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B-283 Tube Processor - MSRP US$175.00
MKII version (6SN7 tubes) has been released - this is the original model with 6J1 tubes. Reduced MSRP to make it more affordable to all music lovers.
"On occasion I get in a product for review that exceeds my high expectations based upon what I hope it will do for my system. The Grant Fidelity B-283 Tube Processor is one such item. It offers a quality harmonic tube sound experience at a price that virtually any super cheap audio fanatic can afford. The richness and expanded soundstage it brings to a system far out weighs the harmonic tweaking that takes place. It is one of those few pieces that make such an obvious change in a rig’s performance. What it has done for my family room rig has been so pleasing that I’m giving it my highest recommendation by making it a permanent part of the system."
Mark Marcantonio - Publisher - Affordable Audio
"It does so much right that it’s hard to find anything negative to say about it. If you’ve never experienced the warmth and openness of tubes or were put off by the price of tube components, here’s the perfect way to hook up for less than a night’s stay at a nice hotel. The B-283 is an incredibly easy and effective system upgrade for a pittance compared to the cost of replacing a system. Give it a listen and you’ll likely be tubed for life."
Todd Whitesel - Goldmine
Dual voltage available now (110V / 220V +/- 10% ) for use in both North America and Europe. The unit is preset at factory for use with 110V. Please make sure to change the fuse when use with 220V.
The Grant Fidelity Tube Processor is designed to transform your solid state audio signals into the much more pleasing musical sound offered by tubes. The B-283 is earning a reputation as low-cost 'Magic Box' among musicians, audiophiles and people who simply love to listen to great music. The B-283 is simple to operate, can install in your system in many configurations and has many uses such as:
- Solid State CD Player Processing. Simply patch your CD Player thru the B-283 and into your amplifier/receiver for warming up and correcting what some call the digital harshness of CD's.
- Home Theatre / DVD Player Processing. Initially installing on the 'front L&R' outputs of your DVD Player will improve the sound of your main speakers, especially with music DVD's. Another B-283 can be added for the Centre and Sub channels for a clearer Centre channel and a warmer solid bass for your Sub-woofer.
- Pre-Amp Processing. Simply patch your pre-amp output thru the B-283 to your amplifier and all of your sources (CD Player, DVD Player, Turntable, Tuner etc) will enjoy the musical benefits of tube processing. This can also be achieved on most good stereo / home theatre receivers / amplifiers by patching the B-283 thru their pre-ins and pre-outs. Note that when running the B-283 between a pre amd power amp you need to have properly grounded home wiring. Improper gorunding will cause the B-283 to introduce hum into your system. When using the B-283 after a pre-amp you need to have sufficient gain from the pre to drive the B-283, suggested you have volume control on your amp.
- MP3 / iPod Players which compress the musical information, especially harmonics to achieve small file size. The B-283 can recreate the missing important 2nd and 3rd harmonic information from MP3 files, enchancing the musicality of the files and again adding the general benefits of Tube Processing to the overall sound.
- Guitar, Bass and Keyboard Players. Adding the B-283 to your rig is bringing big smiles to everyones' ears. Many of us have gone solid state 'digital' setups for the convenience of access to great presets and reduced weight/price. The B-283 gives you most of the benefits of a tube amplifier in a simple solution. A common comment has been reduced on-stage volume wars. For keyboard players emulating real instruments be prepared to have your emulations actually sound real with the B-283. Guitarists with tube amps, get your tone at a much reduced volume, everyone will love you again.
- Pro-Audio/Recording. A true 'Magic Box' that can become in important part of almost ever step of your music production process. We have all had a tool we always reach for and can't live without in the studio. The B-283 is such a tool you should definitely have.
- Computer Musicians. One obvious way to use is to connect the B-283 to your Soundcard's main outputs for adding instant musicality to your digital work. Another is in your in/out loops for individual track(s) processing. My softsynth Reality is even better sounding with the B-283 and Reality scored a perfect 5 out of 5 for sound quality in every review!
If you've read this far you are probably asking so whats the benefit of adding the B-283 to my system. Here are some:
- While the jury will always be out on which is better in the audiophile world, it is always agreed that tube audio is warmer and usually more musical. Solid state was cheaper for more power for many years, but now with Grant Fidelity, tube power is much more affordable and solid state that compares to Grant Fidelity tube audio now costs much more. The cycle has reversed. But hey, we have spent good money on our solid state gear and just want to add tube warmth, natural presence and soundstage (the illusion of your speakers disappearing from your room). This is where the B-283 benefits us, with solid state 'digital' equipment.
- The B-283 adds/restores natural harmonics that livens up your music.
- The B-283 adds tube warmth to digital audio.
- The B-283 reduces the work load of your amplifiers and allows them to breathe, creating the perception of more power as tube processed music's distortion at high levels is much easier on the ears.
- The B-283 makes your speakers sound much more detailed as the tube processing gives the speakers more of the music information they expect.
- Soundstage. An audiophile term about the 'space of the music'. Width, depth and height are all increased with the B-283.
Who the B-283 isn't for:
Audiophiles with a $10k plus audio system. You have already paid good money for what the B-283 will do for lesser systems. Our tests have indicated that on true audiophile systems the results are very subtle to be noticeable, which is actually a good indication of how good the B-283 is. If you are an audiophile and want great tube sound, check out our Grant Fidelity tube amps.
Caution:
The B-283 is designed to be used Grounded, do not lift the Ground on the B-283 or any of our products without running the ground to a proper ground point. Running any electrical device with the ground lifted is dangerous to both your health and equipment.
Tube rolling:
The Chinese 6J1 tubes used in B-283 can be replaced by many European and North American tubes. Its European equivalent is the EF95, or the higher quality M8100. US equivalents are: 6AK5, 6AK5W (better quality), 5654 (add W and SQ for better quality types), 403A and 403B, and the Soviet tubes, made by Voskhod, the 6J1P and 6J1P-EV.
Many have asked about tube rolling option - here is a discussion thread on our forum if you would like to sign in and participate: http://grantfidelity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=90
More:
Watch YouTube Videos to see what musicians say about using B-283 with guitar amps: By NextLeverGuitar.com
(note: the 'power on' gain that brings a smile to everyone is the B-283 circuit's being energized to nominal level, on power down the pass thru signal is about 3 DB lower, the B-283 is not a pre-amp, but gain improvents do happen due to impedance matching)
Review by Goldmine Magazine: see .pdf file below. (weblink here: http://www.goldminemag.com/article/high_fidelity_grants_magic_box/
A review of the B-283 by Hans Sahlen, a Calgary bass player on 12stringbass
Many eBay customers' positive feedback
Grant Fidelity B-283
Got a Question about this product?
ask Ian by email
Note that the volume increase in the video is due to unergized circuits being energized, not an increase in gain from the B-283. The B-283 passes thru the same gain as it receives. For musicians there is a perceived gain difference from the added harmonics the B-283 introduces, allowing you to turn your amp down anywhere from 3 to 9 db while maintaining the tone you get from a cranked amp.
Dimensions: 8 in × 4 in × 6 in
Weight: 5 lb
List Price: USD $ 175
Price: USD $ 125
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| product sheet B-283.pdf | 143.06 KB |
| Goldmine B283 review page 1.pdf | 166.3 KB |
| Goldmine B283 review page 2.pdf | 445.42 KB |
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Comments
impressions of the buffer
I enjoyed the sound, and the music was grt as the speakers were located while listening to my music,i've had it paired with a Kenwood DV-4070 dvd player (used exclusively for cd playback) with excellent results ,wow !!!
Phoenix remodeling
"The effect is not subtle"
- by customer Michael R. via email:
"The B-283 arrived and is a revelation. I had thought a NAD C541i CD player may not be state of the art but was not a complete piece of junk but had been having resonance problems in the upper third of the audible spectrum -- despite using 3M electrostatic tape to damp the inside and base of the cabinet and using damping feet and making a simple damping
platform.
Now singers, whom I have heard numerous times live, and harpsichords particular instruments that I know well recorded in spaces I know sound right and not dead. The effect is not subtle but quite dramatic, sound stage enlarged and more accurate; even NY Steinway's made in the past 40 years sound acceptable.
Very many thanks,
Michael R."
"Absolutely stunning difference"
- feedback from customer Lonnie H:
"Finally got home after work 10:30PM to test the B-283. "Absolutely Stunning Difference" I was not expect that much, but it is awesome!!!"
"I have my sound signature"
- By Rod Moysey, musician and dealer
It's been almost 2 years now since Ian programmed my Behringer V-amp Pro. I met him when he came into our hi-end audio store General Audio to show us his tube audio gear and I was bitching about how hard it is to program the thing. He mentioned that he might know a thing or two about making instruments sound good. He took it home for a day and brought it back with what he calls the 7 tones for a gig. I have used all 7 to this day and constantly get lots of compliments on my guitar sound.
When he came back, he was all excited telling us about what he discovered with his B-283 and how he couldn't believe what happened when he plugged it into the V-amp. He was rambling on about how the acoustic sounds from the strat vanished into his monitors. Hans who was our bass player and office manager at the time took one home and to our next gig, I was stunned at the difference it made to his damn huge bass stack that used to overpower everything including the fronts during our Roxon shows. He was able to turn down around 9 db which made my job of playing guitar and mixing fun again. My ears thank the B-283 big time.
I have never looked back, nor adjusted anything on my V-amp thru the B-283 in 2 years, don't need to, I have my sound signature that has eluded me for almost 40 years now.
I can't recommend the B-283 enough. It is built like a tank, has never failed and is so versatile, I now mix our home recordings through it, track with it and when I want to watch a music video, throw it on the DVD player.
If you ever get a chance to meet Ian, ask him about the B-283 and watch him drop his Grant Fidelity hat and get into talking making music, I see it all the time, when he's in our store, he enjoys talking about his audiophile gear, but when one of our musician customers comes in asking about the B-283, he gets excited. Which is great to see in our industry, passion about a really cool product and music.
And this doesn't even go into what the B-283 can do for your home stereo.
Thanks again Ian for programming my V-amp and for the B-283.
"I have used the B-283 on a bunch of gigs"
- by a happy musician customer:
By the way, I've already used the B-283 on a bunch of gigs, and it's attracting a lot of attention. I may be sending some people your way
In addition to running it on gigs, and in my stereo, I figured out a way to bounce tracks through it with my mBox and ProTools. Heck, I'm going to find a way to insert it between my coffee bean grinder and French press to make my morning coffee hipper!
Full post here: http://grantfidelity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=233
"The sound is rich and full, much more open, smooth"
- by GF forum member and customer (Dingus), Nov 2007:
"i've had it paired with a Kenwood DV-4070 dvd player (used exclusively for cd playback) with excellent results. the Kenwood by itself sounds a bit thin overall and is lacking in the low end. in comparison, the Kenwood with the B-283 is a whole different world. the sound is rich and full, much more open, and definitely more smooth....... Sound stage is much more open and defined, which in turn improves clarity and detail. it really smooths out those digital edges that can be so troublesome with cd's and the overall presentation carries just a bit of tube lushness that i find very appealing.
i let my daughter hear it in her bedroom system today (Yamaha CR-2020, budget Toshiba dvd player, AR91's) and she wants to keep it. as soon as she heard it she sat upright and simply said "wow!". the improvement in this systems was even more dramatic than what i heard with the Kenwood player in my main rig.
i can point to every aspect of the sound and note a marked improvement with the B-283. for anyone on a budget looking for a way to improve their sound, this component will do it. at this price point it also deserves serious consideration as an alternative to a standalone DAC. for me the B-283 is a winner, i'll take one please."
"I couldn't quite pin-point where the speakers were located"
- by Canuck Audio Mart member (Huala P.) - Jan 2008:
"I found myself wanting to listen to cd's within my collection that I had not spent much time listening to prior. "
"I found the soundstage fuller as I listend through this processor and when sitting with my eyes closed in my chair, found I could not quite pin-point where the speakers were located while listening to my music. When listening through my regular system, I felt the sound was more confined to an area right in front of me, versus spilling over the edges on the side (a couple of folks from another audio site will just love this statement! ). "
"This demo has lead me to want to experience new types of music, and in selling a piece of equipment this past weekend, I had a great experience while listening to the buyers demo cd (Michael Roberts - Utopia disk). I can truly say acoustic music with the demo set-up was just so much better than it was originally, and it was pretty damn good originally."
"I enjoyed the sound offered from this little box, and am more interested in playing with tube sound than ever before."
"The quality of this unit though simple, is quite impressive. It's solid, nice looking and the sonic benefits in my opinion for my specific set up, was very much to my liking."
"It certainly can take the edge off some CD or DVD players"
- By Canuck Audio Mart member (Dan S.) - Jan 2008:
"If you have a relatively inexpensive source, or a multipurpose source such as a DVD player for music and movies, it can bring about some improvements. It can make these types of players less fatiguing.
If you're thinking of curing a problem with better interconnects this buffer may be a more cost effective solution. It certainly can take the edge off some CD or DVD players."
"I could listen longer with less fatigue"
- By Canuck Audio Mart member (Erik J.)
"My overall impressions were that I liked the way my digital music sounded when the B-283 was on. I could listen longer with less fatigue than I would normally and it seemed to make my rather bright sounding system less bright if that makes sense."
"It really softens the sound... the effect was pleasing"
- By Canuck Audio Mart member (soundemon) - Jan 2008:
"My impressions of the buffer are that it really softens the sound. listening to tunes with it inline, I enjoyed the sound, and the music easily dissapeared. The other thing I noticed was a slightly wider soundstage, with good stereo seperation. this is probly a result of the wiring of the device, but the effect was pleasing. Physically the buffer looked pretty classy, and seemed to be solid and well constructed."
Original post is here.