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300B Tubes - Which is Best?

Can't find anything addressing this on site so, here we go! What is your favorite 300B SET tube and why? What source do you use for these little treasures? What experience has anyone had with the Sophias, sound and company who sells them? Any thoughts on Western Electrics and that strange blue glow? Maybe they aren't as vacated of gases as some others? Anything new out there? Thanks, people.
tomryan
danner
202 posts
 
I liked the Sophia TJ 300B meshplate.
Check out 'Chilling at the Bee-Hive, A Group Test of Nine Different 300B Valves:'
www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/1201/300b/
dweller's avatar
dweller
3,788 posts
 
The Western Electric 300B is THE class act in this arena.
They have a rated life of 40,000 hours (the 6550 in my ARC VT-100 Mk-III are reated for 2000 hours/2 years).
The designers took something like five years (from project genesis) before they reissued this classic.
nathanu's avatar
nathanu
93 posts
 
I also like the Sophia Electric TJ Meshplate, which is actually just a re-branding of the Tianjin Meshplate also known as Full Music Meshplate. They are all the same, under different names, made by Tianjin. Beats the WE.
pb1285
1 posts
 
My experience is that the amps you're using do make a difference since WE's and meshies have distinctive sonic signatures. Call Jim Ricketts of TMH audio. He's exceedingly knowledgable. Also keep in mind your ears are subjective. You may find that too much transparency is a little too much. If using WAVAC amps from Japan then my vote is for meshies. TMH audio.com or 937 439 2667
herman
2,259 posts
 
Stereophile did a comparison of 300B tubes a while back. It is archived on their web site.
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