The current production 300B tubes illustrate one basic point: that
competition by manufacturers fuels progress. Let's hope the
competition does not proceed to cut-throat level which will surely
provoke a decline in quality, reversing the trend of product
improvement we have enjoyed.

When I started with the 300B tube several years ago, Chinese and
Cetron were almost the exclusive game. Then we got Sovtek, Svetlana,
Tesla, re-issue WE, VV (defunct), KR, AVVT, and now Tianjin. Not only
that, manufacturers, particularly Chinese ones, have come up with
commendable variations and, more importantly, improvments. The
current state is an embarassment of riches.

No 300B test can have ALL 300Bs. I believe our several articles have
the LARGEST variety of tubes available in any test, and we have tested
the tubes in more amplifiers and configurations. Most of us,
especially me and Andy have lived with a variety of tubes for many
years and have intimate knowledge of our own, as well as each others'
systems. I have not tested the Sovtek this round as a friend
recently destroyed 2 filaments of one of mine and the other is
orphaned (had NEVER happened to me; just don't pull on those things
when hot) but that is an excellent tube for the price. I also had run
a pair of Cetron for a long time many years ago. It was smooth but
lacked some resolution and air and I preferred the Sovtek in the AN
kit one, at that time my only 300B amp.

No test can seriously A/B all tubes in one setup. Indeed it is my
personal belief such A/B test is non-optimal and ultimately not
helpful. I do believe there are no best tubes, and those serious about
sound know things are system dependent. Our tests offer an interesting
variety of amps and operating conditions, and carefully readers will
even note that I repudiated myself from time to time. Such is the
nature of things.

We should be humble in scrutinizing our own opinions. We should be
proud that we enjoy the msuic so much and that we lsiten to such a
large variety of serious music. Indeed it was a joy to have a teenager
bringing his so-so recording (soundwise) of Shostakovich largo to test
out tube gears! And yes it was sometimes a chore to have to wait for
the violin to emerge from Beethoven's long lead-in. But all was
ultimately joy. Yes, the joy was in the music and 300B is the great
messenger, better than most over-rated tubes.

I enjoyed most of the tubes. There's plenty of room for "error" in
the views, but I do believe NO ONE is immune. If I am forced to make a
summary, here it is:

Original WE, Tianjin meshplate, Svetlana
----------------------------------------
These are my absolute favorites. The TJ mesh is surprisingly similar
to the WE. I do not agree with those saying it has a different sound.
As a matter of fact the TJ is closer sounding to NOS WE than the
re-issue WE. The Svetlana has a different sound, with some of the
characters of other tubes, but it is a good boogie tube that keeps the
refinement. I would keep it in this august company and do not regard
it as inferior to TJ mesh, at the same price point too.

Sovtek, Valve Art (both versions), non-mesh Tianjin (ST and globe)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
These are basic tubes with balanced virtues but a somewhat
over-excited top, but used correctly would give a lot of pleasure. The
best starter tubes for the budget minded.

Tesla, KR, AVVT, re-issue WE
----------------------------
These share some interesting characteristics that have NOTHING to do
with the original WE 300B. Our listening favors KR which may be the
best sounding tube in this group, with Tesla last. I have heard good
performance of re-issue WE300B in 1 system, so care is needed. And it
cannot be emphasized enough that run-in is perhaps most important for
this group and evaluation likely to be most erroneous. Problem is,
people will only run in very expensive tubes like re-issue WE...

Cetron
------
Very warm and suitable to lean and over-revealing systems.

Evaluation is not meant to be inflammatory. Your mileage may vary,
even greatly. With due respect, reading Thorsten's and the old TNT
and Stereophile reviews, I agree with many points and disagree with as
many. Your inputs are MOST welcome. You could use our group if you are
registered with Yahoo.

Lastly, we have no ties with ANY company, though some testing was done
at Opera.