Thread: my 300b tests

i figured i would put up a thread to document all my 300b testing. i have 3 pair now(2 borrowed) and will be buying 2-3 more pairs in the near future. id like to be able to go back and see my results.
im also testing several pairs of 6sn7's but for the 300b tests all the other tubes will remain the same. which are. 1964 mullard gz37(cv378) rectifiers, 1960's brimar 6sn7's for input, and 1950's MELZ 6sn7's for output driver.

first up is the tubes that my amps came with when i bought them and the least expensive i will test.

electro harmonic 300b gold-$225 a pair

these are no slouch and were what made me know instantly i had a more preferred sound than i had with my snappers. gave a classic 300b smooth midrange, beautiful highs, and did some good low bass , although a little loose. they are the best type of E.H. tube ive ever used. when i pushed these hard into my just 90db speakers, i would get a upper mid grain on some vocals, but that was measured at around 97-98db range(give or take). especially joni mitchells vocals. made me know i was pushing these 15w amps a little too hard through these speakers. overall i will keep these around for backup and to use to break in equipment in the future. but they just dont match up with the other 2 pairs im testing right now.

psvane 300B T-2- $425 a pair

these tubes right out of the box were across the board a little better at everything than the EH's. but i broke them in for about 40-50 hours of music playing, another 20-30 hours of on, but no music, and about 20 hours of on, but in standby mode.
after they were broke in i got out my test records, and holy crap!!! these have better clarity and resolution than i ever heard with tube amps, the soundstage is so big, there is a guy playing harmonica and he sounds like he would actually be standing outside my house beyond the right wall, the drums on some stuff is set back that it sounds like it in the room behind my frontwall. and on that cowboy junkies trinity sessions record, there is a guy sitting 2 rows behind me to the left tapping his foot, and annoying the crap out of me. i keep looking back.lol. now ive felt this with the other tubes and even with my old snappers, but it was never this pronounced. its is uncanny how these tubes throw such a soundstage and mke my room way bigger than it is. the clarity is outstanding and very focused and the instruments and vocal separation is just incredible. also i can now get up to the levels that are way to loud for me personally, but got rid of that mid grain grit
now the cons are with that much focus and accuracy is comes across as analytical, and not quite as musical, because of this some of the songs i often play come across as bright and a little sharp now. very metalically cd sounding. and not all were like that but some were, and i didnt like it. overall a great pair of tubes with loads of strengths and a couple weaknesses. i would buy these


genalex gold lion px300b- $330 a pair

now these are some serious tubes.lol. right away smooth beautiful and sweet sounds across the board. much more musical than the psvanes. the flow and pace of these are not quite as fast as the psvanes , but are smoother and mellower and just better.
they are not quite as clean as far as clarity and overall dynamics and resolution as the psvanes, but they are still a better more enjoyable experience to listen to.
i can generalize them by saying one sentence-"they are not as good as the psvanes but they sound better" lmao!! i know its a weird thing to say but other than that i can not explain it.
the soundstage is spectacular yet not as wide and deep as the psvanes. the separation is awesome yet again not quite as separate as the psvanes. the guy sitting behind me during the cowboy junkies record is gone but i can still feel him walking around back there, just doesnt annoy me as much. if i could only have one pair of 300b's the gold lions would be the ones for me.

next up in a month or so i will bring in a pair of sophia royal princesses, and then after i test those out. iwill buy a pair of the w.e. replicas mike speaks so highly of. i will send the sophias down to mike to test in his cary's while i test the w.e.'s out.


with all that said i may change the tubes from my preamp from very punchy telefunkins to some nice smooth mullards very soon and see if my results are different with the psvanes

more to come!!!!

Great post Steve. It will be interesting to read about the next set of tubes and how they compare to these.

Are you going to try the Sophia carbon or mesh plate 300b's as well?

At $1200 bucks a pair those Royal Princess tubes better sound like the equivalent of a nice sponge bath.

Originally Posted by dlb2

Are you going to try the Sophia carbon or mesh plate 300b's as well?

At $1200 bucks a pair those Royal Princess tubes better sound like the equivalent of a nice sponge bath.

lmao!!! $1095. hahahaha!!! i wont try any others than the royals and the w.e replicas and probably a pair of nos too.
right now i dont have the 300b that does it all. after listening to the gold lions all day ,after the psvanes yesterday, it seems im missing something.lol. but as i said its give or take. do i take the full clarity and dynamics of the psvane over the smooth lusciousness of the lions. tough call, maybe ill need to go back nd fourth for awhile and then see how i feel next week, lol.

Are you going to try the Sophia carbon or mesh plate 300b's as well?

At $1200 bucks a pair those Royal Princess tubes better sound like the equivalent of a nice sponge bath.

These tubes are what come standard in our PSE300B Ultra mono bloc amps (two per channel) and in my opinion, they are the best 300B tubes I have heard to date. I will have to admit I have not heard the WE300B in these amps so I cannot say how they compare to the what is considered the best 300B of all time.
At $1,200 a pair, they are not for everybody. It will be interesting to follow along here as more current production, reasonably priced 300Bs are evaluated.

Originally Posted by Purity Audio

These tubes are what come standard in our PSE300B Ultra mono bloc amps (two per channel) and in my opinion, they are the best 300B tubes I have heard to date. I will have to admit I have not heard the WE300B in these amps so I cannot say how they compare to the what is considered the best 300B of all time.
At $1,200 a pair, they are not for everybody. It will be interesting to follow along here as more current production, reasonably priced 300Bs are evaluated.

Thanks for the info. Bill. Very nice gear. I'm assuming this is your website?

Purity Audio Design

this pic is a very nice setup !!! welcome to the shark. love to know your take on the 300b's since you seem to have alot of amps based on them. id imagine youve tested through most all of them. i just got into 300b's , and im hooked!!

Steve, where are you at with the tubes you've been trying out?

Originally Posted by dlb2

Steve, where are you at with the tubes you've been trying out?

i dont know doug. so far, i did the psvanes for a week and then the gl's for a week, now im back to the psvanes and really loving em, ill switch back in a couple days and see how i feel after that. i dont think i can make a definite decision unless i have more time on both.

Originally Posted by Petro85

i dont know doug. so far, i did the psvanes for a week and then the gl's for a week, now im back to the psvanes and really loving em, ill switch back in a couple days and see how i feel after that. i dont think i can make a definite decision unless i have more time on both.

Hey Mike, are you charging by the day?

By the hour!

Originally Posted by Mike

By the hour!

hahaha!!! im already trying to figure out if i just buy you a new pair of psvanes and have them shipped to you , and just buy me a pair of gold lions so i have them both here forever, but i must keep testing if im going to find the best 300b for me. the psvanes still are changing and im guessing still not 100% broke in. the lions are the same everytime i try them. plus the plan is now to keep my pair of 300b monos and and get an integrated setup as well.

My two cents: save your pennies for the Psvane Replica 300b's. They are on another level IMO. I have not tried the Sophia Electric's however. They are supposed to be good too....but the Psvane Replica 300b's to me are in another class.

thanks for the info. id like to hear all the 300b's that i can. hopefully another pair will be coming soon.

ok so i made a decision. the psvanes are better broke in now and i have had no desire to go back to the gold lions anymore. the psvanes keep getting better and better. so i decided to order a pair of sophia princess mesh plates, which are the same price as the psvanes. which ever one i like better that will be the way i go for the future. if i like the sophia i will get the royal princesses next. if i prefer the psvanes i will get the w.e replicas. since i cant test them out i will have to come to my final decision another way. and this is the only way i can think of. the reviews on both are outstanding. before i drop $1000 on tubes i want to be sure they are what i will be happy with.
or maybe i can talk mike into selling me the psvanes too.

That sounds like a good plan Steve. Try the lesser priced tubes from each company and then buy the best from the one you like the most. You're smarter than you look, or is that act? Lol! I think Mike has some backups so I don't see why he wouldn't sell you those Psvanes. So what is it about the Psvanes you like so much? How have they changed since the last time you posted your thoughts on them?

Originally Posted by dlb2

That sounds like a good plan Steve. Try the lesser priced tubes from each company and then buy the best from the one you like the most. You're smarter than you look, or is that act? Lol! I think Mike has some backups so I don't see why he wouldn't sell you those Psvanes. So what is it about the Psvanes you like so much? How have they changed since the last time you posted your thoughts on them?

its all an act, i change my mind enough times that eventually i come up with one smart plan, then usually ditch it for something spur of the moment.lol.
anyway the biggest difference in the psvanes once over the 100 hour mark was the brightness mellowed out, making it super revealing and not as harsh. it will never be as silky smooth as the gold lions especially in the mid range, but the highs and lows of the psvanes are its strongest attributes over and above the gl's, with the added accuracy makes it a much better tube. once paypal clears in my account i will order the sophias.
i cant wait

Thanks Steve !
My 300B Neo Classic preamp uses EH 300 B's and I replaced them 2 months ago with Gold Lion reissues. ( after seeing that Shindo san RIP used them for his D'Yquem) : I could not be happier. The GL are extremely natural and dynamic. they outperform the EH clearly.

yea jerome the eh's are far behind all of the tubes tested so far. but for a good value they did the job when i needed them to.

ok started the next pair of tubes to test, got them a few days ago and just happened to be the same day as i got a new phono preamp, so i neded to keep these in the boxes until i got some good listening time in on the pre. but i didnt last long, as soon as i figured out the phonostage was better than my old setup, i put these in a biased them up.
im not ready to rate these against the rest yet, because i will run about 100 hours up on them first. then go back to the others just to check.
sophia electric 300b princess mesh plates: $425





straight out of the box im getting deeper bass, and super dynamics, as accurate as the psvanes. with more air and a great punch to the overall sound. cant wait to get these fully broke in and see what i got here. more in a couple weeks.

Very nice Steve!

That's a beautiful tube Steve. Better straight out of the box than the others? Looks like there will be a delivery back at "Mike's Tubes" soon. Unfortunately the next step are the Royal Princess series and $$$$. Let us know how they sound with some more hours on them.

And what about this "new phono stage" you speak of? I don't see a thread on that yet. I'm very curious about the h1201.

ok one more pic.lol. that mesh plate puts off some heat!!

doug i will put up a thread about the h1201 , i just took some pics.

Looks great Steve!

Originally Posted by dlb2

Looks great Steve!

sounds great doug!!!!
well after a couple weeks of breaking these sophias in i now know the sophias princess mesh plates are the best 300b ive had in these amps. from top to bottom better than the previous pairs i have wrote about in this thread. the bass is deeper and better than the others. the highs are airy and flowing, the mids are as expected from 300b's ,beautiful and smooth. there is not a whole lot left to say than they are just the best ones. straight out of the box i knew it, but they just kept getting better and better.
at first i noticed they needed way longer to warm up and sound their best, than the others ever did. but that has changed now, and they are great even on cold amps. guess that was part of the breaking in process.
are these my final pair of 300b's?? they could easily be but i have a pair of emission lab 300b xls v4's that someone is lending me to try out. and oh boy are they huge !!! and if these sophias are that good i can only imagine how good the royal princess would be , i might have to come up with $1200 to find out. im real busy the next few months, so my tests are on hold for awhile anyway. but there might be more to add to this later .

Steve sent back my 300b tubes. Thanks Steve!! I hooked the amps back up. All I can say is "ahhhhhh".




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I'm glad you found a set that aren't too expensive to keep buying. It's great when you can hear a big difference between tubes instead of a little different here and a little different there. And those mesh plates look sweet! Save your pennies for the Royal Princesses. Don't you have a bunch of Telefunken 12AX7's that you could sell to raise some cash for the RP's? Oh wait, not anymore!

Originally Posted by Mike

Steve sent back my 300b tubes. Thanks Steve!! I hooked the amps back up. All I can say is "ahhhhhh".

Careful Mike, Steve might start charging for that burn-in service.

Originally Posted by dlb2

Careful Mike, Steve might start charging for that burn-in service.

He may! It's fair to say it was a win-win.


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I have to try some 300B amps for my Tannoy...Hmmmmm.....Mike I will be HAPPY to review your Cary amp for you if you wish

Originally Posted by BlueMcIntosh

I have to try some 300B amps for my Tannoy...Hmmmmm.....Mike I will be to review your Cary amp for you if you wish

I just got them back working again and sounding better than ever.

You'll have a pair of Allnic 300b's to try in no time.


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Great post Steve. 300B testing is going to be my next project once I receive my big Tannoy's and my Allnic DHT's. Hmmm which 300's do I order first. Fun times ahead.

Originally Posted by Mike

Steve sent back my 300b tubes. Thanks Steve!! I hooked the amps back up. All I can say is "ahhhhhh".




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yes mike im real grateful for the chance to hear the lions and the psvanes and it was a fun to break em in and hear how they change.
and i thank you very much , and im glad to see those carys out in the main room again!!
those are my favorite amps in your sig.

Originally Posted by dlb2

I'm glad you found a set that aren't too expensive to keep buying. It's great when you can hear a big difference between tubes instead of a little different here and a little different there. And those mesh plates look sweet! Save your pennies for the Royal Princesses. Don't you have a bunch of Telefunken 12AX7's that you could sell to raise some cash for the RP's? Oh wait, not anymore!

nice im glad you are liking the teles. we should set up a tube archive where you list your extra tubes and swap back and fourth. you need a 300b amp so we can swap those too
anyway these are next

Originally Posted by Mark Jones

Great post Steve. 300B testing is going to be my next project once I receive my big Tannoy's and my Allnic DHT's. Hmmm which 300's do I order first. Fun times ahead.

i say go for the sophia royal princess and dont look back.lol. buti have heard the emission lab with the allnic t1500 and it was really nice!!! they are so big the glass covers dont fit back over them. and they boost the power rating of the amp. but these sophias omg are they good. you would be instantly impressd even with these mesh plates. now they also have the carbon plates i may try first .around the same money. and supposedly a very different sound as well.
stay tuned for more tests. i love switching these big tubes in and out. of all the tubes on all the amps ive switched in my life the 300b make the biggest difference when you roll tubes.

I should stay away from this thread

Originally Posted by BlueMcIntosh

I should stay away from this thread

Resistance is futile!


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Originally Posted by BlueMcIntosh

I should stay away from this thread

come to the dark side paul!!!

Those Sophia 6SL7's are very nice Steve. Maybe I should look into their 300b integrated. I would probably need to buy different speakers.

Originally Posted by Mike

I just got them back working again and sounding better than ever.

You'll have a pair of Allnic 300b's to try in no time.

Paul, you should really take advantage of having Mark right there and listen to the 300b amps. They would sound great with the type of music you listen to. When you think you need the power to play some of that big classical music just switch over to the 601's. Why not?

i think i did enough hours on the tubes i been testing to put up a pretty fair assessment of them. since im using a different amp now and cant go back and retest the previous 300b's because i no longer have them. the new amp came with electro harmonics the regular stock and i also have another pair of electro harmonic gold here as well. i ran the amp in very briefly and it is not fully broke in yet, but i had to give back 1 pair of tubes so i had to rush this test.
emission labs 300b xls these are exceptional tubes , the pair i was using had several hundred hours on them im sure. so far these are the best 300b tubes ive tested up to this point. the added power makes my amp a beast that can run my just 90db speakers like a champ. the bass is thick and rich and deep, and the mids are smooth yet not overly silky like some of the 300b's i used previously were. the highs are endless and full, with no distortion even when pushed further than 12.5w into 90db speakers should be pushed.
drawbacks are the tubes are so big that the tube covers do no fit over them, and the covers make the amp look way cooler.lol. i know a little vain, but it is a fact.
and the bass being so deep can get a little muddy on some recordings. but overall this is one badass pair of tubes. best price i could find online was $742. are they twice as good as the sophia princess mesh plates as the price is near double? no, but they are a better all around tube, and worth the extra cash, and they up my amps rating from 12.5wpc to 15wpc.
KR audio 300b xls these are brand new and burned in for bout 50-60 hours on my loaner amp , and just put these in my new amp and ran through my test songs. these are very very similar to the eml's only difference i could really hear is the bass is just not quite as deep as the eml's but it was also tighter without ever getting muddy. i think its better than the eml's in that dept. for overall sound and makes for a cleaner presentation and better soundstage. now the difference is very slight and i heard no difference at all until i pushed the amps hard . also the mids seemed to just sparkle a little more with the KR's.
they are so close i cannot make a clear winner here. and im sure the KR's are not fully burned in yet. so i will listen for any future changes. these i could find a best price online of $815.

i decided to keep the KR's and give back the eml's. first off the KR's are new an i get to put all the hours on them. or buy new full priced eml's. second the tighter bass and better soundstage and a hair better overall presentation was more what i wanted . third they are a little smaller than the eml's and fit under the cool allnic covers, without sacrificing the added power of the xls. and fourth, my guy is a KR dealer and id get these at a better price than the eml's even though listed at a little more $ than the eml's.
KR won this battle to my ears but not by much at all and either tube is a winner.

test songs for both tubes.
peter gabriel-solsbury hill
ella and louis - cheek to cheek
cowboy junkies- postcard blues
dr. john- such a night
dave brubeck- three to get ready
joni mitchell- a case of you
allison krauss- lie awake
the band-the whole first side of music from big pink.

just for the record everytime i went up in price of the 300b's there was a quality jump as well. not all things are that way in this hobby, and im glad its there with these tubes.
if you read all this thanks.

I read it so your welcome.

However your test result may vary if you using them on high efficiency speakers though. I found the Emission Labs can be little harsh on my speakers. Again YMMV

Not harsh Paul, just not Shindo slush!!!

Originally Posted by Mark Jones

Not harsh Paul, just not Shindo slush!!!

Originally Posted by mark jones

not harsh paul, just not shindo slush!!!

Shindo rules ~!!!!

Mike I need to change my user name to GreenShindo !

Originally Posted by sharkmouth

Steve, great thread, just read it in it's entirety. I gotta sell some gear & get me some tubes after reading this. Tubes & digital, hoooaaaaa!

kev looking at your avatar reminded me, i listened to kronzilla a couple times now. first was with allnic dac and was really great . second was with lampi dac and was a bass buzzy mess, and then switched to vinyl and the buzzy bass was gone and sounded great. weak part is definitely the not so perfect bass. strong point is the unbelievable air , soundstage and imaging. but better pair it with the right source.

Originally Posted by Mark Jones

Not harsh Paul, just not Shindo slush!!!

lol!!!

Originally Posted by GreenShindo

Originally Posted by mark jones

not harsh paul, just not shindo slush!!!

Shindo rules ~!!!!

Mike I need to change my user name to GreenShindo !

If you wish it it will come. Welcome Green Shindo

Nice write up Steve. Congrats on the new amp and the new tubes. I do agree that being able to have the covers over the tubes looks way cooler! Now you can enjoy some good tunes for a while and know you have the best of tubes in there. At least until you can bring in a pair of Royal Princess or the Psvane WE 300b replica.

So good to see you Dan

Originally Posted by Petro85

...

just for the record everytime i went up in price of the 300b's there was a quality jump as well. not all things are that way in this hobby, and im glad its there with these tubes.
if you read all this thanks.

Read with great interest, Steve, thank you for sharing.. We need to get together one day for some listening sessions...