Favorite 300B: Sophia vs KR



Which do you prefer; S.E.T. Princess 300B Carbon Plate or KR 300B WE Clone?

I've only experienced NOS 40's/50's WE so my expectations are pretty high. Which do you think captures the essence of the WE most closely? I'm trying to keep the cost down as much as possible so EAT is not an option, as much as I was blown away by their KT88. I considered current WE but they're not in production until Spring 2011.

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sakahara
My pleasure sharing my impressions .
I am not familiar with the Frankenstein amps although heard good things about them. I have a friend with Coincident Super Eclipse III who use to drive them with the same amp I'm using (Heavily modified JAS Array 2.1 300B/805 A2 SET with 45 W per channel used with Joule-Electra LA-100 Mk III preamp) but could not get enough bass (to his taste) from the side firing woofers and now is driving them with with McAlister Audio OTL mono-blocks with 195 W(!) per channel.
An overkill if you ask me but than very airy, open, clean and fast sound. Not really romantic or dense though, given these Coincident are ready intrinsically airy to my taste (pick your poison...).
The Psvane 300B - T which functions as a driver tube in the JAS (drives the output 805), is definitely more transparent than the Treasures.
Regarding Sophia, they are built by the same factory (TJ Fullmusic) with similar construction, under a different name with perhaps better QC and guaranty. Is it worth extra $500? Not to me.
Go ask Sophia themselves and see what they say.
EML might be good but again, ultra expensive and reading between the lines in 6 Moons, it seems like more hifi sounding, clean and fast but perhaps not as lush and liquid as the WE clones.
Knowing the Coincident fast and airy sound I would think it may be too much of a good thing. Personally I would look into beefing the midrange of these speakers which is already fast and transparent, but that's just me.
To summarize : I may be wrong about the EML but it is too expensive of a trial-and-error for me.

Which Coincident are you using (you can email me privately to not hijack this thread).
By the way, please have a look at the following link:

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/1201/300b/
If you look at the mesh plate tube, it has TJ on its base and the link Enjoy The Music provided is to Sophia's website.
So they are re-labled TJ's with perhaps better testing prior to shipping.
Hi Doron,
You can just click system below my post to see pictures and description. I have no bass issues at all with my Frankenstein driving the Coincident speakers. My sense regarding the EML 300b is similar to yours(based on some reviews). The Psvane is a tube I just may take a chance on given my sucess with the Black Treasure tubes.
The rumor that Sophia tubes are rebranded TJs that undergo a more rigorous testing and selection process is something I inquired about before splurging on the Royal Princesses. Sophia was unequivocal in their assurance that their tubes are not rebranded TJs. If I recall correctly, and I might not, Sophia was a substantial investor in TJ when TJ started up, so that the relationship between Sophia and TJ is something like the relationship between Lexus and Toyota. At least that’s what I took away from it.