Psvane 300-B Tubes ? ? ?

Hi 1makr,
Believe me I know all about buying the upper price 300bs 😊. I bought the Takatsuki, Elrog and EML XLS.   The KR XLS, Sophia Electric Royal Princess and Western Electric were loaned to me. I do understand your interest in the Psvane W.E Plus tubes. I do not doubt at all that their sonic character would differ from the EML. Again if you do decide to give them a try please post your thoughts. 
Charles 

Will do @charles1dad ! I may just grab them on the used market if /when they show up...  we’ll see! Or maybe I will just be happy with the EML and grab a Canon 24-70 mkII lens that I have been lusting after instead, lol! Oh wait, that’s a different obsession, I mean hobby!

Cheers! Mark

@charles1dad , @hddg and anyone else who is interested.... hope this summary helps.  Reach out to me if you have any questions!

I was fortunate enough to be able to pick up a lightly used pair of the Psvane WE300b replica tubes. I don't think they have more than 100 hours on them when I got them, and I prob put another 50 on them? Maybe?

Initial impressions are highly favorable! Keep in mind this is a direct comparison to the EML 300b-xls which are my "go-to" on my Coincident Frank mkIIs.

First the spoiler: Neither the EMLs nor the Psvane are substantially better than the other, just a little different from each other, and this is in the context of my system, fwiw.  Both are excellent, both are worth their $$ which are more or less in the same ballpark. For me, at this time, I am now leaning a little more to the Psvane voicing over the EMLs in my amps.

On to the details: The tubes are very similar in terms of speed, soundstage size (in all directions, honestly), transient response / dynamics, noise (or to put it better, lack of noise), and PRAT; I highly doubt I'd be able to pick the tube based on these criteria in a blind test.

The biggest difference I hear is that the Psvane is slightly warmer than the EML, and midrange tones and voices appear to have just a little more of a 3D presence, and fullness to them, with less stridency. @hddg is spot on above with the midrange quality of the Psvane!  

The EML wins slightly on detail, though the Psvane is no slouch by any means.  The bass on the EML is tighter, more detailed as well, while the Psvane is again, a bit rounder, but still fast and certainly acceptable. The highs are not terribly different either, but maybe the slight edge goes to the EML. Too close to really tell. Both tubes present an airy soundstage and highs, but I think the Psvane layers the soundstage a little better, and little more naturally than the EML.

There is no right or wrong answer here.  Both are great tubes, both have great instrumental and vocal tonality, and depending on your system, one can certainly be a slightly better match than the other. I have never heard a true WE 300b tube, but man, they gotta be really, really good based on what I hear from this replica, which I am sure is only what, 80%, 85%, of a true WE? More? Less? I dunno, but I am happy with both tubes, but I am especially pleased with the Psvane WE300b replica, and they have been promoted as my "go-to" power tubes on the Frank mkII monoblocks.

Hi 1markr,
Thanks for the very informative review of these 2 tubes. I've heard nothing but good things about the Psvane W.E. and have been curious regarding them. Based on your descriptions of the W.E. It seems very similar to the Takatsuki.  As I mentioned before the W.E. 101D (which I own) and their 845 are excellent so your findings aren't surprising at all.  

I agree with your assessment that both are top tier 300b tubes and ultimate choice will be determined by individual taste and desired sound. I'll likely try the Psvane W.E at some point in the future. The EML XLS is an example of the modern European 300b sound and the Psvane representative of the classic vintage Western Electric 300b sound.  I suspect that I'd like the Psvane even though I didn't like the reissue Western Electric 300b I tried several years ago. 
Charles 

Charles1dad,
My system is presently also using the Coincident line stage that uses the 101D's.  Is there a dealer here in the U.S. for the Psvane WE 101D replica?  My experience with Grant in Canada was very bad.  After paying extra for tubes that were supposed to be within 10% tolerance,  they sent most of them within 25% and none within ten.  All tubes were tested on my Hickok 539A and George Kay small signal tube tester.  Some of the small signal tubes were also very microphonic, and one of them actually showed a short in the Hickok.

That order was placed around ten years ago, and if I recall correctly it was dropped shipped from China.  Grant did allow me to send the order to them in Canada for credit, because they did not want to replace the order with the in tolerance tubes that I payed for.  They did return credit to my card with the stipulation that I did not ever order from them again, so I was only out shipping cost to Canada. 

My only other experience with Psvane tubes was directly from China.  One of the tubes was DOA, and they said to return it for replacement.  Shipping that one tube back to China cost over twenty dollars by US mail and close to ninety dollars by a shipping company.  So I sent it US mail but they don't track mail going to China, and likewise the Chinese seller did not acknowledge ever receiving it.

Evidently ten years ago Grant was cutting shipping costs by trusting the Chinese to actually test the tubes being drop shipped to me.  It would be nice to know of a US company that sells the WE 101D replica.