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Elrog 300b's for sale. Your thoughts?

I noticed this morning an add for the new Elrogs.   I and many others on the forum ran the experiment when the Elrogs were initially launched.   We found the tubes to be superb sonically, but woefully unreliable.  In fact, the early failure rate on those tubes was apparently 100%.  I and others received replacements that were hand selected for suitability in our particular amps.  In fact one individual had 3 pairs fail.  In my case, I went so far as to purchase a PS audio power plant, having been assured that limiting incoming voltage to 115V would ensure reasonable lifetime for the Elrogs.  Two days ago, one of my replacements failed, after having been nursed along carefully.  Honestly, I doubt the tubes had 600 hours on them.  So the Psvane T1s went back in and I began the period of mourning for my deceased Elrogs.  This morning I awake to the siren song of an ad from a reputable dealer who is announcing availability of the new improved Elrogs with a 1 year warranty.   My initial reaction was, "I don't think so.  Someone else can run the $1200 experiment.  Burned once and lesson learned."  But here is the problem.  If all of Elrogs former customers take that approach, the new Elrog will also fail even if the tubes are good for 10000 hours, simply because no one will buy them.    The tubes are so good that it would be a tragedy if that happened.  So the question to all of you who have already been down this road is this?  What would it take for you to give these tubes a try again?
brownsfan
mikelavigne
2,199 posts
 

November 2015 i purchased a pair of Elrog 300b’s for my Lampizator Golden Gate dac. i used them for 30 days on the 300b setting and loved how they sounded. then one of them got weak. i called Gary at tubes USA where i bought them and a week later he sent me a replacement pair. feedback to me from Gary who was told directly from Elrog, instructed me to use the 101d/45 setting on my Lampi GG going forward.

i installed the replacement Elrog 300b’s in mid-January of this year, 11 months ago and listen for 3-5 hours a day to them since then without any issue at all. still going strong.

I preferred them to Psvane 101d WE replicas, Psvane 300b WE replicas, and a number of NOS 45’s......all of which I still own but have not used since I installed the Elrogs. and yes, they are a cut above those others to my ears.

very happy with the outstanding performance and reliability since then and would highly recommend them assuming you get good advice on the context of how they are used.

brownsfan OP
1,508 posts
 
Stringreen,  I can say that the Elrogs are substantially better than the Psvane Ts that came with my amps.  Well worth the price, provided they last.  I spent most of my life using SS equipment.  The Elrogs in my Coincident Frankensteins easily surpasses any other amp I have personally heard, either tube or SS, including some that are far more expensive.  Charles and others have much more extensive experience with a wide variety of different 300b tubes.
Mikelavigne, I had read of your experience with the Elrogs in your Lampi.  I am eager to hear of success stories with the Elrogs.  I'm just not sure how relevant use in your Lampi DAC using the 101D setting is to what is likely to be a more demanding power amp utilization.  BTW, I use the WE 101D replicas in my preamp.  The fact that the Elrogs bettered them and some NOS 45's is a testament to how good the Elrog sounds.


almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
Mike, thanks for those inputs. But I’m puzzled by the fact that the three tube types you mentioned use different filament voltages, among various other differences in electrical parameters. The 45 has a 2.5 volt filament; the 101D has a 4.5 volt filament, and the 300B has a 5 volt filament. Not sure how the "101D/45" setting you referred to could work with all three tube types. Although I’d imagine that a setting intended for use just with a 101D, that applied 4.5 volts to the filament, could work with a 300B in a reasonable manner, at least in a line-level application such as a DAC. It definitely wouldn’t be healthy for a 45 though.

Regards,
-- Al

charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
I believe that Mike’s experience with the Elrog in his Lampizator DAC unfortunately has minimal relevance to its performance in a power amplifier,. I’d assume that far greater demands are placed on the tube tasked with driving speaker loads. It is as he describes sonically beautiful in character.

Stringreen, the Elrog sound quality has been discussed and compared with many other 300bs  in several different threads (I’ve been fortunate to have heard 11 different types in my amplifier over the years) . As I’ve said before the Elrog is the very best in sound quality "but" it doesn’t by any means embarrass other top tier 300bs. The gaps are subtle.

Stringreen if you have found a SS amplifier that pleases you as much or more than a tube amplifier, sincere congratulations to you. There’s no logical reason for you or others to own a tube amplifier. This hasn’t been my experience by any stretch. As Brownsfan stated, the SET tube power amplifier listening experience is above and beyond what I have heard with transistors. So this is simply a matter of our individual sonic objectives.

No intention of the tired tube vs transistors debate resurrection. My point is, only that these premium 300b tubes in the right amplifiers have taken my music listening to higher ground..
Charles
gsm18439
895 posts
 
The cost of the tubes is not what worries me. I am much more concerned about the risks of any potential amplifier damage should they fail.

Gary
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