my 300b tests
- Thread starter Petro85
- Start date
dlb2
New member
That's a beautiful tube Steve. Better straight out of the box than the others? Looks like there will be a delivery back at "Mike's Tubes" soon. Unfortunately the next step are the Royal Princess series and $$$$. Let us know how they sound with some more hours on them.
And what about this "new phono stage" you speak of? I don't see a thread on that yet. I'm very curious about the h1201.
And what about this "new phono stage" you speak of? I don't see a thread on that yet. I'm very curious about the h1201.
dlb2
New member
Looks great Steve!
- Thread Author
- #25
sounds great doug!!!! :audiophile:
well after a couple weeks of breaking these sophias in i now know the sophias princess mesh plates are the best 300b ive had in these amps. from top to bottom better than the previous pairs i have wrote about in this thread. the bass is deeper and better than the others. the highs are airy and flowing, the mids are as expected from 300b's ,beautiful and smooth. there is not a whole lot left to say than they are just the best ones. straight out of the box i knew it, but they just kept getting better and better.
at first i noticed they needed way longer to warm up and sound their best, than the others ever did. but that has changed now, and they are great even on cold amps. guess that was part of the breaking in process.
are these my final pair of 300b's?? they could easily be but i have a pair of emission lab 300b xls v4's that someone is lending me to try out. and oh boy are they huge !!! and if these sophias are that good i can only imagine how good the royal princess would be , i might have to come up with $1200 to find out. im real busy the next few months, so my tests are on hold for awhile anyway. but there might be more to add to this later .
dlb2
New member
I'm glad you found a set that aren't too expensive to keep buying. It's great when you can hear a big difference between tubes instead of a little different here and a little different there. And those mesh plates look sweet! Save your pennies for the Royal Princesses. Don't you have a bunch of Telefunken 12AX7's that you could sell to raise some cash for the RP's? Oh wait, not anymore! :woot:
dlb2
New member
Careful Mike, Steve might start charging for that burn-in service.
He may! It's fair to say it was a win-win.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
Paul
Senior Member
I have to try some 300B amps for my Tannoy...Hmmmmm.....Mike I will be HAPPY to review your Cary amp for you if you wish 
I have to try some 300B amps for my Tannoy...Hmmmmm.....Mike I will be to review your Cary amp for you if you wish
I just got them back working again and sounding better than ever.
You'll have a pair of Allnic 300b's to try in no time.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
Mark Jones
New member
Great post Steve. 300B testing is going to be my next project once I receive my big Tannoy's and my Allnic DHT's. Hmmm which 300's do I order first. Fun times ahead.
- Thread Author
- #33
yes mike im real grateful for the chance to hear the lions and the psvanes and it was a fun to break em in and hear how they change.
and i thank you very much , and im glad to see those carys out in the main room again!!
those are my favorite amps in your sig.
nice im glad you are liking the teles. we should set up a tube archive where you list your extra tubes and swap back and fourth. you need a 300b amp so we can swap those too
anyway these are next
i say go for the sophia royal princess and dont look back.lol. buti have heard the emission lab with the allnic t1500 and it was really nice!!! they are so big the glass covers dont fit back over them. and they boost the power rating of the amp. but these sophias omg are they good. you would be instantly impressd even with these mesh plates. now they also have the carbon plates i may try first .around the same money. and supposedly a very different sound as well.
stay tuned for more tests. i love switching these big tubes in and out. of all the tubes on all the amps ive switched in my life the 300b make the biggest difference when you roll tubes.
Paul
Senior Member
I should stay away from this thread anic:
anic:
dlb2
New member
I should stay away from this thread
Resistance is futile!
Sent from the Mitten using Tapatalk
- Thread Author
- #36
dlb2
New member
Those Sophia 6SL7's are very nice Steve. Maybe I should look into their 300b integrated. I would probably need to buy different speakers.
dlb2
New member
Paul, you should really take advantage of having Mark right there and listen to the 300b amps. They would sound great with the type of music you listen to. When you think you need the power to play some of that big classical music just switch over to the 601's. Why not?
- Thread Author
- #39
i think i did enough hours on the tubes i been testing to put up a pretty fair assessment of them. since im using a different amp now and cant go back and retest the previous 300b's because i no longer have them. the new amp came with electro harmonics the regular stock and i also have another pair of electro harmonic gold here as well. i ran the amp in very briefly and it is not fully broke in yet, but i had to give back 1 pair of tubes so i had to rush this test.
emission labs 300b xls these are exceptional tubes , the pair i was using had several hundred hours on them im sure. so far these are the best 300b tubes ive tested up to this point. the added power makes my amp a beast that can run my just 90db speakers like a champ. the bass is thick and rich and deep, and the mids are smooth yet not overly silky like some of the 300b's i used previously were. the highs are endless and full, with no distortion even when pushed further than 12.5w into 90db speakers should be pushed.
drawbacks are the tubes are so big that the tube covers do no fit over them, and the covers make the amp look way cooler.lol. i know a little vain, but it is a fact.
and the bass being so deep can get a little muddy on some recordings. but overall this is one badass pair of tubes. best price i could find online was $742. are they twice as good as the sophia princess mesh plates as the price is near double? no, but they are a better all around tube, and worth the extra cash, and they up my amps rating from 12.5wpc to 15wpc.
KR audio 300b xls these are brand new and burned in for bout 50-60 hours on my loaner amp , and just put these in my new amp and ran through my test songs. these are very very similar to the eml's only difference i could really hear is the bass is just not quite as deep as the eml's but it was also tighter without ever getting muddy. i think its better than the eml's in that dept. for overall sound and makes for a cleaner presentation and better soundstage. now the difference is very slight and i heard no difference at all until i pushed the amps hard . also the mids seemed to just sparkle a little more with the KR's.
they are so close i cannot make a clear winner here. and im sure the KR's are not fully burned in yet. so i will listen for any future changes. these i could find a best price online of $815.
i decided to keep the KR's and give back the eml's. first off the KR's are new an i get to put all the hours on them. or buy new full priced eml's. second the tighter bass and better soundstage and a hair better overall presentation was more what i wanted . third they are a little smaller than the eml's and fit under the cool allnic covers, without sacrificing the added power of the xls. and fourth, my guy is a KR dealer and id get these at a better price than the eml's even though listed at a little more $ than the eml's.
KR won this battle to my ears but not by much at all and either tube is a winner.
test songs for both tubes.
peter gabriel-solsbury hill
ella and louis - cheek to cheek
cowboy junkies- postcard blues
dr. john- such a night
dave brubeck- three to get ready
joni mitchell- a case of you
allison krauss- lie awake
the band-the whole first side of music from big pink.
just for the record everytime i went up in price of the 300b's there was a quality jump as well. not all things are that way in this hobby, and im glad its there with these tubes.
if you read all this thanks.
emission labs 300b xls these are exceptional tubes , the pair i was using had several hundred hours on them im sure. so far these are the best 300b tubes ive tested up to this point. the added power makes my amp a beast that can run my just 90db speakers like a champ. the bass is thick and rich and deep, and the mids are smooth yet not overly silky like some of the 300b's i used previously were. the highs are endless and full, with no distortion even when pushed further than 12.5w into 90db speakers should be pushed.
drawbacks are the tubes are so big that the tube covers do no fit over them, and the covers make the amp look way cooler.lol. i know a little vain, but it is a fact.
and the bass being so deep can get a little muddy on some recordings. but overall this is one badass pair of tubes. best price i could find online was $742. are they twice as good as the sophia princess mesh plates as the price is near double? no, but they are a better all around tube, and worth the extra cash, and they up my amps rating from 12.5wpc to 15wpc.
KR audio 300b xls these are brand new and burned in for bout 50-60 hours on my loaner amp , and just put these in my new amp and ran through my test songs. these are very very similar to the eml's only difference i could really hear is the bass is just not quite as deep as the eml's but it was also tighter without ever getting muddy. i think its better than the eml's in that dept. for overall sound and makes for a cleaner presentation and better soundstage. now the difference is very slight and i heard no difference at all until i pushed the amps hard . also the mids seemed to just sparkle a little more with the KR's.
they are so close i cannot make a clear winner here. and im sure the KR's are not fully burned in yet. so i will listen for any future changes. these i could find a best price online of $815.
i decided to keep the KR's and give back the eml's. first off the KR's are new an i get to put all the hours on them. or buy new full priced eml's. second the tighter bass and better soundstage and a hair better overall presentation was more what i wanted . third they are a little smaller than the eml's and fit under the cool allnic covers, without sacrificing the added power of the xls. and fourth, my guy is a KR dealer and id get these at a better price than the eml's even though listed at a little more $ than the eml's.
KR won this battle to my ears but not by much at all and either tube is a winner.
test songs for both tubes.
peter gabriel-solsbury hill
ella and louis - cheek to cheek
cowboy junkies- postcard blues
dr. john- such a night
dave brubeck- three to get ready
joni mitchell- a case of you
allison krauss- lie awake
the band-the whole first side of music from big pink.
just for the record everytime i went up in price of the 300b's there was a quality jump as well. not all things are that way in this hobby, and im glad its there with these tubes.
if you read all this thanks.
Paul
Senior Member
I read it so your welcome. 
However your test result may vary if you using them on high efficiency speakers though. I found the Emission Labs can be little harsh on my speakers. Again YMMV
However your test result may vary if you using them on high efficiency speakers though. I found the Emission Labs can be little harsh on my speakers. Again YMMV