Western Electric 300B Reissue 2018

[oltmb]

Hello,

I saw that there will be a re-issue of the original famous Western Electric 300B tubes.

http://www.westernelectric.com/products/300b.html

To be available this year. I read somewhere thea a matched pair can be purchased for 1200 US$.

I wonder about the quality of these tubes. Will they have the original manufacturing equipment and know how available to justify this price?

 

[faskenite]

Hello,

I saw that there will be a re-issue of the original famous Western Electric 300B tubes.

http://www.westernelectric.com/products/300b.html

To be available this year. I read somewhere thea a matched pair can be purchased for 1200 US$.

I wonder about the quality of these tubes. Will they have the original manufacturing equipment and know how available to justify this price?

I’ll believe it when I see it.  “Coming soon” announcements of this sort have been made repeatedly about the WE 300B since they last left the market around 2002 or so.  That said, I have a pair of 1998 WE’s that are still just fine.  Excellent tube and worth the price, which I think was about $900 US retail when they were on the market.

 

[Gerry E.]

I'll confirm pretty much everything faskenite wrote above.  Especially the part about "Coming Soon".  The original re-issues were made until at least 2006 (or was it 2008?).  I'm also using a pair from 1998 and they still test like new, 84 and 86 on my TV7 where 58 is the minimum good level - amazing!

With Chinese re-issue versions selling in the $900 - $1200 range, $1200 for these new USA made re-issues would be an excellent price.  Assuming that they have the sound quality and longevity of the original reissues.  I would definitely buy a back-up pair at that price.

Gerry

 

[dth31]

Materials also matter.  Seems that the sound of the WE300B also changed over the years, at least in part due to changes in materials as stocks ran out.  Here is an article from Dagogo that compared the sound of different years/generations of WE300Bs to a reissue 300B. 

Bottom line: the 3 different years of WE300Bs sounded quite different from each other.
https://www.dagogo.com/psvane-we-11-...300b-review/2/

 

[faskenite]

I would also recommend the Emission Labs 300B, currently around $660 a pair for the model that is a drop-in replacement for the WE.  I am running four of them in Manley monoblocks and have been delighted with them.  Very well built and a step up from the Russian tubes they replaced.

 

[Paul Joppa]

This is at least the third time I have heard that they are really going to build some 300Bs, "real soon now". I also read between the lines that no tubes have as yet been produced in the new facility. So I am not making any bets just yet. Don't get me wrong, I hope they do succeed in their admittedly ambitious project!

There have been numerous rumors over the years, but I've never seen any solid evidence for or against the rumors, so I won't repeat any of them.

 

[Gerry E.]

This is at least the third time I have heard that they are really going to build some 300Bs, "real soon now"... There have been numerous rumors over the years, but I've never seen any solid evidence for or against the rumors, so I won't repeat any of them.

Maybe it's wishful thinking but I'm more optimistic this time.  BTW, the currently announced price is $1299/pair.  Since $900 in 1996 equates to approx. $1420 this year, they are pricing them <i>less than</i> the original re-issues.

 

[bombay317]

https://www.elrog.com/ is also a tube rolling 300B alternative for the WE. They are made in Germany and are in full production, so that is beneficial for a few reasons. 1. No exhorbitant WE shipping charge 2. The wait is shorter? 3. They sure ain’t cheaper though.

 

[Gerry E.]

I used both Elrog and 1998 reissue WE 300Bs in my BH Paramounts.  I preferred the Elrog for its slightly "richer" sound (yes, even more than the WE 300B).  However, as many people know, the Elrogs had reliability issues.  My pair lasted only about one year.  While the Elrog reliability issues have supposedly been addressed, I'm not willing to find out for myself.  Therefore, I have a pair of WE 300Bs on pre-order.

Note that WE raised the price of the new reissue 300Bs since my last post to this thread - from $1299 to $1499/pair.  Also, someone quoted a shipping price of $225 to the UK (was that you BB317?).  That's insane and there's no justification for it.  Even if a factory rep hand delivered it to you!   

Gerry   

                 

 

[Paul Birkeland]

The ER300B is also not really a 300B.  It's not too far off, but some circuit adjustments may be required for proper operation.

 

[bombay317]

Gerry, yes, the shipping and handling for a pair is 220$.  If you order two pairs, they charge 440$.  Then you have import taxes and duties which is 20% on top of it, and they also charge 20% on the 440$ shipping.  So two pair would be 4125$, haha.  That is 1127$ in taxes and fees.  I could literally get a plane ticket and fly to the factory and back for that amount.

@Paul, what are the modifications that would be needed?  Do you have a list or is there a thread that talks about it?  Should I start a different thread?

 

[Doc B]

The only way for us to determine what changes need to be made would be for someone to send us a pair to work with.

 

[Paul Joppa]

From the data sheet, the Elrog should work in a stock Kaiju, making about 4.8 watts at 5% second harmonic. The data sheet also indicates that DC filament power is recommended.

As Doc B indicated, we have not tested this, so we cannot make any recommendation based on our own knowledge.

When it first appeared, data was scarce and I made some guesses and estimates, which I posted either here or on the Asylum (can't remember exactly). Now that the data sheet and application note have been published, I recommend you ignore those earlier posts.

 

[bombay317]

If I get some Elrogs I would send them, just let me know where to send them

 

[patm]

I tried Elrog’s twice. Once in the third run from the original company. Again after Thomas Mayer took over and made changes to the production line to improve the quality. The first pair lasted 2 months. The second pair lasted 14 months, an improvment but not cost effective. They are by far the best sounding BY FAR but the failur rate on the filiments has to be improved. I have been using a pair of Emission Labs 300b mesh for the last 10 years (still listen 3 to 6 hours every day), still going strong. The Therated Toungston filiments appear to be the issue both with the great sound and the early demise.

 

[Paul Joppa]

patm, did the filaments break? or did they just lose emission?

I have not seen this mentioned anywhere, but the more heavily thoriated a filament is, the more brittle it becomes. In order to achieve enough emissivity without increasing the filament power, I speculate that the filament of the Elrog is very heavily thoriated. (For example, the 71A has a 0.25-amp oxide filament, while the original 71 had a 1.0 amp thoriated tungsten filament.)

If my speculation is correct, then shipping the tubes would be more risky than other tubes.

 

[bombay317]

I got some tubes and installed them in the Kaiju (which has the DC filament supply).

With the data sheets available, do you have a suggestion on a BeePre modification to be able to use them in there too?