Prefered 300B tubes for Canary Amplifiers

Frontier1,
You have a 24W/Ch. PP 300b amp and I have a 25W/Ch. PP 300b integrated amp. A couple of years ago, I was exactly where you are now - trying to upgrade quality (but not the best quality) 300b tubes. IMO, the key factors involved are 1) Your amplifiers operational specifications as they relate to the tubes. This isn’t a matter for opinion, just hard, cold specs. Call the companies involved and find out. 2) Tube quality. I would love to try the Takatsuki’s, but requiring four tubes, they're just too rich for me. I use the Sophia Royal Princesses. They’re a big step up from second tier tubes and well worth the extra money in my application. 3) Personal preference. Buy what sounds good to you regardless of what others say. Good luck.

Phaelon makes good sense, with 4 tubes the cost begins to matter.I use the Takatsuki as gary mention above and it is brilliant. The Sophia Royal Princess is excellent in my SET amplifier and better than the WE 300b reissue tubes I tried.The Sophia RP are a lot less than the Takatsuki. I would definitely consider the EML tubes, they have very good word of mouth reputation.
Regrds,

I have owned both the Canary ca301 mk ii and now the Canary ca339 for many years.
The eh gold grid 300b's made a nice sonic difference over the regular eh 300bs for not significantly more money.
I would try the gold grids before spending stupid money on some of the more expensive 300b tubes.
Additionally, changing out the stock driver and input tubes to some good nos tubes makes a much bigger difference in that amp than anything you would do with 300bs in my opinion.
Change the 12ax7 to a nice telefunken and the 6sn7s to sylvanias or rca's and you have taken that amp to a whole diff. level without touching the 300b's.
Besides, I think that amp was actually designed around eh 300bs.

My amplifier's stock tube was the EH Golden Grid and it is a solid 300b.It in

no way compares to the better tubes mentioned here, not even close.
Stupid money is obviously a personal opinion. The Canary is hardly an
inexpensive amplifier, why not consider a premium tube to get the most
from a worthy design.The 300b have a pretty long life span (my SET is very
easy on these tubes, 25 watt dissipation).It's an individual choice, in my
case there's zero regret. The Takatsuki is indeed worth every cent for the
stunning sound quality it provides. It is truly one of the best audio
purchases I've made.Others are certainly free to agree or disagree. I bet
there're very few who have actually used one of these superb 300b tubes
and and wouldn't do it again in a heartbeat. Sure driver tubes make a
difference but the better 300b tubes can improve your sound very
significantly. To each their own.The Takatsuki, Sophia RP and I'm sure the
EML can honestly transform the performance of a well made 300b .Every
single time I use my amplifier (which quite frequent and for long sessions) I
am rewarded with the sheer beauty and natural presentation the premium
tube yields, how do you put a price on that? That's the entire point of
owning a good 300b amp in the first place.I want the most it has to offer,
well it sure delivers without fail(an understatement).
amplifier.
Regards,

Charles and I are on the same page, and we can only report our own experiences. When I got my Def 2 speakers, I first tried an EL509, then a 45, then a 2a3, and finally a 300b SET. . . the 45 and 2a3 SET with different manufacturer tubes. The differences were modest and often within the range of reproducibility and were totally dwarfed by the improvement using the Takatsuki TA-300b. "Stupid money?" Perhaps. They are expensive - now 2000USD per pair. (I was fortunate to have sourced mine from Japan a year ago; apparently, this is no longer an option.) However, many A'gon members spend more than that on cables, tweaks, etc. Other than price, the only caveat is that the reports and reviews have always been in either an SET or a PSET amplifier; I have not heard from anyone who has used them in a PP configuration. The Sophia Royal Princess are good second choice at about half the price; I would have been happy with them. . . until I heard the Takatsukis.