YAMAHA B-3 on the way...to me!

to be fair, it does look a lot like the BX-1..only smaller

as a side note, each BX-1 monoblock is a bridged 50w x2 stereo amp....inside.
They look somehow similar, but I guess they are very different. BX-1 monoblocks are the only Yamaha amps made in pure class A, using bipolar transistors, whereas B-3 is runing in AB class and is based on V-FETs 2SK76A/2SJ26A, similar to those in B-2.
 
They look somehow similar, but I guess they are very different. BX-1 monoblocks are the only Yamaha amps made in pure class A, using bipolar transistors, whereas B-3 is runing in AB class and is based on V-FETs 2SK76A/2SJ26A, similar to those in B-2.
Thanks Cosmin :)
but you think we would already known that. Both Mark and I have BX-1s.
The comments were aimed solely at physical appearance....albeit BX-1 is class A, J-fet input stage; BJT output stage, but it is essentially two 50W bridged design, to achieve the 100W mono. That is where the similarities end.
 
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To my thinking the B-3 is a very nice piece indeed ... but with that said it's too high maintenance outside of Japan even with its BTL mode and especially since I already have plenty of Yamaha V-FET goodness. :)
 
To my thinking the B-3 is a very nice piece indeed ... but with that said it's too high maintenance outside of Japan even with its BTL mode and especially since I already have plenty of Yamaha V-FET goodness. :)

I had countless opportunities to acquire one or a pair for that matter. For some reason I passed and now I am in a buying "freeze".
I will eventually get a pair some day, if for nothing else, just to complete the 1,2,3 set ;)

I cannot wait for Cosmin to receive his and post some listing impressions

or for Oilmaster to rebuild one of his then post his findings...that would be really interesting
 
I had countless opportunities to acquire one or a pair for that matter. For some reason I passed and now I am in a buying "freeze".
I will eventually get a pair some day, if for nothing else, just to complete the 1,2,3 set ;)

I cannot wait for Cosmin to receive his and post some listing impressions

or for Oilmaster to rebuild one of his then post his findings...that would be really interesting

I am also very curious to see and discover this beautiful model. Today I will receive the B-3 (the package is on the way to my location, transiting Wuhan city).
I have bought also a step-down transformer (actually is an auto-transformer like pointed by Oilmaster before) 1500VA, 220-100V from Delixi Chinese transformer company. It has a display where one can see the output voltage at any moment.
I think is more than enough to power properly the B-3 which has a stated consumption of 190W.
By the way, anyone knows if these 190W are at full power?
 
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To my thinking the B-3 is a very nice piece indeed ... but with that said it's too high maintenance outside of Japan even with its BTL mode and especially since I already have plenty of Yamaha V-FET goodness. :)

I know that you have and enjoy the B-2 power amp. I would have bought thus one, I am really intrigued by B-2 sinergy with NS-1000Ms. I found one in Romania, partially recapped, but the cost was more than two B-3s.
However, Yamaha sold B-3 and B-2 with the same price: 200000 Japanese Yen. This must say something about the quality of the former, despite the fact that is a "lesser" power amp...
 
Dear friends,

My B-3 finally arrived, after a long struggle with the courier company. Actually, the step down transformer came in my possession first, it has a voltage variable between 96V to 108 V. Most of the time is close to 100V AC.
I have not powered yet the B-3. I have opened and examined this amplifier. All I can say is just they don't do it like this anymore.
The B-3 seems like a product carved from pure aluminum block, impressive build outside as well as inside. I never saw a better construction in an amplifier!

In comparison with my Trio L-05M monoblock amps, the Yamaha B-3 comes from another galaxy. And, mind you, those monoblocks are well build, if not impressive by todays standards.

The V-FETs are original Yamaha 2SK76A and 2SJ26A (thank God!), no sign of any replaced component. It has some very small blemishes usually undetectable with the naked eye (you need to put some intense light to observe these) and one small hit in the left side heatsink, lower part. Looks like 8.6 out of 10.
Should I power the B-3 or do more investigations?

IMG_20171023_190218.jpg
IMG_20171023_190203.jpg
IMG_20171023_185037.jpg
IMG_20171023_183731.jpg
IMG_20171023_185751.jpg
 
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Greetings, Oilmaster! That is not a tube preamp, is a tube amp (it has the output transformers). I do not intend to use it in any way connected with the B-3.
Sadly, here I do not have a preamp, I will pilot the B-3 from my laptop audio board as preamp. I know this is not what it supposed to be, but this is the situation for the moment...Back in Romania I plan to pilot the B-3 with Trio L-07CII. You said once they make a good pair...
By the way, when you listen to your B-3 what volume level you choose from the front/back potentiometers? DC or AC coupling?
Last question: do you have any ideea about V-FETs power supply voltage?
Because the main filtering capacitors (which are huge!) are 27000 microF/63V, I suspect that V-FETs supply is less than 63V for 100V AC mains voltage. Am I right?
 
Greetings, Oilmaster! That is not a tube preamp, is a tube amp (it has the output transformers). I do not intend to use it in any way connected with the B-3.
Sadly, here I do not have a preamp, I will pilot the B-3 from my laptop audio board as preamp. I know this is not what it supposed to be, but this is the situation for the moment...Back in Romania I plan to pilot the B-3 with Trio L-07CII. You said once they make a good pair...
By the way, when you listen to your B-3 what volume level you choose from the front/back potentiometers? DC or AC coupling?
Last question: do you have any ideea about V-FETs power supply voltage?
Because the main filtering capacitors (which are huge!) are 27000 microF/63V, I suspect that V-FETs supply is less than 63V for 100V AC mains voltage. Am I right?

Keep computer audio cards and personal players away from impossible to find VFET's. Get a proper DAC with a proper analog output stage to play your digital files.
 
The B-3 and L-07CII are a very nice match. When driving some APM-77,and sourced by a Sony CDP-R3, it's pure sonic nirvana :)

View attachment 1030704

Ah, those dual volume pots per channel, opposite interacting... made me confused at first, and still makes no sense to me why one at the back and one on the front... Anyway, I've put both at no attenuation at all. That's why mankind has invented pre-amps after all...I think... And as such the standard quality carbon pots have the least sonic influence on the signal.

For the moment I run the B-3 on AC input because the L-07CII desperately needs a recap, now having a naughty DC offset on one channel, tripping the B-3 into protection if connected in DC. Still..... it sounds great :confused:

The power rails to the VFETs are at ~42.5V . Say 45V max with 7% mains increase. Hence, 63V rated buffer caps are the thing to go for. 50V would also be ok, but leaves little margin and shorter lifespan.

EDIT: it is probably not required to replace those extra large PSU caps; they are most often still in excellent shape. But as I mentioned before, the amp needed months of daily playing to start sounding well. Bigger caps means longer reforming time.
love the setup, really nice pad Oilmaster!
 
The B-3 and L-07CII are a very nice match. When driving some APM-77,and sourced by a Sony CDP-R3, it's pure sonic nirvana :)

View attachment 1030704

Ah, those dual volume pots per channel, opposite interacting... made me confused at first, and still makes no sense to me why one at the back and one on the front... Anyway, I've put both at no attenuation at all. That's why mankind has invented pre-amps after all...I think... And as such the standard quality carbon pots have the least sonic influence on the signal.

For the moment I run the B-3 on AC input because the L-07CII desperately needs a recap, now having a naughty DC offset on one channel, tripping the B-3 into protection if connected in DC. Still..... it sounds great :confused:

The power rails to the VFETs are at ~42.5V . Say 45V max with 7% mains increase. Hence, 63V rated buffer caps are the thing to go for. 50V would also be ok, but leaves little margin and shorter lifespan.

EDIT: it is probably not required to replace those extra large PSU caps; they are most often still in excellent shape. But as I mentioned before, the amp needed months of daily playing to start sounding well. Bigger caps means longer reforming time.

You have a wonderful system, Oilmaster!
I wonder how it stands the B-3 against that Sony Esprit power amp. Which one sounds better to your ears?

As far as the main filtering caps I have no intention to change them or any other component in the near future. The caps size really amazed me when I had opened the B-3. If they are filtering 45V then they will still be good in 10 years or more as well...

Today I powered and listened the B-3. Even if the test speakers are nowhere near Yamaha NS-1000M, I could clearly hear new sounds on many recordings. I would say the sound has some richness, is warm, detailed and holographic.
 
You have a wonderful system, Oilmaster!
I wonder how it stands the B-3 against that Sony Esprit power amp. Which one sounds better to your ears?

As far as the main filtering caps I have no intention to change them or any other component in the near future. The caps size really amazed me when I had opened the B-3. If they are filtering 45V then they will still be good in 10 years or more as well...

Today I powered and listened the B-3. Even if the test speakers are nowhere near Yamaha NS-1000M, I could clearly hear new sounds on many recordings. I would say the sound has some richness, is warm, detailed and holographic.
You might want to consider changing the rest of the electrolytic caps at some point.
 
Well the TA-N902 is dual-mono (2x130/200W) or 400W in BTL mono mode class-A amp with 4 pair high-Ft bipolar transistors per channel; comparing such amps with VFET amps is like comparing sports cars with SUV cars....not really possible. Each have their plusses and minus. The N902 is a massive power house, fast and plenty of warm body. VFET amps are just pleasantly different with slightly better detailing and more spatial sound (perfect).

I just collect(ed) any VFET amp out there, and mountains of desirable Sony stuff :D
Is N-902 class A 400w, or hybrid?
 
Keep computer audio cards and personal players away from impossible to find VFET's. Get a proper DAC with a proper analog output stage to play your digital files.

I have searched here in China for V-FETs and found a couple of sellers on www.taobao.com which have all sorts of V-FETs, from Yamaha, Sony, Tokin, NEC. Could these be genuine?
How could we recognize an authentic V-FET from Yamaha?
What would be the good replacements for the B-3s V-FETs (I hope I will never need this!), could 2SK76/2SJ26 from B-2 be used instead on 2SK76A/2SJ26A pertaining to B-3?
Thank for your input!

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sp...tEp2Hj&id=558640197047&ns=1&abbucket=7#detail
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sp...tEp2Hj&id=558552276125&ns=1&abbucket=7#detail
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sp...tEp2Hj&id=538632426823&ns=1&abbucket=7#detail
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sp...tEp2Hj&id=559085562670&ns=1&abbucket=7#detail
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sp...5PpggJ3&id=22748004813&ns=1&abbucket=7#detail
 
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OK so :
first link = original 100% but I know this picture (since many months may be yearS ) and I can not confirm that you will receive what you see in this picture . I really doubt that they have 8498 pieces in stock ....
2) link = original too (used not new) same as above . I don't really believe that they have 8604 pieces in stock
3) = not sure that they are original YAMAHA VFET.Sold by pair . I don't really believe that they have 1886 pieces in stock
4) = 100% sure that there are not original YAMAHA VFET . Described as new pair of V FET . Can you believe it ? 100 000 pieces in stock !!
5) = 2SJ20+2SK70 X 2 for 10,54 usd ?? Really cheap for transistor looking like brand new never used and looking original .....

I have enough experience and knowledge to tell you if a transistor is original or fake but nobody will confirm you that you will receive what you paid for ...
 
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