Better prices at Watford Valves in the UK.
EH Gold £75 ea
JJ £87.50 ea
The rock bottom prices for 300b remain the Shuguang ones straight from China, $120 pair upwards.
Shuguang 300B-98 (The red building) new vacuum tube
Shuguang 300BC (replacing 300BA300BS-B) new vacuum tube
Or the Psvane off AliExpress $116 a pair
Matched Pair PSVANE 300B HiFi Series Vacuum Tubes|Inductors| - AliExpress
Or Psvane HiFi for $134 a pair
PSVANE HIFI 300B Vacuum Electron Power Tube For Vintage Hifi Audio Tube AMP DIY Upgrade Factory Test Match Pair New|amplifier diy|vintage amplifiersvacuum tube - AliExpress
EH Gold £75 ea
JJ £87.50 ea
The rock bottom prices for 300b remain the Shuguang ones straight from China, $120 pair upwards.
Shuguang 300B-98 (The red building) new vacuum tube
Shuguang 300BC (replacing 300BA300BS-B) new vacuum tube
Or the Psvane off AliExpress $116 a pair
Matched Pair PSVANE 300B HiFi Series Vacuum Tubes|Inductors| - AliExpress
Or Psvane HiFi for $134 a pair
PSVANE HIFI 300B Vacuum Electron Power Tube For Vintage Hifi Audio Tube AMP DIY Upgrade Factory Test Match Pair New|amplifier diy|vintage amplifiersvacuum tube - AliExpress
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I am using a quartet of JJ 300Bs in my Kevin Kennedy-designed push-pull monoblocs, on Kevin's recommendation. I replaced the first set after nine or ten years and am a couple of years into the second set. So I have no complaints about reliability or longevity with this brand. I bought them from BTB in Germany, who have good prices and good service.
As far as sound quality goes, I can say that the amplifiers sound pretty darned good, but I haven't compared with 300Bs from any other manufacturer.
Alex
As far as sound quality goes, I can say that the amplifiers sound pretty darned good, but I haven't compared with 300Bs from any other manufacturer.
Alex
I was always curious to get comments on the Genalex Gold Lion 300B.
They are about $350 a pair.
Interesting review...
Triode Roundup: Seven “Common Man” 300B Tubes Compared | Wall of Sound | Audio and Music Reviews
They are about $350 a pair.
Interesting review...
Triode Roundup: Seven “Common Man” 300B Tubes Compared | Wall of Sound | Audio and Music Reviews
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Just IMHO ...
I wouldn't generalize 300B tubes like that.
I have winged C Svetlana (=C=), JJ, Guigang and Shuguang 300B. I tried them all.
=C= is the absolute champion always.
Others..depends on the impedance of the OPT primary. For example, JJ sounds good with 5K primary OPT, but with 3K it sounds bad, very bad. Guigang similar to JJ ...
Andy, my personal opinion. If you have a 3k OPT don't take Chinese or JJ 300B.
Like I said, just IMHO
I wouldn't generalize 300B tubes like that.
I have winged C Svetlana (=C=), JJ, Guigang and Shuguang 300B. I tried them all.
=C= is the absolute champion always.
Others..depends on the impedance of the OPT primary. For example, JJ sounds good with 5K primary OPT, but with 3K it sounds bad, very bad. Guigang similar to JJ ...
Andy, my personal opinion. If you have a 3k OPT don't take Chinese or JJ 300B.
Like I said, just IMHO
Rajko - that's a very interesting comment. I'm using a 5K OPT LL1682 right now and sounds nice with some kind of older Chinese tubes from my backup stock. I briefly tried a LL1664 3K OPT with some old EH tubes and didn't sound good at all. Given that I have some more 3K OPTs, what kind of operating point could I use for these?
I just auditioned my tired old stock of 300b. About half a dozen Chinese from several years back, rebranded Billington, Chelmer etc. These sounded very average, not much clarity or tone. I have a pair of Valve Art 4300 which were a little better, but well used. Then a pair (+ one extra) of older basic EH white base, not Gold, which were the best of what I have. These were decent at least. Again, used condition.
I tried out the 300b stage of my new build with O'Netics 3.3K OPTs. These are his "commercial" ones which I think were made for Wright Sound, maybe with 2a3 outputs. Fortunately this sounded quite good, better than I expected. I need to play around with operating points, it's quite low voltage at present but enough for my room and speakers. The 300bs are just loafing along in a very relaxed way. The PSU was designed for PSE 4P1L outputs with 250v a-k.
So looks like at some point I'll be needing a pair of decent new 300b which are a step up from the older EH ones. Not sure if the basic Shuguang or Psvane ones are step up. The EH gold probably are, but not sure by how much.
I tried out the 300b stage of my new build with O'Netics 3.3K OPTs. These are his "commercial" ones which I think were made for Wright Sound, maybe with 2a3 outputs. Fortunately this sounded quite good, better than I expected. I need to play around with operating points, it's quite low voltage at present but enough for my room and speakers. The 300bs are just loafing along in a very relaxed way. The PSU was designed for PSE 4P1L outputs with 250v a-k.
So looks like at some point I'll be needing a pair of decent new 300b which are a step up from the older EH ones. Not sure if the basic Shuguang or Psvane ones are step up. The EH gold probably are, but not sure by how much.
Thomas , how are you ?
Do you prefer the tube 6CB5A over GU50 for use as a 300B replacement ?
This is the tube I use today instead of 300Bs. It's built like a tank. I like the sound and it's power handling capabilities, but the best thing I like is being able to get the amp quiet with 2.5 vac filaments. My direct coupled 12AX7-2A3 amps measure at less than 2 mv! I do use and like Rod's filament regs in other places but I've yet to modify my 2A3 amp. (I have the parts in house but it's on the to do list like a lot of things.)
Jim
I have a brand new pair of gold lions. There have been some speculation about filament failure (disconnection), but it seems this has been concluded because of failing EH 300b filaments and the similarity in construction.
Does someone know if this is a real problem with the gold lions or recent EH production?
Does someone know if this is a real problem with the gold lions or recent EH production?
The Sovtek, EH and Gold Lions are all made in the same factory: Reflektor, Saratov.
I don't believe any suggestion that a different line is used to produce them.
I know that the filament-disconnect (breakage) is for real, at least from years 1998 to 2013 production, since I have witnessed the failures personally. Perhaps anyone who has used them since then can comment on later production.
Given that they are not exactly low-cost, I would prefer the (similarly priced) JJ 300B, which has good reliability record (I can confirm this from personal experience, too).
The EML300B is even better value, despite the high purchase price: my pair sound better after 5 years than new, and after around 2000 hours use -- by which time the JJs were sounding tired.
I don't believe any suggestion that a different line is used to produce them.
I know that the filament-disconnect (breakage) is for real, at least from years 1998 to 2013 production, since I have witnessed the failures personally. Perhaps anyone who has used them since then can comment on later production.
Given that they are not exactly low-cost, I would prefer the (similarly priced) JJ 300B, which has good reliability record (I can confirm this from personal experience, too).
The EML300B is even better value, despite the high purchase price: my pair sound better after 5 years than new, and after around 2000 hours use -- by which time the JJs were sounding tired.
My JJs were the 1998 year production, so I may be unfair in my comparison.
Like most 300Bs, the 1998 JJs also had resonant filaments and/or electrode structure.
This shows up when playing some loud music, then cutting off the signal suddenly. The sound decays, like a reverberant room. Other 300Bs, like the Reflektor do that too - but the EML does not.
If JJ has addressed that, so much the better.
Like most 300Bs, the 1998 JJs also had resonant filaments and/or electrode structure.
This shows up when playing some loud music, then cutting off the signal suddenly. The sound decays, like a reverberant room. Other 300Bs, like the Reflektor do that too - but the EML does not.
If JJ has addressed that, so much the better.
"Hard-metals can be used in electron tubes, though these are more difficult to use, and more costly than the classical nickel. Hard metal Anodes have a more precise Anode distance, and do not change shape when heated, or at mechanical shock. This ensures reproducible tube parameters, and long term stability. Wolfram grids allow the most precise grid wire distance, because wolfram is an extreme hard metal. Best grid geometry ensures uniformity and linearity of the tube curves."
300B tube data sheet. Emission Labs.
300B tube data sheet. Emission Labs.