COINCIDENT FRANKENSTEIN 300B STEREO

@alexberger The Horning Eufrodites which are 98db.@1m. Tommy Horning designed and voiced these speakers with his own 300B amp, so one would expect they should excel with this amp, but of course not all 300B's are designed the same- Israel confirmed this amp with its suggested 8 ohm tap works just fine with a 4 ohm speaker. 

@sns 

Those Black Treasures were the other tube I was considering. I flipped a coin and picked the Gold Lions. 

 I have Psvane Acme and WE's, both far superior to Shuguang Black Treasures.

 Thanks- I assumed I would hear this response- darn.  At this point I think I would choose WE over Takatsuki's just because after spending that kind of coin on tubes that 5 year warranty is a huge factor. 

From what I see the WE's are $1500 and the PS Vanes are just under $1000, (Lunar New Year!) do you think the WE are worth the extra $500? 

@mclinnguy Not just break-in but as you discovered tube rolling is crucial especially in an SET amp with a very simple circuit tubes make a huge difference.

@jond

Yeah. What is interesting is an amp like the Yamamoto comes with excellent NOS tubes already installed, so when an owner receives it they appreciate it immediately, whereas the Frankenstein stereo comes with a $40 rectifier and $20 driver tubes and that first impression is not as compelling. I wonder how many people live with this amp as it is as far as the oem supplied tubes, and never consider changing them out? It’s like buying a Porsche and never revving it past 3000 rpm.

A power cord is not even supplied as he assumes people will just upgrade it anyway, so why even bother supplying throwaway tubes? Just thinking out loud.

I don't have experience with that amp. But do have experience with Takayuki 300Bs vs a couple other brands and the Takayuki are amazing... definitely worth it in my Woo WA5.