When i got my Eddie Current Studio B amp, I got Gold Lion 300B's for them. I'd been recommended the JJ's, but they were out of stock everywhere at that point. When they came back in, I did get the JJ's for about the same price, and they were an improvement, but I wanted to hear my amp as best as it can be, so I forked out $1400 for a pair of new US-made Western Electric 300B's - still breaking them in, but so far they are wonderful - in another league than the previous ones I'd been using, better in every aspect, as you'd expect. If you want to spend time researching, you could probably find some that were less expensive and just as good, or maybe even better, but I decided to skip all that and just go for the WE's.
Current Best Value In A Pair of Quality 300B's?
I am in a unique situation and could use some of your experience and expertise on currently available 300B tubes. I've read some excellent discussions here, but many are somewhat out of date. And availability of some tubes seems to change, over time too.
My DAC has the capability of using a number of primary tubes. For several reasons I "suspect" that a pair of good quality 300B's might be exactly what I need.
Some other owners of the DAC have found 300B's to be just the ticket, others have not, all of which is, of course, system dependent. My issue is that in trying them out to see IF they work for me, I'm hesitant to spend as much as many of the better tubes cost. If they don't work out, I will only be able to sell them, used (if barely) for possibly half of what I paid, if that. For that reason, I am trying to determine what the best value is in a "sleeper" or otherwise overachieving 300B tube to use to test out my potential solution. .
Of course, things, in the end, are not really even that simple, because IF the 300B's do provide the sound I am looking for, from my DAC, at that point, I will want to upgrade to something in the $850-$1200.00 range for a pair.
Any thoughts, recommendations and experiences that you have had with 300B's would be appreciated. Thanks.
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- 9 posts total
- 9 posts total