Over my past one months amp modification stunt, i had by mistake shorted the filament with the ground. This caused fire works at my home like some welding is going on in my room. I switched-off the amp in 10 sec and discovered the shorts. After i wired them correctly and re-connected the Shuguang 300B-98 which was now thoroughly abused. To my surprise the 300B worked well without showing any signs of fatigue. But until recently the right channel 300B-98 starts giving up after an hour or so of playback and shuts down. This calls for a new set of 300Bs and hence the post.
Buying a new set of 300Bs is not different from buying a ladies handbag. There are around 12 to 15 different brands to choose from and each claiming to be similar to the original Western Electric WE300B (i dont know what that mean either). There are solid graphite, carbon plates, mesh plates, gold grids and all at a different price point making the choice even more confusing. also there are couple of 300B tube comparisons made in stereophile.com, enjoy the music, tube store and so on. Reading all this makes it more confusion and leaves with you with far less choice. Since i have been now using the Shuguang tube for almost 5 years now, i may try something different. Mesh plates from EML would have been the first choice but they are far too expensive for my budget. The original WE300B was easy to let go for the same reason which retails 1000+$. The Psvanes have a crude form of mesh plates and fits my budget, but again Chinese reliability is keeping me away from them. Left with few more choice of TJ full music mesh plate (a 100+$ expensive than Psvane), JJ Tesla, Electro Harmnix gold grid. KR 300B also would be a good choice but there were some issues in grid shorting etc. Ganelex PX300B is a tough contender and is in my wish list too.
No matter which 300B you finally purchase, it has to match well with my amplifier which has undergone many modifications. Hence reading reviews of them makes far less sense. IMO all 300B tubes will have its signature and there will be some pros and cons with all of them. Hence what fits your budget makes the choice more easy than reading countless reviews about them. I often find most reviews to be baised.
FMs who have exposure to various 300B sonic signature are welcome to pitch in with their opinion.
Buying a new set of 300Bs is not different from buying a ladies handbag. There are around 12 to 15 different brands to choose from and each claiming to be similar to the original Western Electric WE300B (i dont know what that mean either). There are solid graphite, carbon plates, mesh plates, gold grids and all at a different price point making the choice even more confusing. also there are couple of 300B tube comparisons made in stereophile.com, enjoy the music, tube store and so on. Reading all this makes it more confusion and leaves with you with far less choice. Since i have been now using the Shuguang tube for almost 5 years now, i may try something different. Mesh plates from EML would have been the first choice but they are far too expensive for my budget. The original WE300B was easy to let go for the same reason which retails 1000+$. The Psvanes have a crude form of mesh plates and fits my budget, but again Chinese reliability is keeping me away from them. Left with few more choice of TJ full music mesh plate (a 100+$ expensive than Psvane), JJ Tesla, Electro Harmnix gold grid. KR 300B also would be a good choice but there were some issues in grid shorting etc. Ganelex PX300B is a tough contender and is in my wish list too.
No matter which 300B you finally purchase, it has to match well with my amplifier which has undergone many modifications. Hence reading reviews of them makes far less sense. IMO all 300B tubes will have its signature and there will be some pros and cons with all of them. Hence what fits your budget makes the choice more easy than reading countless reviews about them. I often find most reviews to be baised.
FMs who have exposure to various 300B sonic signature are welcome to pitch in with their opinion.