Psvane 300-B Tubes ? ? ?


Does anyone out there have any experience with Psvane 300-B MKII or their WE300-B Replica tubes ?  

I found the best sound from initially the Sophia Princess mesh-plate 300-B's, then their Royal Princess 300-B's however I'm definitely NOT happy with their reliability, especially the Royal Princess !  
I had a mesh-plate from new have a glowing spot on the mesh-plate, and they told me it was from sitting on the shelf for over a year !  REALLY ! ? ! ?  And I had two Royal Princess tubes go out with less than 600-hours on them, unfortunately well-past 1-yr. warranty.  Left a bad taste...  I'm NOT going back...  
I've tried EH gold-grid 300-B's, Gold-Lion's, JJ's...  All sound somewhat different but the Sophias sounded the best, however in my experience, reliability is questionable...  Thanks...  John  
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Showing 4 responses by 1markr

A little late to the game hear, but I was looking more into these Psvane WE300b tubes mentioned on this thread, and interestingly enough, I found that there is a newer, recently updated version of these tubes, now known as the Psvane WE300b-PLUS version. Anyone know anything about these???

I really like my EML 300b-XLS in the Coincident Frank mkIIs, but I would love to have a touch more midrange naturalness and bloom without losing the soundstage, detail, and dynamics of the EML. I really like the Sophia Carbon Princess' midrange, but it really lacks the soundstage depth of the EML. Besides the uber $$ Taks, Elrogs, etc. what other options are there out there, and yes, reliability is important?
@charles1dad I should state that I really like my EML 300b-xls in the Franks as well, and I have no qualms about them whatsoever!  But there are those damned OCD audiophile thoughts in my brain wondering if tube x might be just a touch better than tube y, and if so, by how much really!  Unfortunately the costs of these upper tier 300bs doesn't allow for a whole lot of experimentation, thus my interest to hear others' opinions of these Psvanes. And to top it off, the new prod true WEs are coming out in fall (no, I haven't heard any of the WEs).

I just have the Franks now, and VERY happy with the music they output for me; The Art Audio amps (I've had three different kinds over the years) have been part of systems that have been retired.  All that knowledge from systems past have been put into my current system, and loving every minute of it! 
Will do @charles1dad ! I may just grab them on the used market if /when they show up...  we’ll see! Or maybe I will just be happy with the EML and grab a Canon 24-70 mkII lens that I have been lusting after instead, lol! Oh wait, that’s a different obsession, I mean hobby!

Cheers! Mark
@charles1dad , @hddg and anyone else who is interested.... hope this summary helps.  Reach out to me if you have any questions!

I was fortunate enough to be able to pick up a lightly used pair of the Psvane WE300b replica tubes. I don't think they have more than 100 hours on them when I got them, and I prob put another 50 on them? Maybe?

Initial impressions are highly favorable! Keep in mind this is a direct comparison to the EML 300b-xls which are my "go-to" on my Coincident Frank mkIIs.

First the spoiler: Neither the EMLs nor the Psvane are substantially better than the other, just a little different from each other, and this is in the context of my system, fwiw.  Both are excellent, both are worth their $$ which are more or less in the same ballpark. For me, at this time, I am now leaning a little more to the Psvane voicing over the EMLs in my amps.

On to the details: The tubes are very similar in terms of speed, soundstage size (in all directions, honestly), transient response / dynamics, noise (or to put it better, lack of noise), and PRAT; I highly doubt I'd be able to pick the tube based on these criteria in a blind test.

The biggest difference I hear is that the Psvane is slightly warmer than the EML, and midrange tones and voices appear to have just a little more of a 3D presence, and fullness to them, with less stridency. @hddg is spot on above with the midrange quality of the Psvane!  

The EML wins slightly on detail, though the Psvane is no slouch by any means.  The bass on the EML is tighter, more detailed as well, while the Psvane is again, a bit rounder, but still fast and certainly acceptable. The highs are not terribly different either, but maybe the slight edge goes to the EML. Too close to really tell. Both tubes present an airy soundstage and highs, but I think the Psvane layers the soundstage a little better, and little more naturally than the EML.

There is no right or wrong answer here.  Both are great tubes, both have great instrumental and vocal tonality, and depending on your system, one can certainly be a slightly better match than the other. I have never heard a true WE 300b tube, but man, they gotta be really, really good based on what I hear from this replica, which I am sure is only what, 80%, 85%, of a true WE? More? Less? I dunno, but I am happy with both tubes, but I am especially pleased with the Psvane WE300b replica, and they have been promoted as my "go-to" power tubes on the Frank mkII monoblocks.