Elrog 300B vs Takatsuki 300B tubes

Charles,  make that 7 pounds!  We are finally getting settled in enough that I can really pursue the hiking for all it is worth.  The hiking has been wonderful, and my wife has gotten back into it like in the old days.   The endorphin rush, the beautiful views, the company of my beloved, and the track of Bach's St. Matthew Passion running in my head eight hours a day is hard to beat.  By the time I get home, I do well to make it through dinner before passing out.  I have been hiking so much that those days when I don't are utterly consumed with volunteer work, yard maintenance (yes, I mowed my grass again 2 days ago dressed in shorts and a T) etc.  Perhaps there will come some icy weather, which is pretty much what it takes to keep me off the trails.
I have a stack of CD's sitting on my desk that I haven't had time to listen to yet.  While there have been a few surprises associated with the move, this decision has worked out even better than I had hoped in most respects. 

Charles, unfortunately one of my replacement Elrog tubes failed also. George is going to replace them once he gets a suitable pair in. 
 I'll be waiting for your opinion on the resistor replacement ,hopefully the sound won't be degraded. If it makes them last in our amps that would be great, fingers crossed. They are wonderful sounding tubes to bad we're having issues with them. 
Oh well, I put back the EML's and they sound very good with nice dynamics and drive, not as musical as the Elrogs but, I can easily live with them in my Franks along with the Taks.

Joe 

Bill,
Man, I'm so happy you and your wife reached your goals and are able to live out your dreams. This is what good planning and determination lead to. I know how good it feels to exercise and get back in physical  shape, there's no downside to this approach. Keep on exploring those mountain trails Bill.

Hi Joe,
Hopefully the  cathode resistor swap will be the answer, only time will tell. The EML XLS is a terrific tube and the past two nights they have provided me with very enjoyable listening sessions without question.
Although in direct comparison I'd choose the Elrog, it does not by any measure embarrass the EML. The Elrog is subtly better in certain areas that are noticeable at this very high level. The EML is a bit more dynamic (small margin) and has a very lively energetic presentation with very gone tonality and timbre. The Elrog is a bit more organic and as you note nuanced. Bottom line the Frankenstein sounds really good with these two tubes as well as the refined Takatsuki. The EML is a superb value given its performance/price ratio and its excellent durability.
George Lenz told me recently that some long term owners have reach 40,000 hours of use with the EML XLS and they still are testing like new. Now that's impressive!
Charles,

Pani,

I have heard one of the First Watt amps (cannot remember the specific model) in my system for about two weeks (borrowed from a friend).  I liked it a lot--smooth, clear and lively.  Yes, there was a bit of brittleness and an artificially hard edge to the initial attack of some notes (common to solid state), but, it was still a very nice sounding amp.  Unlike a lot of other solid state amps, it did not sound flat and lifeless when playing at soft or moderate volume levels.  It also sounded harmonically rich and dense (a lot of solid state and high-powered pushpull tube amps fail in this respect).  As far as practical concerns, I found it a reasonably easy amp to use--no pops or other noise on turn-on or turn-off, no other problems during my time of usage.  But, like most solid state gear, it takes longer to warm up and really sound its best than tube gear; one possible approach would be to leave it on most of the time).  Although I have not heard other Pass gear in my own system, I have not been favorably impressed the times I have heard their non-First Watt gear.

I own a parallel single-ended 2a3 amp (Audio Note Kageki) a pushpull 45 amp (Deja Vu Audio) and a pushpull 249 amp.  They all have a different sound, and I cannot really say whether this is mainly the characteristic of the topology, differences in components, and/or differences in the tube used.  The single-ended amp is very good at sounding relaxed and harmonically rich; I also like how the bass, though not strong and punchy, is "refined" in the way it delivers subtly different tonal structure depending on the music being played.  My pushpull 249 amp sound more punchy in the bass, but, that sound is a bit more mechanical and generic and not as subtly differentiated as the bass from the single-ended amp.  Still, right now, the pushpull 249 is my favorite amp (somewhat difficult to compare with the Kageki because the 249 amp has transformer inputs and works best with my full transformer input and output linestage).

If I had to pick an amp that is my absolute favorite, it might well be a custom-built, output transformerless amps that two people I know have in their system.  These are extremely dynamic and lively amps that also deliver a very rich harmonic palette.  Unfortunately, they are nearly one-ofs, and are a bit scary (no protection circuitry and no transformer between the tubes and the speaker to protect the speakers).   The other totally unrealistic candidate I heard is a very old Western Electric 59B amp, which is another ultra dynamic sounding amp; too bad those go for somewhere near $80,000 per channel.

In short, I don't really favor any particular implementation of tube amps; I have heard great sound from all types.  As a rough generalization, I tend to like low-powered amps over higher powered amps that use multiple tetrode or pentode tubes to achieve the high power (OTLs being the exception).  To me, if someone really needs a lot of power and ability to drive a difficult load, solid state is the better way to go.