2019 300B tubes that are worth the money?

thanks for all the input, folks.  though in truth I'm feeling as confused as ever.  These things are so expensive, I'm just afraid of shelling out 500-1500 dollars and not being able to tell the difference.  maybe I'm happy and should just leave well enough alone.  :-)  wish there was some way to audition tubes in my amps...  need a local LA audiophile club...

I once proposed to the US Takatsuki distributor that there should be a way to audition his 300b tubes - perhaps one pair that circulated for a week at a time to prospective customers. He did not appreciate the suggestion. He also lost the sale since I bought a pair on my next visit to Japan. 

Argonsteele,
If you’re really happy with your current 300b tubes you may just want to leave things as they are. I can tell from actual ownership experience the premium level 300bs are worth their cost.

Takatsuki a superb sounding Japanese 300b. However I’ve had two of them fail in my amplifier over a 6 year period. Other owners I’m aware of haven’t had this problem.

EML XLS, Czech Republic, is a very rugged design and is exceptionally reliable and has a reputation for an ultra long lifespan. Just a terrific fit for my amplifier and the sound quality is superb.

Elrog 300b, German, another superb sound quality 300b. Unfortunately I had the early production versions and had three tube failures. It’s been reported that the current production has solved those issues.

I tried the W.E. Reissue 300b (1990s production) and they were disappointing and completely outperformed by the 3 tubes above. Perhaps the latest version Will be better this time around.

Keep in mind that certain 300bs will sound/match better in some amplifiers than others.
Charles

@ alexberger

I also have Sophia carbon plate and Shuguang Treasure 300B.

NOS WE 300B is best with overall sound quality and reliability.

I had run more than 10K hours during last 15 years.

But it still sounds fine.

The problem is it is hard to get good one with reasonable cost.



Acme 300B gives much more refined and transparent sound than either Sophia carbon plate or Shuguang Treasure 300B.

Thus it is worth the money.

1998 production WE 300B turned out to have etched details.


Thus I sold it back after using it for 3 months.

I hope 2019 production WE 300B will turn out better.


I had not have tried other 300B.

Thomas

The Genalex Gold Lion PX300B ($218/pair on vivatubes.com) made a nice upgrade from the Shuguang tubes (basic version) that came with my Elekit TU-8600, and they are generally highly rated for their price/performance.