101D Triodes

@bradf I also have Coincident Statement, I've used Shuguang, low level Psvane, Psvane WE, Linlai elite solid and mesh plates. I had failures with both Linlai, one failure on the Psvane WE. The cheap Shuguang  is only 101 with no failures, problem with both low level Shuguang and Psavane is appreciably lower resolution/transparency. Reliability can be problematic with both Psvane and Linlai premium tubes. Grant Fidelity gave up on stocking any 101 as too many failures. Damage via shipping is a major issue with these tubes, can't handle rough treatment. Many of these tubes fail nearly immediately,others don't make it much past 100 hours.

At one point I contacted Israel in regard to constant tube failures, he advised changing out heater resistors. My stock heater resistor values were .22uf, can't recall voltage rating. these ceramic resistors looked like cheap Chinese crap with excessive tolerance ratings. I replaced these with Ohmite .33uf 12v 1% tolerance, now have well over 300 hours on PSvane WE101, so either I'm lucky with getting the rare reliable premium 101, or change of resistors solved the issue. I'd expect since yours are MKIII versions this new value resistors would be installed. I'd check yours for value, voltage rating and tolerance. Replace them with the exact same Ohmite I'm using.. Resistors are located in signal chassis, not power supply chassis, two large white resistors towards the rear end of chassis.

Hey Brad, here is part, https://partsconnexion.com/ohmite-resistor-0r33-0-33r-ohm-12w-ag12-series-1-tolerance/ .33uf 12v 1% tolerance

Let me know on 300B mod, I seem to have slightly recall of asking about this, if I remember correctly he wasn't recommending, too much work and expense. I may be incorrect on this.

In looking back on my emails with Israel, replaced resistors back in mid 2022, so hours on tubes without any failures has to be in multi hundreds.

Israel ended production of 101d tube version for exactly the reason of masses of unreliable quality 101 tubes, this he directly stated to me. He also mentioned quality of these tubes went down over the years, earlier production dates more reliable.

Somewhat common knowledge Grant Fidelity dropped Linlai due to reliability issues, way too many returns. Proof of this, you can still find Eltite version 101 for sale from Asian sellers. I don't even care about loss of the Linlai, didn't like the mesh plates, hard mids, relatively opaque, Israel agreed with me as to their sound signature. The solid plates better, too intimate and closed in for me. Most agree with me Psvane WE best, transparent, extended, spacious, love the Statement with these tubes. As for reliable 101, sound relatively crap, I have bunches of the white base Psvane Israel sold to me for pennies on the dollar, crap sound don't even care, one pair of Shuguangs, these have many hundreds of hours, been knocked around, just keep on ticking, problem sound like crap. Crap is relative to premium 101, they don't really sound like crap, they're nice enough just sort of blah, low resolution/transparency, using these in Statement is too great a handicap.

So, if I'm understanding you correctly you had failure of Psvane WE AFTER upgrading those heater resistors? I'd bet on those being crap generic as well, his suggestion of what to use didn't specify brand. I specifically researched this type of resistor discovered Ohemite brand being quality, and I upped the voltage rating, can't recall exact voltage he suggested, upping voltage rating may help stability of resistor since it may run less hot. I also went for 1% tolerance vs what I believe was 5% on the generics. My sense on all this is he changed out resistor values in order to less stress heaters, he's running them hard in order to get specific sound quality, likely near their limit, why they're failing. If this true I want these resistors to have minimal wandering from stated value, 1% tolerance and higher voltage rating, so in theory more heat dissipation and tighter tolerance means a more stable resistor which insures a more stable heater supply which may be helpful for tubes run right at the edge of their reliability envelope. My take on parts in audio components is always go with best quality, saving pennies may go for mass production but it may come back to bite you. Now I'm not going to blame Israel for this situation, I point my finger towards the tube manufacturers who've done nothing in regard to producing a reliable 101 tube. These 101 tubes very rarely used in audio components, therefore peanut sized production runs, not big deal for them, make their money on other mass production tubes. So best we can do is do what I did with those heater resistors,, hope you get lucky with Psvane WE or use more rugged crap. By the way, I don't know that I'd trust those Sophias, I've so many stories of Sophia failures with all manner of tubes, very likely they're  Linlai produced. TJ Fullmusic another  relabeled tube purveyor. You have to realize Chinese tubes are a mind field, they do make some quality tubes, also a crap load of junk. In general I'd say Shuguang and Psvane are decent to good, Linlai I don't trust, the rest I trust less than them.

My own thoughts on keeping this pre. Last year I purchased Pass XP-22 as possible replacement for Statement, no go, Statement sound quality superior in nearly every way. If I go replacement route again it will be DHT only, 300B, Aric Audio, Vinnie Rossi are a couple I recall at the moment. There a few others I'm not recalling at the moment, in any case it will be small manufacturer with long term presence. Next is expecting the worse and hoping for the best in regard to 101 tubes, this means keeping Statement and hoping you get lucky with reliable qualiity WE, or my resistor mod has fixed the issue, or get a stash of WE for spares for when one fails, or raise the uf on heater resistors a bit more than the 33uf on my Ohmite mod. Finally we could hope for a miracle that the Chinese produce a reliable quality 101.

I doubt very much mod is simple, 300B vs 101 tubes have very different operating parameters.

I do have personal experience with TJ Full Music 845 tubes, one blew at about 100 hours, never again.

There is one other option for 101 tubes, there are vintage 101 tubes such as Western Electric, if one is lucky could find NOS. Pricey but not out of this world, also need tube socket adapter as pins are all one size vs two of each size on modern 100. Don't know about specs, meaning don't know if they can handle Statement plate or heater voltages. I've long been curious about this as vintage tubes generally built with longevity and durability in mind. Ask Israel about this, I can never get a straight answer from him about this, I suggest you let him know you're fed up with the whole tube situation, perhaps he can come up with some solution. Its possible he could give some accommodation on 300B Statement for those with the 101 based Statements, especially for those he sold in recent years when he understood bad situation with 101 tubes. Without quality 101 tubes we are left with preamps that don't perform as intended. Furthermore I've spent good money with many updates on my pre, capacitors, resistors, Amtrans rotary selectors for upgraded TVC's, been through at least $3k in bad tubes. One more blown tube and I'll probably be looking at a new pre, for sure 300B based, only DHT pre and amps for me. I've had such good luck since Ohmite resistors tube failures kind of left my mind, your failure with new value pieces has me on edge again.

I'd say it appears the new value resistors you installed may have helped extend life of tubes, prior to installation of new value I  fried a number of tubes at just around 100 hour mark, doubt I ever came close to 500 hours on any of the premium tubes. Could be just a bit more control of variances with the tighter tolerance Ohmites could make all the difference, or not?