Elrog 300B vs Takatsuki 300B tubes

Hi charles1dad,
 Boy,it's been a while since I've gone on to Audiogon and checked any discussions as I've been busy listening to  the beautiful sounds of my Coincident system  every free moment I have had between work and family.
Thanks for the shout out about premature tube  failures.
The only tubes that I've had a real problem with have been the  Sophia Royal Princess tubes.  My first pair had a tube blow after four months and it was good that I had the one-year warranty as Sophia promptly replaced that  tube . About three weeks later the other tube  blew  Sophia also replace that too however told me they werent willing to replace any future tube failures again.even if it is still during the one year warranty period   ???
After about another three months there was a dramatic sonic degradation and the tubes were obviously dying. So liking their sound in my system ,  I foolishly bought another pair of Sophia Royal Princess tubes in the hope that they would last longer. No such luck. As a matter of fact one of the tubes blew on start up  taking with it some amplifier components including resistors and voltage regulators. This also occurred after about four months. Sophia replaced both of them ss well and I then sold them on Audiogon. 
 Interestingly enough before I even purchased my first pair Israel had advised me any 300 B is safe to use as a replacement tube  except for certain KR tubes and warned definitely not to use  Sophia tubes.   I guess I am foolish and lucky that. I  didn't have earlier and worse damage happen to my amplifiers which would really have been  a disaster. 
 Israel's explanation which is logical and should make sense   to all, was that modern amps that sound dramatically superior to tube amplifiers of 20 to 30 years ago are designed differently! Including voltage plate differences.  The Sophia's and a few other tube designers are using outdated parameters to make so-called modern tubes  for modern amplifiers. So the incompatibility is pretty obvious  and the resulting tube failure should not be a surprise. Not everything is compatible with everything and at no time do I personally assume  it is  amplifier design issue or limitation, rather an incompatibility issue. ( for if there is a design issue with these amplifiers they're the best dam design issues I have ever  had the pleasure of listening to ! LOL]
 I also had a hiccup  with my Elrogs for the exact same reason as other people have reported and discussed above. I must say  that I was thoroughly impressed with how George Lenz took care of any issues and promptly  replaced my tubes with a newer version. It is so refreshing to see such a stand up  guy and  professional attitude in the audio industry. Kudos to George! After receiving my new pair of Elrogs  I decided to sell them as I was already scarred by my previous experiences with the Sophia failures. 
 I am currently using the latest version of the re released Shuguang  Black bottle 300 B tubes. The price to performance ratio is outstanding. I also enjoy my AVVT 32b SL tubes which are in a very special category. I am contemplating  getting the current release of Psvane  W.E. Replicas  which are supposed to sound outstanding as well as the EML XLS which we all know is a wonderful tube. By the way Charles ,have you tried the new CST statement power cords yet? As you know I've had them for a long time and thought the improvement in sound quality  was  extraordinary at the price.  And when you compare to other brand-name cables they are a mere fraction of the cost of most power cords.
However recently I upgraded my speaker cables and interconnects to the new  Statement series from Extreme Shotgun series. 
Wow wow wow The difference was like changing an amplifier . Yup , not subtle by any stretch.  The transparency immediacy naturalness and harmonic completeness  was  eery and uncanny. I have never ever heard  CST gear sound better. These are already qualities that they excelled at ,  but the cables really took it to the next level I was shocked ,The jaw  dropping kind of  shock "they" talk about. Unquestionably and absolutely highly recommended.
Cheers
David

Hello David, 
It's really good to hear from you. 
I understand you decision regarding the Elrogs, it's a practical conclusion to reach. I love their sound so much I was resolute in giving them another opportunity. I did do the recommended cathode resistor swap (only 5.00  dollars for the required 1 pair) and so far, so good. I can report that the resistors don't alter the sonic character at all to the best of my hearing ability. I've put Synergistic Research Black fuses in the amplifiers with excellent results. 

I've not forgotten your very enthusiastic praise of the Coincident Statement power cables.  Well it appears that the IC and SC are every bit as impressive. I respect your opinion of these products David.
I see that Arthur Salvatore is reviewing the power cables on his website site. I'm  keeping them on my radar for certain. I'm still using and enjoying the older  (6 years ) Coincident power cords. 
Charles, 

Hello fellow Elrog friends,
I was anxious to try the new Elrog 300B's  in my Frankenstien amps but after reading on this forum about  the failures, I decided to wait awhile until all the bugs were worked out. After the new tubes were reissued, I decided to give them a try. Incredable sound, I now knew what everyone was talking about. Sadly, last night after 184.5 hours on the tubes, one of them dropped out with a bang. There was no system damage but I would be surprised if there was another tube that could sound as good as these Elrogs. I put my Takatsuki's back in and I'm working with George to see what he can do but my 6 month warranty has expired so it's a toss up. Keeping my fingers crossed.  

Markus,
Have you discussed with George the option to change your cathode resistor from the stock 1K ohms to the recommended 1.2K ohms value. They are said to reduce the initial power surge (current) stress on the output tube.  The Elrog engineers believe that this is issue with the Frankenstein amplifier. I've done this modification,  only timewill tell if this is the answer. 
Charles, 

charles1dad,

I haven't discussed the cathode resistor change with George but it does sound like a feasable fix. Problem for me would be that in my neck of the woods there aren't any tech's that would understand, unfortunately. I honestly thought that the engineers at Elrog had fixed this problem. It's that old saying about assuming something.