Title: Re: WE 300b vs CryoTone 300B-WC tubes
Post by Ghostship on 06/16/23 at 15:08:57
Ok, with ~550 hours on the amp, ~250 with the economy tubes plus WE300Bs, and ~300 with the full Cryotone Bundle with Cryotone 300Bs, I have some impressions.
The Sarah 300B sounds great with the economy tubes Decware supplies for ~$600. The amp easily sounds better than amps two times the price.
Swapping in the Western Electric 300Bs with the economy tubes, the amp sounds utterly amazing, now in the three to four times the price category.
The Sarah 300B with the full Cryotone compliment sounds perfect, world-class, end game, easily one-and-done - it's the best I have ever heard, comparable to the Kondo Audio Note Gakuoh II 300B monoblocks I've heard, which are 20x the price.
Comparing the Western Electric 300Bs with the rest Cryotone, against full Cryotone including their 300Bs: the WE300Bs are perfectly clear, transparent, detailed, etc. In short, everything you would expect, except...
when you swap in the Cryotone 300Bs you realize there is more density and clearly more bass response, all the while retaining every other excellent characteristic of the WE300Bs.
It's like looking at a magnificent view thinking it was perfect with the WE300Bs, then with the Cryotones having an immaculately crystal clear window pane removed and now you have the same view but you can feel the breeze on your face, too, like an added level of realism.
On the older solid-state amps I had growing up, there used to be a Loudness button that would give it a boost usually designed for low-volume listening...but I would leave it on all the time because I loved the extra density.
That is the best way I can describe the difference between the WE300Bs and the Cryotone 300Bs...it's the density button.
Certainly, this will all come down to personal taste and system uniqueness, so your mileage may vary.
I strongly recommend the Cryotone bundle for the Sarah SEWE300B. Yes, they are 3x the price of the economy tubes, and worth every penny. Be aware that these tubes are selected by Wathen to go together synergistically...you may not get the full value swapping in one or the other piecemeal...or you might, I have no clue...I don't have the time or the interest in doing a sq test like that...I am far too busy listening to this glorious sound.
And, I have no real interest in buying additional tubes to roll right now, however, I am spending money on additional sets of Cryotones instead, because I want this sound to last forever.
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