New Coincident Frankenstein 300B Stereo Version

The CSL is indeed a special piece, made that much better with MK II upgrades. I also got the Amtrans switch upgrade, much more precision piece than the standard upgrade switch.

I've given up on using Psvane WE101D with no longer having trustworthy distributor/seller here in NA. In last six month purchased two singles,one DOA, another failed at around 50 hours. Perhaps Woo Audio could be enticed to sell 101D, doubtful since none of their headphone amps use that tube. I did purchase my 300B Acme from them, no issues in well over 200 hours now. Chinese stock of Chinese tubes cannot be trusted IMO. Until then, I'm completely satisfied with Linlai  Elite 300B solid plates purchased through Grant Fidelity, wonderful tube. Mesh plate not so much.

@sns

I would agree that the tube purchasing “source” is a key factor. I bought my original pair of Psvane W.E. Replica 101D from Grant Fidelity. They lasted a good 7-8 years with fairly heavy usage. I bought my current W.E. Replica pair directly from Israel Blume last year and they have been faultless thus far.

He told me he had several failures with the Linlai 101D and no longer recommends them. Perhaps this was an early run/production issue and current models could be just fine now. Agree with @brownsfan Psvane W.E. Replica 101D is a fabulous sounding tube paired with the CSL. Choose your source carefully.

Charles

My experience with the Psvane WE tubes has paralleled that of @charles1dad.  As background, back in about 2014, I purchased a pair of Psvane Hifi series 101Ds.  They were a major step up from the only other current production tube available at that time, the Shuguang.  About 2-3 months after I bought the HiFi's (from  Grant), Psvane released the WE replicas, so I bought a pair of those from Grant.  Those gave me many years of good performance before failing.  At that point, I rotated the old HiFi tubes, which were old but had very few hours on them, back into service.   Within about 2 weeks, one of the HiFi tubes failed.  At that point, I became concerned that something was wrong with the preamp, since I was suddenly having tubes fail right and left (literally). 

So I contacted Israel Blume before shelling out another pile of cash on new WEs.  It was at that point that I became aware that Israel was offering the WEs for sale (at a premium over other vendors) and assured me that his (presumably hand picked) WEs would give excellent service, though is warranty was only for 3 months.  I've had the tubes for, I don't know, 3 years or so, and they are fantastic.  They sound even better than the first set I bought back in 2014.   

When the word got out about North American supply problems on this tube, I contacted Israel again and asked if I should buy a spare pair.  He assured me that he was experiencing no difficulty getting this tube and anticipated no difficulty in the future. 

I do hope that Linlai is able to address whatever issue may have led to unreliable service in the CSL.  The 101D is an amazing tube, and in my opinion, remains underutilized.  As much as I love my 6SL7s, the 101D WE tube beats every 6SL7 based design I ever heard. 

@brownsfan

I know that @sns is using the Lanlai Elite 101D in his CSL and has had no problems to my knowledge. So I suspect that the current production available via Grant Fidelity are of good quality. I may at some point give them a try but for now I’m very happy with the Psvane W.E. Replica 101D, very happy.

Bill, I also believe that the 101D is a brilliant preamplifier tube but for what ever reason is not even close in popularity compared to for example the 6SN7. I’m very familiar with the 6SN7 and it is no doubt a very fine tube. Of course implementation is a major factor in determining ultimate sound quality. What impresses me about the 101D is its sheer purity and transparency. It seems to have nearly zero editorializing qualities, yet is by no means sterile/lean/analytical, just pure.

If the rest of the audio system is capable then one will hear natural and beautiful tone, timbres, overtones/harmonics and very fine nuanced musical detail. Perhaps it’s a more difficult tube to work with and get right in an audio circuit. I’m glad Israel Blume decided to give it a go and develop the magnificent CSL.  for us hopelessly devoted music lovers’ 🙂

Charles