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
Doron,
Thanks very much for your impressions. I use the Shuguang Black Treasure(BT) and love them in my Coicident amplifier. If the Psvane is a step above the BT then I`m interested. Israel Bloom(Coincident) said the BT and Psvane were very close with a minimal edge to the Psvane(could be amplifier dependent). If the Psvane is as you say then 510 dollars is fair IMO.

Are you certain the Royal Princess is just a TJ Full Music SE relabled? Have you personally compared it to the Psvane 300b? If they`re close sonically then the RP is overpriced. Have you any experience with the EML 300b? I`ll say this, the BT in my Frankenstein amp is perhaps the most transparent match I`ve yet heard in a home audio system. If the Psvane tops that then all I can say is wow!

Best Regards,

Charles
Can anyone tell me if the Psvane and or Shuguang bTs are full WE spec compliant and if they can handle the high demands of the VAC Ren series amps?
My pleasure sharing my impressions .
I am not familiar with the Frankenstein amps although heard good things about them. I have a friend with Coincident Super Eclipse III who use to drive them with the same amp I'm using (Heavily modified JAS Array 2.1 300B/805 A2 SET with 45 W per channel used with Joule-Electra LA-100 Mk III preamp) but could not get enough bass (to his taste) from the side firing woofers and now is driving them with with McAlister Audio OTL mono-blocks with 195 W(!) per channel.
An overkill if you ask me but than very airy, open, clean and fast sound. Not really romantic or dense though, given these Coincident are ready intrinsically airy to my taste (pick your poison...).
The Psvane 300B - T which functions as a driver tube in the JAS (drives the output 805), is definitely more transparent than the Treasures.
Regarding Sophia, they are built by the same factory (TJ Fullmusic) with similar construction, under a different name with perhaps better QC and guaranty. Is it worth extra $500? Not to me.
Go ask Sophia themselves and see what they say.
EML might be good but again, ultra expensive and reading between the lines in 6 Moons, it seems like more hifi sounding, clean and fast but perhaps not as lush and liquid as the WE clones.
Knowing the Coincident fast and airy sound I would think it may be too much of a good thing. Personally I would look into beefing the midrange of these speakers which is already fast and transparent, but that's just me.
To summarize : I may be wrong about the EML but it is too expensive of a trial-and-error for me.

Which Coincident are you using (you can email me privately to not hijack this thread).
By the way, please have a look at the following link:

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/1201/300b/
If you look at the mesh plate tube, it has TJ on its base and the link Enjoy The Music provided is to Sophia's website.
So they are re-labled TJ's with perhaps better testing prior to shipping.
Hi Doron,
You can just click system below my post to see pictures and description. I have no bass issues at all with my Frankenstein driving the Coincident speakers. My sense regarding the EML 300b is similar to yours(based on some reviews). The Psvane is a tube I just may take a chance on given my sucess with the Black Treasure tubes.