Elrog 300B vs Takatsuki 300B tubes

Bill(Brownsfan),
I received an interesting email today from audiogon member Mark who recently got a pair of the Elrog ER 300b tubes. He loaned these tubes to Israel Blume to try in his system. They both feel that these tubes were just a subtle improvement and did not justify their high cost. Israel, Mark and I agree upon the substantial improvement rendered by the Pavane W.E. replica 101D tubes in the Coincident line stage. I find the Elrog just as impactful (at the very least) so while I obviously respect their impression, I will respectfully disagree. As more people listen to the Elrogs it will be interesting to note their impact according to various listeners. Israel does not find the Elrog 300b upgrade that he does the Replica 101D in his components. For me, both were major and welcome additions in my system.
Charles

Interesting Charles, and thanks for the info. Any idea what 300b the Elrog was a "slight improvement" over in those systems?

Charles,
I suspect that the difference in ancillary equipment, DAC, various supporting tubes, wires, room and so forth account for the different point of view...as is usually the case, but I know you know that. At any rate I'm looking forward to hearing the Elrog.

Charles, well this is a conundrum and no mistake! As you know, my point of comparison for the Elrog 300B was the Psvane T1 black glass 300B, which I also suspect may be Israel's reference tube. As you also know, I issued a rapid and emphatic endorsement of the Elrogs, with the caveat that I had no experience with the Taks, EMLs, WEs, and Sophias. One more thing you have no doubt noticed, is that sort of rapid and enthusiastic endorsement is uncharacteristic for me. I was much more reserved in issuing an endorsement of the Psvane WE 101 replicas vs the Psvane HiFis, for instance.

I have to think this is a case of some variability from tube pair to tube pair. Clearly, you and I are on the same page, but I think it is just as clear that we share Israel's values, since we both have all Coincident systems. I can't make any other sense out of this. I don't think I'm inclined to second guess Israel's ears, but I also respectfully disagree. The Elroy's are a substantial improvement, and are a great value based on cost/performance considerations.

I took no little comfort in having you validate my assessment of the Elrogs. You know what? I'm going to stay in my happy place. Barring a dependability issue with the Elrogs, I have NO desire to experiment with other 300Bs.