YES, call me price-biased, but it was also soundwise a clear decision for me
I’m still waiting for my CryoTone 300b’s, but it takes them ages (over 2 months) to produce. I paid for the pair €1.200
The Meishu Silver Signature comes with the AN 4300E (PSVANE custom) tubes (standard version with PSVANE 300b) , which you can buy only through Audio Note
My Sophie Electra Princess Carbon 300b and my Western Electric 300B (after 1998 production) did have one bad tube
Had the WE300b in my Airtight before, it is closer to AN4300E and Takatsuki, but was never my favorite 300b!
I’ve created a YT-video on my test, but German-only
one very transparent & neutral (some call it analytic) with Soulution 725 Pre + HighPower Class A/Linnenberg G.F. Händel, 88dB sensitivity speaker
the other chain, with Meishu 300b and high-sensitivity speaker the play as I call it more on the “musical” and “warmer” side, but still very detailed & precise. In this chain vocals or Jazz is more “lively” (also room is completely different!)
I have the non-Mo version of the elrog and I think it’s solid. Would love to try the Mo but I’m not sure I could stomach paying that much for tubes (unless I find a good used pair).
My new amp will no longer use 300B when it gets here ill be torn about keeping the Mo (since theyre hard to get) or selling them because money always seems better.
This is a pretty great comparison.
How long did you give the tubes to “burn in”, I don’t have any 300B’s in my system at the moment, but I know with the PSVane and LinLai 2A3 tubes they took forever to really settle in, the Elrogs (I only have his 845’s) changed a lot less, and it might be interesting to capture than aspect of the tubes.
I assume you’re not going to splash out on the TM variant Elrogs with the Thoriated Tungsten filaments
Im not against spending on tubes but at those price ranges it gets harder to imagine the purchase of them. Once every other potential feasible upgrade within my system has been accommodated I may consider tubes within that price range. Same reason why I havent done anything with fuses yet either and consider them something to do at the very end. Items that are considered on the higher end of disposable require more thought for me.
If were to get into this price range Id likely always have to consider replacement funds for them in my audio budget going forward. Thankfully most higher end 2a3s aren’t quite up there in the price range, even monoplates.
If these tubes had longer than a 1 year warranty Id be more likely to try/buy sooner. I think the WE remake had a longer warranty but suffered from “fine print” issues with enforcing it.
Finally received my Crytone 300B’s, 3 weeks ago and I’m really suprised!! Anyone living in the US: TRY OUT CryoTone tubes, also bought several others and I’m very impressed!
Also tested with my RoTest tube tester and they have very close (matched) parameters (not so many times the case with other brands!!)
Nice to hear you like the Wathen Cryotone tubes! I recently bought a tube from Wathen Cryotone and enjoy it. What kind sound does it give to your system? I only tried the rectifier tube, but it made my system a little more “brighter” to me.
Very good details/smoothness, not too much colorization as some cheaper 300b’s and also bass quiet good, also dead silent. They are close to the very musical Takatsuki’s.
Elrog TM is basically an ER x2. Very similar profile, if you’ve heard the ER and liked it you’ll probably like the TM. It’s simply more of everything and a direct step up from the ER.
If you haven’t heard the ER it’s a meaty sounding tube with a slight mid bass emphasis, and crispy highs. It can get a bit congested and bloated at times (even before hearing the TM), but it’s overall a solid and more balanced tube than something like a WE.
But, having said that, the TM is still a completely different experience. The way it hangs onto the notes just a tad makes it sound intoxicating. The way it handles staging and portrays air adds a sense of realism and ambience. The TM is both deliciously weighty yet astonishingly light and agile.
It’s a very impressive tube, and after hearing it I’m not tempted to try any other 300b… Especially considering the price. Although it’s a fitting tube for the Allnic.
Direct from Thomas. I asked about a Mo since you didn’t list yours yet, but he didn’t have any in stock. December was the next batch. Figured I’d just go straight to TM, hesitant as I was, rather than be 300b curious about other brands.
Oh interesting. When i asked about a set semi-recently he seemed to want to vet my equipment very hard and did not want to sell me a set. Maybe he is much more familiar with the Allnic stuff.
And yes i still have and love my Mos, my new amp is a few weeks late so theyre sticking around longer before i sell but still sound fantastic.
He’s had issues with some out of spec amps, that cause early tube failures, so he now only sells to owners of equipment he can verify is in spec.
He won’t sell you a rectifier for a WA33 for example, because one owner had a failure and sent him a video of it arcing, which probably implies the WA33 has a larger than spec capacitor in front of the choke in the PSU.
He’s actually quite easy to deal with if he’s familiar with the equipment.
- ~4-6h hours listening per tube pair
