Favorite 300B: Sophia vs KR

I was at Charles1Dad and all I have to say is that both of our jaws were left on the carpet. I think the Takatsuki improves his overall sound 80% or more. I am not kidding. This tube has dynamics that startle, transparency that welcomes you in to the event, and detail and smoothness on the treble without irritation. It is like you are listening to the piece of music you play for the first time. His older tubes were way darker and not as alive sounding as these. I need to convince Takatsuki to make KT-88's for me. Maybe second thought I should be quiet because I would need 16 of them in my amps, on second thought I would buy them. Charles will have to be served his meals in his man cave and he is lucky he has a bathroom close by. I don't think he is going anywhere soon.

Maxmad,
The BT tubes impressed me more than they did you it seems. They may just mate better with my Coincident amp as compared to your Cary perhaps. According to the Takatsuki web site the monthly production ot their 300b is 30 pair per month. At their price they probably don`t expect to sell a lot of them.

Hey Jeff,
Thanks for your comments and for joining me last night to listen.It was so much fun and those tubes are absolutely emotionally involving,it was as if there were no speaker in the room just the musicians and singers. This Takatsuki is unreal.It would be fantastic to hear a KT88 version in your VAC monoblocks!
Regards,

Chartles1dad, I was counting on you save me some money, not to tell me that $1200 wasn’t enough :-)

Congratulations Charles1dad!
You took a chance - it paid off.
Will they warranty the tubes this side of the pond? If so, what would that entail? Shipping back to Japan?

When do you expect the RPs to arrive?