300B tube fail

Lyon · « **on:** 9 Feb 2015, 08:44 am »

Hi

I am the proud owner of an Audion Silver night 300B integrated Tube amp, unfortunately yesterday morning i had my first tube fail... A Sophia electric 300B mesh tube only two months old put on a quite dramatic firework display for me...it looks like a fault in one of the heating filaments... I have had to fit my Rolls Royce valves (TJ Full House Carbon) which i keep for best because they are quite expensive.
My Question really has anyone found a high reliability brand of 300B with good quality workmanship, preferably with a 12month warranty that wont break the bank?

So far ive been looking at the EH gold 300B and some unusual sounding Chinese Guiguang ones that are very cheap on ebay UK (£125 per matched pair). Also PSvanes hifi edition which look like rebranded Guiguang.

I loved the sound of the Sophia electric mesh but i know now.... through bitter experience why they came with only a 30 day warranty.

Best Regards

Jack

Emil · « **Reply #1 on:** 9 Feb 2015, 06:32 pm »

How about Svetlana 300Bs. have them in my Quicksilvers. No problems, knock on wood

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Matched-Pairs-Svetlana-Electron-Devices-SED-300B-tubes-NOS-from-1998-Brand-New-/140940239007?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20d0b1609f

Rusty Jefferson · « **Reply #2 on:** 9 Feb 2015, 11:17 pm »

I had a pair of the same Sophia tubes fail the same way, recently. There is an easily visible crack in the glass around one of the filament wires in each one. Same wire position on both. Clearly a problem.

My everyday tube is the Electro Harmonix 300b. Very durable, reasonably priced, good (not outstanding i.e. Western Electric) sound.
http://www.ehx.com/products/300b

sfox7076 · « **Reply #3 on:** 10 Feb 2015, 01:11 am »

I hear ElRog are hard to beat.

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #4 on:** 10 Feb 2015, 10:51 am »

Guy 13 · « **Reply #5 on:** 10 Feb 2015, 11:07 am »

Quote from: FullRangeMan on 10 Feb 2015, 10:51 am

Hi FullRangeMan,
I can't see on the tubes the name of the manufacturer,
can you help?

Guy 13

mresseguie · « **Reply #6 on:** 10 Feb 2015, 11:20 am »

Hi, Guy.

My Chinese ability to the rescue! Those are GuiGuang tubes. The 'Gui' is clear, but the 'Guang' is harder to make out. Of course, it's in Chinese and not Pinyin.

Guy 13 · « **Reply #7 on:** 10 Feb 2015, 11:23 am »

Quote from: mresseguie on 10 Feb 2015, 11:20 am

Hi, Guy.

My Chinese ability to the rescue! Those are GuiGuang tubes. The 'Gui' is clear, but the 'Guang' is harder to make out. Of course, it's in Chinese and not Pinyin.

Hi mresseguie,
thanks for the help.
The two tubes are/look different, I wonder what is the difference between the two?
Maybe FullRangeMan can answer that question, since he posted the pictures.

Guy 13

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #8 on:** 10 Feb 2015, 11:29 am »

Both tubes are NGG(Guiguang), brown base are older, black base are the last ''model'' before Psvane take control.
Before brown and black there are a white base.

P.S.> After Psvane take NGG they startted doing Guiguang 300B w/white base.

I have a black base pair:

Guy 13 · « **Reply #9 on:** 10 Feb 2015, 11:46 am »

Quote from: FullRangeMan on 10 Feb 2015, 11:29 am

Both tubes are NGG(Guiguang), brown base are older, black base are the last ''model'' before Psvane take control.
Before brown and black there are a white base.
I have a black base pair:

Hi FullRangeMan,
thanks for the information.
You are getting very good at taking pictures with your new camera.

Guy 13

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #10 on:** 10 Feb 2015, 11:56 am »

Thanks Guy Iam lazy w/the camera, she are boxed most of the time.
This hot summer let me idle, we had 36ºC yesterday and lots of chemtrail.

gsm18439 · « **Reply #11 on:** 10 Feb 2015, 01:30 pm »

Did you call Sophia Electric? They are located outside of DC. Maybe they will replace the bad tube - even though it is beyond warranty?

Quiet Earth · « **Reply #12 on:** 10 Feb 2015, 02:10 pm »

I had a TJ meshplate 300B fail the same way, and also Full Music 300B Globe fail the same way. On the other hand I have a friend who bought the same tubes (TJ mesh) and his continue to work day after day. He has the same amp that I do, so that makes it a fair comparison.

My own personal rule is to stop buying fancy Chineese 300Bs. No more for me. I have some basic Valve Art 300Bs that keep going and going. I would probably buy another pair if I wanted a cheaper set of tubes for back up.

To the OP I would suggest that you use your very best tubes now and live in the moment. That's what you bought them for. Run them for 4 to 5 hours a day until you have about 50 hours on them and then use the heck out of them. (That's a good burn in procedure for the filaments.) Enjoy! Start saving up for a pair of EML or KR 300B. Get the standard Western Electric -spec 300B, not the high power or globe or whatever.

Quote from: sfox7076 on 10 Feb 2015, 01:11 am

I hear ElRog are hard to beat.

That's because they are unavailable for purchase.

JoshK · « **Reply #13 on:** 10 Feb 2015, 02:27 pm »

You can buy the Elrogs from Thomas Mayer. There is a waiting list though.

Jon L · « **Reply #14 on:** 10 Feb 2015, 04:37 pm »

Quote from: Emil on 9 Feb 2015, 06:32 pm

How about Svetlana 300Bs. have them in my Quicksilvers. No problems, knock on wood

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Matched-Pairs-Svetlana-Electron-Devices-SED-300B-tubes-NOS-from-1998-Brand-New-/140940239007?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20d0b1609f

Really? How long have you used the Svetlana 300B without problems?
I tried quite a few Svetlana 300B tubes from different vendors, and 100% of them failed eventually. There is a known design flaw with how the filaments are suspended, which eventually moves enough to create a short.

IMO, it's not a good idea to buy Svetlana 300B tubes from a vendor who does not offer a warranty of some kind.

Sophia mesh 300B have better survival rates, but it depends on the specific amp used, and IME, they do not sound as good as Svetlana's.

I do think these 30-day warranties tube vendors are offering these days is a real shame

, and the ludicrous price and failure rate of 300B tubes is the main reason I have moved on from 300B amps .

Quiet Earth · « **Reply #15 on:** 10 Feb 2015, 04:56 pm »

FWIW regarding premature failures, I have had excellent service and reliability out of the following 300Bs:

JJ (date code from sometime around 2006 or 2007, Tube Depot)
Emission Labs (from Tubes USA)
Valve Art (from Antique Electronic Supply)
KR (trying to remember where I purchased these....)
Latest Genelex Gold Lion (from authorized online dealer)
ShuGuang 50 years Treasure (not an eBay purchase, Grade A from Grant Fidelity)

Quiet Earth · « **Reply #16 on:** 10 Feb 2015, 05:02 pm »

Some info from Emission Labs on burning in new tubes to get longer life is in their F.A.Q. page here : http://www.emissionlabs.com/diversen/FAQ.htm

To paraphrase :

"Good Burn-in will assure maximum lifetime and develop the final sound. These tubes are burned-in initially. This burn-in process will be extended in the first 50-100 hours under normal (home) use conditions. This means you must switch off the amplifier after each use, and in the beginning not use the tubes longer than 4 hours at one time. Many short use periods have a better result than few long periods. The tubes need the „cold“ periods in between for best formatting of the filament. Some occasional blue glow effects will disappear during burn-in, or may stay. This is not gas, and it is normal. Use different loudness levels from the beginning, and increase the maximum loudness gradually. If tubes with very little use were switched off longer than 12 months, is necessary to repeat the burn in."

gsm18439 · « **Reply #17 on:** 10 Feb 2015, 08:02 pm »

I have been using a pair of Takatsuki 300b for a couple of years without any problems.

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #18 on:** 10 Feb 2015, 10:04 pm »

Quote from: JoshK on 10 Feb 2015, 02:27 pm

You can buy the Elrogs from Thomas Mayer. There is a waiting list though.

Do you know the asked price? I suspect it will be over 1K.

JoshK · « **Reply #19 on:** 12 Feb 2015, 04:52 pm »

If they are priced the same as the others, it will be around $1k for a pair. Ouch! But that is high end audio and production costs on small boutique special tubes like this is quite high.