300B king of tubes?

Get a matched pair of WE new production 300B's at @ $450-495 NIB off ebay or here. The KR's are Nordost-like sterile in harmonics in upper mids, disproportionately load energy at the transient, and have a more void-like space around players. The WE's are rugged with 40,000 hour tube life. Its a no-brainer. If you do this, however, you should also consider at some point maximizing your input tube performance (for the harmonics) and have good AC (for dynamics), or you won't hear it all the We can offer.

Stereophile did a review a couple of years ago and the WEs came out on top. They are pricey, but I got WEs and will replace these with WEs. My $0.02, Jim.

I am frankly amazed that this thread is not overwhelming pro TJ, Full Music, Sophia, etc. globe mesh plates. I never liked any 300B until these tubes. I find them open, dynamic, very detailed, and with excellent bass. My only question has been whether there are sonic differences among these tubes that are all from the same factory. I have not had the opportunity to assess this. Has anyone done this comparison?

Enjoy The Music (www.enjoythemusic.com) has a review of all major brands of 300B tubes in their archives. They pronounced the TJ Meshplates as the best 300B. The Westerns were second, I believe. You can pick them up new for $350. a pair. That said, I had them in an amplifier and wasn't impressed. Don't know if it was the tubes or the amp. I didn't have it long enough to find out.

I have tried other brands of 300's in my Audio Note amps and found the WE to be much better in every regard. Yes they are expensive but worth every dime.

It is important to ensure that your 300b amp has a more than adequate transformer so you get good bass. Also, the matching of the amp to the speaker is important. A 2A3 tube amp might be better but they are typically very low powered.
Carl

I've tried the Valve Arts, JJ's, KR these tubes have their own strength and weakness. But these are only pieces of the
puzzle. But the WE are the complete picture. From high to low, pace and rhythm, ease, musicality to cut it short it's
a complete tube. But the newer production has an edgy and
hard sound compared to the older ones. Specially the the one
from the 1940's, 50's.

The cost difference is not in just the sound. With an approximately 40,000 hrs of usable service in the tube it is actually less expensive than others.

People are paying US$1000 for a single NOS WE300B and they are not stupid!

Ryllau- I have the 805c amps. I replaced the Kron with the WE and found a subtle but clearly audible increase in sweetness and delicacy. The Kron is a very good tube in terms of frequency extension, but it does have a rather direct presentation in comparison to the WE. Is it worth the cost difference? That's obviously dependent upon the level of the rest of your system and your personal preference. In my case, I found it worth the cost of a slightly used pair of WE to find out. I'm glad I did. Good luck.