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Favorite 300B: Sophia vs KR


Which do you prefer; S.E.T. Princess 300B Carbon Plate or KR 300B WE Clone?

I've only experienced NOS 40's/50's WE so my expectations are pretty high. Which do you think captures the essence of the WE most closely? I'm trying to keep the cost down as much as possible so EAT is not an option, as much as I was blown away by their KT88. I considered current WE but they're not in production until Spring 2011.

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sakahara
antigrunge
74 posts
 
I have run TJ mesh, EAT and now Takatsuki 300b tubes in my Wavac EC-300b. TJ is fun but ultimately loose and wayward, EAT is too controlled to be real fun although seriously punchy and Takatsuki just sings beautifully although it ultimately has less grunt than the EATs. In terms of clarity and air as well as soundstage it is in a different league from the other two, though. By the way, I use Tungsol KT66s as driver tubes; after a lot of different trials they are the best 6L6GCs around, although that is less than obvious from their nomenclature
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Antigrunge,
Have you heard the Sophia Royal Princess? that and the Takatsuki seem to be competitors. Where can you buy the Takasuki and how expensive are they? It seems it could be quite special.
Regards,
f1a
198 posts
 
From whom did you order the Takatsukis and how much were they? TIA
hamms006
24 posts
 
western electric 300b's
doron
43 posts
 
The Sophia Royal Princess seems over priced to me.
If I'm not mistaken it is a re-labeled TJ Fullmusic 300B SE which goes for $700 on eBay.
Even with shipping in doesn't reach $1,200 so what gives?
Meanwhile Psvane 300B-T which is an improvement over the former Shuguang Treasure Z (as warm and liquid but more sparkle on top, more transparency and better bass control) goes for $510 and KR goes for $525.
Is the Royal Princess that much better? I have some doubts but than we are in the hobby of diminishing returns.
Of course the circuit of the amp and the interaction with the speakers may give an edge to one set of tubes over the other so this discussion becomes somewhat subjective.
Case in mind is a friend of mine heard the TJ Mesh Plate in some SET galore in Hong Kong and thought it was super sweet as output tube but as a driver tube in my amp we both thought that although it was more transparent and airy than the Shuguang Treasure, it was bright, a bit grainy and gave a flatter presentation than the Shuguang Treasure.
The Treasures are not the last word in transparency or air but are very liquid, dense and present very good image depth which is quite seductive.
My latest experience is that the Psvane 300B-T are a noticeable improvement.
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