Best 845 tube out there?

I have the audion elite 3 box and have the 845b, shuguang 845m and just recently the kr845. Overall in the context of the rest of my system the kr845's are the winner. I prefer the b over the m too because i find it more "beautiful" in the midrange, though its not as robust as the 845m, i like its more "liquid" a presentation. The kr845 has a wonderful sense of "flow" that is very appealing and seems to my mind get alot of the parameters of music "right". It is not perfect but like i already said, it has the most plus's with the least amount of - tives. I found the kr's presentation a more palpable one then the others too. I would say the kr845 is easily in another league than the other two. To me it is a finely bred racehorse while the others by comparison are just "good".

To add to my "mini review" ...as in a few posts previous to this...the Kr845 has a significantly lower noise floor then the 845m or the 845b. It is extremely quiet. It sounds like a hybrid between a 300b and an 845 if you can imagine that, combining a sense of "lushness" and sound staging like that of a 300b but with the linearity of a 845. I have no reasons to want to go back to listening with a 845b or a 845m. If i am going to be serious about my music playback i have to utilize a KR845 in my system and build the system, ie cords , around it. With this tube there is no fooling around. To balance this positive review i know of a few people who do not like it. They say it is coolish. I have an inkling as to what they might be referring too but it has within its sonic envelope attributes that can't be found in the other 845 tubes that i mention and therefore deserves to be accommodated into a system via system matching. I need to make it work because its got something! My 845m and 845b are up for sale as i write this.

.

I would like to offer a testimony on my experience with the KR845 tube.

I purchased two sets of KR845's for my Audion Elite tube amp back in January of 2011. I keep a log for my tube hours and cartridge hours.

It is april of 2014 that i write this, so that means i've personally owned them for 3 years.

I checked my log book and i have 627 hours of listening on my first set of KR845's.

So, that is 3 years and 627 hrs that i have not had an issue.

Note FWIW these KR845's have brass bottoms. I have seen aluminimum colored and copper bottom versions. I have not owned those. I'm not sure what production run the brass bottom version is or if that has any relevance.

I have not heard the WE845. I own the 845B and C.

The C's burn brightest and have alot of shove. The B's are more beguiling. The KR845 is the most neutral of them all. Has more resolution than either and lots of shove. It does not give a vintage tube sound but sounds very modern and sophisticated. It has brilliant timbre and provides a great base point to dial in the rest of your system around, especially if you are committed to use a 845. The A and C are so different in this regard that no cable or cartridge change could ever give you the kind of headway the KR gives you just by having it in your tube amp.

So, while there are some bad experiences out there with KR845 in terms of reliability there are some very positive ones out there too. My experience with them has been extremely positive, sonically and in terms of reliability. The KR845 in my system and in my elite are a essential ingredient in the level of playback i have achieved. I could not go without them.

I recommend asking your amp manufacturer if the specs for the KR845 that you intend to purchase are electrically compatible first, before you buy them.

.