Elrog 300B vs Takatsuki 300B tubes

Charles, I initiated contact with the dealer (and alerted them to this thread) back when your tube failed and your dialogue with Matthais was initiated. I contacted the vendor immediately after my tube failed and I received a response within about 5 minutes. I am confident they will stand behind me on their end. However, I do want to ensure that I receive replacements that are suitable for the Frankenstein amps.

As I have said previously, the audiophile community needs to be supportive of companies like Elrog who are taking risks trying to enable manufacture of tubes that meet or exceed the standards of the vacuum state glory days. That support involves some risk on our part, too. But In all fairness to the AG community, I think folks who might be potential customers need to be aware of the Elrog failure rate and observe Elrog's response to the problem. Premature tube failure is bad enough, but Tmm's experience with substantial damage to his Dragons is another. If my amp had (or is) damaged, or if Elrog fails to provide a suitable replacement, you can be sure I will not be pleased.

Almost all of the newer tube makers have had problems, at least initially, with quality control and reliability. In time, if they are any good at it, these problems abate (e.g., EML had early problems, but, they appear to be reliable now.

In the various amps I've heard, the Western Electric reissues were okay sounding, but, I generally preferred the sound of the EMLs and Krons to the Western Electics. But, I did mention them because they demonstrate that it is possible for someone to make a very reliable and long-lived tube of this type.

Larry,
Our listening impressions of W.E. vs EML are similar, the W.E. reissue version is considerably more expensive despite its poorer sound quality. So it seems that durability is their best attribute. Last week my EML XLS pair were found to test identically to the results of 3 years ago when I got them new. They've had very frequent use in that 3 year period as well, so it appears they're likely to have commendable longevity. Larry you're correct, EML had problems with their initial offerings but were able to sort out and fix the problem. Now it's Elrog's turn to do the same. I'm cheering for their success. I'd be a shame for a tube that sounds this good to fail.
Charles,

My Elrog 211 tubes had substantially less than 75 total hours when they failed in one of my Coincident Dragon mono amplifiers. The Dragons are push pull amplifiers with each mono amplifier using two 211 tubes, one 300B as a driver tube and one 6EM7 as an input tube.

Not only was I out the two Elrog 211 tubes, but since the Dragons require a matched quad set of 211 tubes, I was effectively out four tubes, not to mention the damage done to the amplifier itself as well as to the other tubes in the amplifier.

I have since read reports by a number of users of Elrog's 845 tube also reporting reliability problems.

One of my Elrog 300B's also died on Lampizator Big 7 recently. Fortunately, they were still within warranty and I returned them for a refund.

I surely hope that Elrog could sort out the issue. They were sounding fantastic.