New Production 300B Tubes

In anticipation of getting my Audio Note 300B Interstage SET monoblock amps, I've started researching available 300B tubes. The amps each run 2 tubes in parallel, so I need four. I have a pair of reissue WE tubes that I really like, and was planning on just getting another pair of those, but they are apparently out of production, so I need to shop for four new ones. It's a challenge because there is really no way to audition tubes unless you know someone using them.

The feedback on the internet is really confusing- a lot of contradictary opinions. I've read good things about tubes running anywhere from $300 to $1500 a pair. Sophia Electric has a mesh plate globe, a mesh plate Princess, a carbon plate, and the $1200 a pair Royal Princess.

I've also read good things a Psvane, and Emission Labs tubes, and really, really good things about the Japanese made Takatsuki that can be had for $1580 a pair on Amazon! I would probably take a chance on those if I only needed a pair, but I need four.

Does anybody here have any favorite 300B tubes?

 

Audio Note uses Elrog 211 tubes in some of their amps. Now Elrog has released a 300B, might be interesting for you.

 

By the way, congrats on your new amps. Hope you will enjoy them

 

Very intersting- thanks for that I will have to keep an eye on these when they go into production.

 

You pretty much have to buy tubes and cartridges on faith. I know The Cable Company (http://www.thecableco.com/Catalog/Tubes) sells tubes, but not sure if they loan them out for evaluation like they do for cables.

Might be worth checking out.

 

Thanks,
I won't get delivery for another month, but I wanted to take plenty of time with the tube search.

 

I got some Princess Mesh Plate 300Bs for my Bottlehead Paramounts years ago, can't say I really heard a difference over the stock 'regular' Electro-Harmonix 300Bs. Possibly my system didn't have the resolution to allow me to hear the difference ...

When I substituted some Siemens & Halske 12AT7-equivalent driver tubes for the original (RCA? I don't know) driver tubes tho, WOW! a significant increase in resolution and clarity (which is what I was looking for and what those tubes are/were 'known' to provide). Or maybe the top was just a little more tipped up and I liked the sound better.

I never went back to the E-H 300Bs due to their pins being oversized, they are hard to install/remove in the sockets provided with the amp kits. I like the mesh plates, they look way cool glowing in operation ... worth the extra $500? Well ...

IMHO it wouldn't hurt to get some other 300Bs, but don't forget to experiment with driver and other tube(s) as well, which may have as much if not more significance in the overall sonic signature of the amp(s). Edit: I have no idea if the rectifier tube type/brand/vintage makes a difference! but the driver tube certainly did in my case.

BTW, the ANs look very nice! Enjoy!

 

Very nice

 

Looked up a site selling those 300B tubes - $1095 apiece - that's some serious cash for glass...

 

Not having heard a 300B amp, what's a WE 300B do sonically that others are trying to emulate?

 

Repeater amps for the phone lines?

 

Er, no. There never were any 300Bs in the bottom of the ocean.

WE tubes WERE used in submarine cable repeaters, but they were of two specific types, the 455A and the 175HQ.

The WE 300A/B (there is no physical or electrical difference except for the clock spacing of the side locking pin which was never actually used) was designed for ERPI use and was also used as a voltage regulator element in several defense avionic systems. I can't say positively there wasn't WE telco equipment located in central offices and such that used them but they aren't in any of the BSPs that cover every Bell equipment since roughly the late 1930s. I had telco friends search in the 80s since WE still made them in Allentown and/or Lee's Summit and they were high enough that if they were "in the system" they could have snagged a couple for me. Several WE tubes WERE in the BSPs as well as the 124 amplifier and the 19c tone generator. Not the 300B though. (Didn't think to look for the rectifier.)

http://www3.alcatel-lucent.com/bstj/vol43-1964/articles/bstj43-4-1311.pdf

http://www.radiomuseum.org/tubes/tube_175hq.html

http://lampes-et-tubes.info/sp/sp146.php?l=e

 

How long do the Chinese 300B tube last, on average?

 

No, Joe Roberts probably misunderstood someone saying there were WE tubes in submarine cables, and figured there had to be 300Bs there. SP had a lot of that kind of stuff in there. I remember troubleshooting a homebrew WE 91 project someone built and it turned out there were several errors in the schematic he had. When we finally figured it out it did work beautifully and last I heard was still in service with the original tubes. The 300B is a good tube, simple in design, long lived. If they weren't heinously expensive I'd build a 300B amp myself.....but push-pull.

 

Senior moment maybe?

 

I can only tell you not to get Sophias. They get their tubes made by TJ. Nice boxes, but they are all made in China. Save money by getting TJ Full Music any type of bottle and plates. Solid plates are said to be better, but with mesh plates you see the filaments glow more (and look cool).

 

I "liked" the post above since I agree with the "with mesh plates you see the filaments glow more (and look cool)" comment. I like my Sophia Mesh Plates, but yes, do they sound better than the Electro-Harmonix ones they replaced? I can't really say ... don't want to re-swap either since the E-H's pins are oversized and crack the ceramic on my tube sockets ... oh well.

Are the Sophias really rebranded TJs? that seems unethical or at least sneaky, hope it isn't true. Well, maybe I don't care, if TJ makes them to Sophia's specs and they are selected and/or tested for Sophia to a higher standard than the 'run of the mill' TJ tubes.

 

The Elrog stuff is very, very nice.

 

TJ are very good. Per my local dealer (Deja-Vu, McLean, VA. They are the largest AN and WE dealer on the East Coast too), Sophias are made by TJ. Are they re-brands or made to the specs, I don't know. Sophia Electric is a two person business, a guy and his wife. They operate out of their house in Vienna, VA. I live in the area. I had their 300b monoblocks for a home test and was dissatisfied. They are no different from $500 ones you see on eBay sold in huge amounts from China. I wouldn't buy anything from them. TJ is the real stuff if you can't afford WE (I can't so I bought a TJ 274b for $80, whereas Sophia is about $200, but looks cooler with those glowing filaments).

I don't know what can be worse than EH, but some have positive experience with them. I have a pair of EH Gold 6SN7s and they are awful. Didn't try anything else after that pair.

JJ should be pretty good for the money.

What about Northern Electric? NE carry patents from WE. Canadian. Should be very good. They don't make 300b yet, but they do have KT88, 12AX7 and others. Any experience with them?

 

I bought a number of Full Music (TJ) valves - 2 pairs of 300Bs and a pair of 274 - before Sophia existed and I would not buy from Sophia. I just don't see the need to pay a premium.

 

I just got a matching pair of new reissue WE 300b in a wooden box. Put them in Audio Note Conqueror. Sounds fantastic. To give the stock tubes a credit (Valve Art 300b), they also sound great. WE 300b provide a better midrange, but the difference is not that dramatic. However, dramatic difference was observed when WE 300b were compared to the same Valve Art 300b played in a custom built (Aldo) amplifier using WE transformers and vintage parts.