If you search the 300B Development thread Steve describes both in the SEWE300B and describes the differences.

I have the WE300Bs in my Sarah now, but the Cryotones are taking a while due to supply chain issues. Don at Wathen says I can expect the same clarity as the WE300B with added density and vividness. I'll comment on the comparison when I'm able.

Mr. Ghostship: It’s coming up on 2 months since your post on waiting for 300B tubes from Wathen. Any word yet, mine took about 3 months to arrive, though 3 other types of Cryotone tubes were shipped with much less of a wait. After receiving some preamp tubes while waiting for the 300B’s, I called back to add to my initial order. As others receive their SEWE300B amps, I’m curious about the opinions of the performance of these & others in this amp. The amp I have with the Cryotone 300B’s installed is a SET, while the WE300B amp is PSE, so not easily comparable. Plus who would want to hear my highly questionable thoughts. But what about Emission Labs, or Elrog? Those Elrog “Moe’s” really intrigue me. I’ve plenty of time (I hope) to wait till I have to make a choice on what to roll into my SEWE300B. In the meantime I have some NOS RCA black plate 2a3’s to sonically explore. I’ve eaten many pb&j sammies to get to this point.
Enjoy the ride, your “Buddy Dawg”, Ralph

Ok, thanks. We’ll see what’s up in a couple of years when I get an amp worthy of their reputation. I had a tuna sandwich today, I better double down on the pb&j.

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.

Ghostship,

Lon said:

Your overall pleasure with this amp I find very encouraging. Thanks.

+1

Thanks for sharing your impressions Ghostship! Much appreciated as I also need to decide which route I am going to take over the next few months.

Steve08226: Does the Had 300b have a volume pot or are you using a pre in the chain?