Antigrunge,
You make a good point(regarding what the market will bear).I`ll say this, at least in this case Takatsuki came through with a product that lives up to the high cost.
So often this is`nt the case(particularly high end audio).Every time I listen to my music(very often) I realize this tube was worth it. You could easily spend the cost of these(or far more) tubes on cables/cords and maybe or maybe not get this level of improvement.
Alternatives? theRP will get you close for 1200.00 USD.
Old stock W.E. 2500 AND upwards(may be better? or just different) but no warranty (Takatsuki has a 2 year warranty).Some less expensive tubes sound good but won`t compete at this level.
I assume most folks interested in this thread and own 300b amps fall deep into the pure natural sound-music lover camp(like me). If that`s true then if you want maximun performance from your amplifier this is certainly money(a lot)well spent.Fortunately 300b tubes(in general) have considerable longevity.
Regards,