:	month
Type of Audition/Review:	Home Audition

Product Weakness:	As with all SET amps, the transformers can saturate on loud and complex pieces.
Product Strengths:	Excellent inner detail, great extension, very good dynamics, solid images.