Lon, I used a pair of Sophia Electric 2.5 volt 300B’s in my Cary 2A3SE mono blocks for nearly two years, and they created the most enjoyable sound quality I experienced with those amps.  I had the 2A3 monos for around 15 years and used many NOS and modern 2A3 tubes, but the Sophias easily bested them all.  

I’ll also add this; the WE300B’s I’m now using are phenomenal tubes.  My 300B amp came with Genalex Gold Lions and the WE’s make the Gold Lions sound like they are defective.  

I would like to try a pair of Sophias, but I have really over spent the past few years, and I need to take a purchasing break.  My reduced retirement income, along with bad financial decisions the past 40 years, has taken it’s toll on my current purchasing power.

Got the Sophia Electric 300B Classic in blue glass in yesterday.

If only I had an amp to plug them in to! Impressive looking tubes. I now have a full complement of tubes to install in the amp when it arrives. I can rest a bit now. This sort of thing is important to me. . . one of the few ways I'm OCD.

Yes, probably most of us are OCD in some ways about our components.

Will do Tony. I'm hoping this thread will be full of impressions from others as well of the tubes they are using in the 300B amp.

Following in Lon’s footsteps, I picked up a pair of Sophia Electric Classic 300B blue glass tubes at 50% off regular price. This was a demo pair that had around 100 hours of use.  Fortunately, Sue allowed me to have a one year warranty on this perfectly matched Grade A pair for a very small up charge.

The package landed on my front porch late this morning.  I brought them inside, let them come up to room temperature, removed my Western Electrics, and inserted the Sophia’s.  

My main system has been completely shut down for the past two weeks—which is a somewhat complicated and troubling story—so it took a couple of hours for all the components to fully warm up and come into their own again.  

Once the system settled in, I began listening, and boy oh boy, these Sophias are really great tubes.  I am a little surprised at just how good they are, but I shouldn’t be, because I have used a variety of Sophia power, pre, and rectifier tubes across the past decade and a half, and I have never used one that I didn’t absolutely love.  After 8 hours of listening to all kinds of music today, and knowing that these tubes will sound better and better over the coming weeks, I’m ready to say that these Sophias are serious contenders for the best 300B tubes that money can buy.  They are extremely impressive tubes!

I’ll make some direct comparisons to the Western Electrics in the coming days, but day one has shown that the Sophia Classics are the real deal.

Doug said:

Following in Lon’s footsteps, I picked up a pair of Sophia Electric Classic 300B blue glass tubes at 50% off regular price.

Hi  Doug,

I am trying to find out more about how you and Lon were able to make that purchase.  I logged on to the website https://sophiaelectric.com/ and found a form to enquire.  Is that the correct website?  Did you deal with a specific individual?  I have plenty of time, but I was curious.

Thanks

Thanks for the info, Paul.  

So do I have the correct website - is that the one you used?  Did you speak with someone or do it all online?

Tony

At the moment it appears they do not have demo pairs to purchase:

https://sophiaelectric.com/products/sophia-electric-grade-a-classic-300b-tubes

Perhaps Paul got the last pair.

It's possible they will have some in the future--when I ordered mine was the first time I noticed they were offering demo pairs.

I bought mine due to my experience with Sophia Electric and the fact that they are designed to work well with the Aqua 274B which I really do like.

Day 9 Thoughts on Sophia Electric Classic 300B Blue Glass Tubes

In the most general sense, I find the Sophia Classics to produce a more full bodied sound than the Western Electrics. The Sophias have all the detail of the WE’s, but they are richer across the entire frequency range. The Sophias also present a slightly more forward sound stage, which makes them seem, at times, a tiny bit aggressive compared to the WE’s.

The Sophias definitely have a stronger low end than the WE’s, and in my system, on some recordings, it can be a little too much of a good thing.  On many recordings, however, it is a fantastic asset.

The full bodied sound might be characterized as greater density, which I have found to be very welcomed in recordings of singers.  As I type, a recording of Mark Padmore singing Handel arias is playing, and Mark sounds far more like a real person singing down stairs in my listening room than he has with the WE’s.  This is caused by the fullness, the density, the richness that the Sophias bring to the music.  In recordings of sopranos, this is especially apparent.

I also love how the Sophias amplify trumpets, trombones, and cymbals.  Metal bodied instruments just sound more real with the Sophias, and again, this is due to the increased density of the sound.  No one would ever describe the Sophias as sounding thin or weak.

The tendency toward aggressiveness that was mentioned above is likely the main attribute of the Sophias that makes many recordings sound more like live music than those same recordings do with the Western Electrics. But once again, on some recordings this tendency can be too much of a good thing.

By contrast, overall, I hear the WE’s as being incomparably airy, light, fast, highly resolving, and mysteriously beautiful.  And yes, there is without doubt magical and mystical beauty with the WE300B tubes that simply cannot be put into words.  After nine months with the WE’s I can state without hesitation that they have never made any recording sound unpleasant, but on occasion recordings can sound a little light or thin.

The WE’s and the Sophia Classics are each wonderful sounding tubes in their own ways.  I consider myself extremely fortunate to have experienced both.  When it comes to the Decware Sarah, I have a hunch that the Sophias will be counted among the favorite 300B tubes for many.

Out of the box I’d have to say the Wathen Cryotone 300B tubes sound pretty nice. I’ll have to investigate further.


pixels on my screen

I should have my Western Electric 300B’s back at home this coming week, and I can’t wait to re-install them in my amp.  However, I must again state that the Sophia blue glass Classic 300B’s are great music makers.  This is especially true, seeing that they will be serving as back-up tubes to the WE300B’s.

Considering price, warranty, and sound quality, the Western Electrics are the clear winner.  Even though I have been using various Sophia tubes for many years, and have never used one that I didn’t love, I would not have paid a grand for a pair of their Classic 300B’s.  Half price? Yes!  Full price? No.  

Oh, yeah, the beauty of the blue glass is very special!  Like their 274B Aqua……killer looks!

Glad that the tubes are coming back and hope that the analysis and solution is true and that you have smooth sailing going forward.

Your evaluation is not making it easy for me to wait to hear my Sophia Electric Classic 300B blue glass tubes in action!

Mike, if you search the forum you'll see that Steve and Randy evaluated these tubes in the 300B Development thread and compared to a few other tubes (they really liked these) and that C.A. James has used these tubes and reviewed them favorably. There are 20 posts mentioning this tube in the forums.

Yes, I'm a big fan of the Takatsuki 300B. I got mine here for $1700:

https://www.partsconnexion.com/takatsuki-new-vacuum-tubes.html

The consensus is they don't have the "midrange magic" of the WE, but are more transparent and dynamic and linear from the low bass to the high treble.

Right you are, looking at CA James assessment now in fact. I had always used the basic search utility without signing in. The search after logging in, maybe the same as the advanced search is much better.

Happy to help. I'm mostly just passing along the collected wisdom of internet friends who have more 300B tubes than I have socks. They pointed me to the Takatsuki and while I have no regrets everyone has their own taste and in fact the Elrog 300B is more popular than WE and Takatsuki combined with this crew. I've posted this elsewhere but the best comparison I've seen for the 3 premium 300B brands goes like this:

WE = Etta James
Taka = Ella Fitzgerald
Elrog = Whitney Houston

You are going to have some real fun ahead! Keep us posted.

Not being as much a Wathen fan as others I have different tubes waiting for the SEWE300B when it hits here. I'm eager to try the 6N6P that Steve likes and have a really nice pair of those on hand, and I also have great NOS 12AU7 and 6922 types on hand, and am eager to try out the Sophia Electric Aqua 274B and Sophia Electric Classic 300B tubes.

The waiting is the hardest part. Especially when you have all you need to get it lit up! I'll live vicariously through you early owners and your reports.

Quote:


Sure, at one level. But if I'm paying $1000+ for a cone I'm going to make damn sure I'm getting chocolate, not strawberry or vanilla.

What's your preference: midrange magic? Detail and dynamics? or something in between, some of both?

By all accounts the WE is the last word in "300B mystique" so IMO you got it right. For me, I knew I wanted a little less mystique and a little more transparency and linearity so I was steered to the Takatsuki and I'm very happy. Of course I wonder about a WE, but not enough to actually do anything about it.

Wired article on Western Electric:

https://www.wired.com/story/one-mans-quest-to-revive-the-great-american-vacuum-t...

Glenn Fricker is one of the very last people I would take the advice of when it comes to the sound quality differences of tubes. The simple fact that he's been a metal/hard rock musician for decades makes me wonder if he has any hearing left to perform critical listening. And the fact that he seems more intent on being a naysayer and vocally controversial in the metal production business, rather than an authority in tube amplification in audiophile systems.

Even if he was correct (and that's a huge "if") about tubes' ability to alter sound quality in guitar amplification...what the hell does that have to do with my stereo system? Nothing. Are we to believe that all of the tube rollers in the world are wrong, but only he is correct?

Anyone planning to use the Elrog ER-300B for their Sarah? Does the amp come with the promised 10% off WE coupon? How about Emission Labs? Inquiring minds want to know. I will say though, both the Wathen & WE 300B tubes will be tough to beat. IMHO Ralph

I think if you order the amp with tubes from Steve you get the coupon for the WE tubes. I'm not sure if you order the amp without tubes that you will get the coupon.

Gosh no Will. It crossed my mind that might happen when Post was tapped but not intended.

It could be the result of my limited time spent on tube rolling and that it is more desirable for me to dwell in other avenues of system refinement before spending time with tubes.

My “lazy man” phrase stemmed from conversations on this forum about different tubes by more or less the same group of folks. Seems to me it is all that is discussed by those making me wonder on what their system consists of or more so on how it is set up. Set up in a haphazard way that a tube can make so much difference? One after another those tubes change that much in the sound leads me to believe that volume might be a strong contributing factor for the change. Different tubes and tolerances between manufactures can contribute to slightly different gains which can be perceived as dark, bright, etc.

I just got done listening to Glenn’s video down here in the Chariot. The single pre tube A/B does have noticeable change in tone that was not detected with the phone speakers. When he goes into multiple pre tubes it is much harder to detect any change. Power tubes was very much the same as multiple pres.

The video’s audio was a bit overdriven. I used an I-pad with chrome cast via the Cambridge CXNv2 without the Zrock.

John

Lon,

My questions would be:

Why the need to constantly change tubes?

Can not one be content with the different sounds the artist creates?