2019 300B tubes that are worth the money?

well as the OP I thought I'd chime in with an update on my 300b status as this thread has somehow stayed alive and relevant.  As I stated previously, I ended up with a (supposedly) lightly used pair of KR tubes that I bought for $500 and was very happy with the sound.  But.... a few months ago one of the tubes slowly began to fail  (started randomly getting very soft and cutting out).  It was very hard and disappointing for me to admit the tube was going bad.  And then it was completely gone.  So I went back to my TJ/full music cheapos and was in anguish shopping and researching and rereading all the 300B reviews and trying to prepare myself for spending close to $1000 on a new pair of something.  Make a long story short, I settled on the PSVane Western Electric replicas and ordered through a somewhat dubious looking Chinese website where I paid only $600 (hifipartstore.com, if you are interested).  That seemed like a pretty good deal and the reviews I read seemed mostly very positive.  Took two weeks to arrive and I put them in yesterday... and.... I AM BLOWN AWAY!  My system sounds better than ever, the soundstage is enormous, the tone is warm and deep and detailed, the separation is fantastic.  Last night I couldn't stop listening to vinyl and heard stuff in old Fleetwood Mac that I'd never heard before!  I liked the KR tubes quite well, but without doing an A/B comparison I feel the PSVane WE 300B is superior.  Hopefully they will last awhile, but for now I am a very happy customer.  Cheers and good luck to you all in your search for audio nirvana.   

I have been using KR300b balloons for a couple of years with no issues whatsoever. Another NA source is Grant Fidelity in Canada - highly reliable. Has anyone tried the Audio Note 4300e?

I have to agree with @gsm18439 (Gary).  Rachel at Grant Fidelity has been a very reliable source for  purchasing  the higher end Chinese tubes. She stands behind what she sells. I believe that she now carries the Chinese Linlai brand.

I use the Psvane Replica 101d DHT tubes (Probably 6 or 7 years by now) in my Line stage and they've been durable and dependable.  I hope the same is true for their W.E.Replica 300b.

I use the EML XLS in my 300b SET mono blocks and they are exceptionally robust and reliable. I pretty sure their sonic character is different from the W.E.Replica 300b. Reported life expectancy of the EML XLS is 40,000 hours.  Mine test new after about  6 years of very regular use.
Charles 

Hi Gary,
Did the KR balloon 300b replace your Takatsuki or are they an alternative change of pace pair?
Charles 

Add me to the list of audiophiles warning of reliability concerns with Sophia 300B tubes. Mine failed <3 months in Sophia’s monoblock amps. Their customer service was disappointing. In sonic comparison to my set of vintage WE 300B tubes (1930’s manufacture), the Sophia’s were good but not great. Original WE are a bit thin in the bass, but the midrange is magical with Voxatix speakers, Rhythmic subs,  and Colibri cartridge. Sophia’s bass was stronger but not enough to recommend them with their reliability issues and unique approach to accountability. My amps are one off monblocks built in So. Korea,