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Old Audiophile can still be blown away

I've not posted a new thread on this site in 10 years so, that in mind, It takes something to really shock me. I've been a music lover since I can remember. As a child we had radios all over the house. A habit that I still carry on. I've had all kinds of rigs over the years all with their sound and special pros and of course their weaknesses. I always come back to SET amps and high efficient speakers. Recently on a 300B tube hunt I saw that parts connection was having a sell on the Shuguang 300B black treasure tubes. Now keep in mind that these are not the best they offer(which I've got an order in for). I've got a pair of WE 300Bs and the EMLs and KRs. I don't have the Takatsuki's but I've got all the other highly regarded 300Bs. The only reason I have the WEs is I bought them when you could get them for 500.00 a pair. It seems that all I've tried doesn't have that WE magic in lower midrange. But, until now, I got in these Black treasures today, bought on a wim because they're on sale. All I can say is that the Shuguang/Psvane tubes are the closest to the WEs I've heard. Infact I think they improve on them some. The KRs and the EMLs are good but they're dry and lifeless almost solid state sounding. Now this is all in my system with my room and my preferences so all you that want to e-mail with dirty responses can get over it. Try these tubes.
philefreak
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
I also enjoy the Psvane tubes, though I have not heard the 300B's.
I have used their 12AX7's, CV-181's (6SN7's), and KT88's, all TII series, all have performed exceptionally well.
mikirob
955 posts
 
I've listened to Shuguang 300B in other folks systems. Very good IMHO. I also own their 12ax7s, 12au7s, and 6CA7 (EL34), all very fine tubes. They compare favorably, or better many NOS.
jedinite24's avatar
jedinite24
1,503 posts
 
Hi Philefreak,

Glad you found happiness with the Shuguang Black Treasure tubes. An audio buddy of mine loves them very much as well.

Check out this in depth tube roll review from the late Ian Grant of Grant Fidelity.

http://grantfidelity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=281

He covered a lot of different 300Bs.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Hi Philefreak,
I have written several times on this forum that 300b tube preference is amplifier/system influenced(not to mention listener's ears). My SET came with the EH golden grid(decent sounding) and I replaced them with the Shuguang Black Treasure(BT). The BT was much better sounding and I happily used them for well over 2 years, I then bought the Takatsuki direct from Japan and they were/are superior in any way you can compare them.

I later bought the EML XLS and the AVVT 32b SL and these are excellent(slight preference for the EML). The EML XLS was significantly better than the BT(direct comparison). The dry and lifeless quality you describe is the polar opposite of my situation. In my system the EML is very organic,fluid, vivid, harmonically rich and very open and transparent, just a wonderful 300b tube. The EML and Takatsuki are the best I've heard in my SET amplifier. So it doesn't surprise me at all that any of these tubes will be ranked differently based on the particular circumstances and listener taste. I'm looking forward to hearing the Elrog 300b and comparing to my two references. My amplifier has clearly revealed each tube's unique character that I've tried so far(ten 300bs up to this point).I've had some very generous loans of 300bs from fellow audiogon members. It has been a lot of fun trying different tubes. I've had this SET amp for going on 6 years and it's stsying put for many more years to come. I understand why you keep returning to SET amplifiers.
Charles,
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