NOS Western Electric 101D "tennis ball" tube

Charles and Al,

The 101D tube sockets used in the Coincident Line Stage do indeed require two pins that are thicker than the other two. So it appears the WE 101D may not be suitable replacement for the Coincident Line Stage without first making a modification to the tube sockets.

The question now becomes whether any Audiogon member has made this modification just to try these tubes.

Thank you for your continued contributions to this thread.

Al,

When you have a spare moment your insight would be welcome in the ongoing Elrog v. Takatsuki thread; especially as it may relate to some of the discussion taking place the past two days. Thanks.

I went down this path as I had a line on a matched pair of ANOS available for $600. Before I pulled the trigger I called Israel, he was adamant that was a bad move as the CLS designed to work best with the specs of the modern variants of the 101d, and the sockets wouldn't be easy to replace either.

Given lessons of the variability of modern 300B's vs. the originals I was concerned that the 101d might be the same kettle of fish. Further, Israel's passion against it convinced me to drop the idea. Like you, I'd love to hear from anyone that has done it, and what sonic changes ensued?