Western Electric 300a and 300b

For value check sold items @ Hifishark.

They are the same tube spec wise and differ in that one has a guide pin sticking out the side of the bass (my Svetlana 300B’s had such a guide pin).

They would of course need to be tested.

They should be OK to use in most 300B based single ended amps with the exception of a few designed for SUPER 300B type contemporary tubes.

Cary audio made one of these amps and @ least one other manufacturer as well (think the SUPER 300B tubes are now out of production and scarce).

Considering their rarity I would go with an amp that features a soft/slow start feature which will be kinder to the output tubes.

Some amps use a soft start rectifier tube (example - 5ar4) and some use special circuitry to achieve the same end.

DeKay

People ask crazy money for engraved-base 300b’s.  I saw seversl asks of $20k for a pair.  Of course, ask and whst they get can be WAY different.  I heard several push pull and a SET running those tubes (two pairs per channel). 
As crazy as are those prices, 300a’s are even more rare and expensive.  I’ve only seen and touched a pair, I did not hear them.  The dealer and builder of custom amps was collecting them for a customer who need two pairs.

If you really don’t know much about these things, sell them.  Do not use them in any crappy gear; they deserve to be used in really good amps.

Delay,

Would you consider 422a a soft start? Thanks for the response 

Larri 

I can't believe it! I'm into collecting tubes and looking at signals. I haven't listened to these. But yes, I think I will sell them 

Any connections?

Cheers 

Contact Deja Vu Audio in Virginia.  They buy these kind of tubes for use in reconditioned/rebuilt Western Electric amps. 

Not familiar with 422A, but it is described as being indirectly heated (as is the 5ar4).

DeKay

The only difference between the 300A and 300B is the locating pin, which is not used by any modern amp. I believe the 300A was only made by Western Electric for one or two years, then replaced by the 300B.

I would check the provenance of any tube claiming Western Electric heritage very carefully. WE never made that many, and very few were sold to the public. (WE didn’t sell equipment, they leased it to theater owners.) No amplifier maker in the Fifties, Sixties, or Seventies manufactured amplifiers using 300B’s.

Modern reproductions look very close to historic 300 series tubes. Be cautious.