Elrog 300B vs Takatsuki 300B tubes

I've bought tubes from George at TubesUSA before as well and always
received great service.

I foolishly decided to try and save a few bucks and buy a pair of
'cosmetically challenged' 300B XLS tubes directly from Jac Music; I wasn't
sure re the XLS tubes and so thought I'd dip my toes in the water with the
discounted tubes. Unfortunately, I didn't receive XLS tubes, returned the
regular 300Bs that were shipped to me, but still have no XLS tubes as were
promised.

So strongly urge USA buyers to purchase through TubesUSA; I am
confident George will take good care of you.

I should add a couple of technical points: The Elrog keeps to the original WE spec inasmuch as it draws a filament current of 1.2A at 5V (as does the Takatsuki). The eml XLS draws about 25% more current than this. Most 300B amps can handle this no problem, but they will run hotter as a result (recall that components such as chokes are sensitive to the square of the current that runs through them -- if the current is 25% higher, the square of the current will be 56% higher). Mine runs noticeably cooler with the Elrogs than with the XLS, adjusted for the same volume levels.

However, it's not the case that the Elrog is a WE clone. The fact that thoriated tungsten is used means the gain and transconductance are quite different from the classical WE. First of all, this means you have to turn the volume up on your amp a bit to generate the same sound pressure, but more than that: the frequency response is also different --- you should expect a different-sounding valve. The tone colours and the bass in particular are markedly different, in a way that's difficult to put into words. In fact some people have suggested it should not be called a 300B at all, even though it is a plug-and-play replacement.

As I see it, the Takatsuki is a finely-crafted 'homage' to the original WE (pre-1980s). It keeps to the WE specs and curves almost exactly. If you're looking for the vintage sound, this is the one to have (apart from a pre-1980s WE itself, of course). If you want to push the envelope of what's possible with modern valve technology married with old-skool German workmanship, then the ER is a great choice.

But I realise from reading over this thread that many (most?) of the contributors here are (North) American, and up to now there has been a limited production allotment of Erlogs to the US market.. most of the first three production runs over the past seven months run has gone into Germany, Spain, Denmark, Holland, and Italy. So I don't want to steal your thunder.. when you get the valves, please draw your own conclusions.

Teruterubozo, thanks for a good post. I read somewhere that the Elrog 300b produces 20% less power. Did you hear that effect ? Did you hear any kind of dynamic compression when you go as loud with the Elrog as you would go with Takatsuki ?

The early reports on the Elrog 300b have been consistently high praise . I
like that Elrog didn't attempt to merely clone the W.E. But instead to better
it sonically and go further. I had the opportunity to hear the re-issue version
of the Western Electric 300b tube in my amplifier and frankly I was
disappointed. I certainly hope that the vintage Western electric 300b is
better, if not then there is much hype surrounding this tube. I honestly
believe however that some amplifiers are specifically voiced to mate with
the sound of the Western electric 300b. I don't believe my amplifier was
voice this way, it sounds so much better with a modern type 300b such as
the EML, just better across the board. Back in January of this year 6 moons
did a feature on the Elrog 300b and compared it to the Western electric,
their conclusion was the Western electric was softer and fuzzy and lacked
bass. Even though they were using an entirely different amplifier from mine,
those general characteristics of the W.E. in my amplifier came across the
same. Soft, less defined sounding and less articulate. It was simply
outclassed by both the Takatsuki and the EML XLS,they are more
transparent, clear and nuanced.
The irony is, I found both of these tubes in fact more musical and
emotionally involving than the Western Electric tube. My Elrogs are
scheduled to be delivered tomorrow, I look forward to hearing these tubes
in my amplifier.

Charles, Everyone,
Thanks much. As the future owner of 300B again this information really helps the decision of where to begin and to spend wisely. This journey shoul be a lot of fun. Best.