Elrog 300B vs Takatsuki 300B tubes

I have been a silent observer of this thread. After hearing all the pros and cons of the Elrogs I contacted George Lenz and purchased a pair.

Like many of you I own the Coincident Frank II's which are just superb amps. Can't believe how quiet they are and how cool they run. What a difference from my Joules!

At any rate I wholeheartedly agree with Charles that the Elrogs are something special. Unfortunately after about 100-150 hours one of them crapped out. George told me that these were the new improved versions suitable for the voltage levels of the Franks but apparently that was not the case with mine.

George was very gracious about returning them and currently I am waiting patiently for a replacement pair. They are supposed to be shipped to George on 11/23 so hopefully I will have them soon.

Hopefully the replace to pair will be more robust. They sure make listening to music a joy. Just not the same without them in the system.

Charles,

The Joules are a different kind of beast altogether. They produce voluminous amounts of heat given that they use the Russian 6c33b power tube and many of them at a time. You could literally roast weenies on top of that amp! LOL

They also have many other smaller tubes in the amp and require a variac and constant maintenance to keep the bias adjustments correct. Try to get service on them now. It is very difficult. BUT I'm not here to bash Joule because in the end those amps produce some beautiful music.

However with that being said, the Franks are just such a beautifully simple design. They are so darn quiet and run so cool for having a 300b in the mix. Of course it goes without saying that they create the most pleasant of sonic pictures. I have never been happier with a pair of amps!

Yes, my speakers are very efficient at 92dB but more than that they produce basically a flat impedance curve from top to bottom. They are the Audio Kinesis Zephrins designed and produced by Duke LeJeune. Duke is a joy to work with and together we plotted out the type of wiring I wanted in the speakers as well as exactly what compression driver would sound best. It was fun to have input into the process and the result has been outstanding.

As far as the Elrogs go, in talking with George very few of the latest Elrogs going into Franks have failed. He stated that aside from mine there had only been one other. Actually one of the tubes was just fine but George wanted both back so that he could replace them with a matched pair. George provides nothing but first class service and I'm hoping that this even newer set will result in many hours of happy listening because that tube is truly extraordinary.

Scifi

Charles,

For sure let's hope that the new and improved Elrogs produce outstanding music for many many hours!!

I see that you have the matching Coincident Line Stage preamp. What can you tell me about it. If it is anything like the Franks it must be outstanding.

I am currently running an Allnic L3000 which is pretty darn good in its own right but I'm very tempted to sell it and purchase the Coincident. Your thoughts!

Thanks,

Scifi

Charles,

I haven't had my Franks as long as you have but have never experienced any other tube failures with them other than one of my Elrogs. I have used the stock Shuguang Black Treasures (briefly) as well as VAIC VV300b which were manufactured in the 90s when KR and VAIC were one company. 

When I asked Israel about using different brands of 300b tubes he did tell me to stay away from Sophia Royal Princess as they couldn't handle the voltage levels of the Franks.  It appears that the Franks create higher voltage levels than other 300b amps...this was alluded to by WJT2005 but in a slightly different context than I think Israel meant it with his comments about suitable 300b choices. 

Others he mentioned as being ok were the Taks which he spoke very highly of, Elrogs only the newer ones that have been rebuilt to handle the higher voltages, older KRs but not ones made within the last 5 years, EML XLS which he really liked but not their mesh plates which were prone to microphonics. 

Hope this his helps with the discussion about reliability. 


From on my own experience these amps are by far the quietest tube amps I have ever owned and I have owned a bunch. I can't believe that even with my ear right up to the compression drivers on my speakers there is virtually no noise. Now that's really unprecedented in my experience with tube amps. 

Scifi

Charles,

i forgot to add that I'm really enjoying the Franks very much. They make listening to music such a pleasurable experience. I find myself more engaged in the listening process with these amps than any other I've ever owned and I've been into audio since 1969!  Damn I'm old!  

Scifi

Charles,

Wow, I'm really sorry to hear that one of your Elrogs has gone bad. It sounds like a repeat performance of what happened to me. 

Perhaps there is some hope on the horizon in that a "new batch" should be to George any day now..... Well I hope anyday now since shipment was to be made two weeks ago. He told me that these were supposed to be even better than the batch from which mine and perhaps yours came from. 

Since yours are within the one year warranty period they will undoubtedly be replaced with some others. I guess you can choose to use them and roll the dice once again or just resell them "as new".  

How do the Taks compare to the EMLs?  

Hang my in there my friend,

Scifi

Charles 

Since you have done the research on these resistors where did you locate them online??

Tom

Parkie

contact Marc at trueaudiophile.com. They are located on the west coast in Oregon or Washington State. 

I I purchased a pair of Taks from him last fall and they shipped the same day. 

Great customer service for sure!!

Scifi