LinLai WE 300B or the LinLai Global Elite Permaloy 300B tubes ?


I presently am using Sophia Electric 300B mesh-plates and find them to sound good in general.  I originally used the Sophia Royal Princess 300B's and really loved the sound, however in my experience, reliability was really poor and for the price, it wasn't any fun trying to get replacements.  I'm getting ready to order new 300B's however would like to know if any of you have had experience with their WE 300B or their flagship Elite Permaloy 300B.
Thanks... John
128x128liquidsound
This is an excellent question. I am interested in hearing what others think.

I had one of my ancient JJ 300Bs die and, due to it happening during the holidays and for convenience I locally purchased a replacement pair from the local JJ distributor. The remaining JJ still tested in spec. I don't know how old the pair were, but I think they were quite old. I know the JJ tubes are not considered as being in the top tier of 300B tubes. They sound very good in my system, but I haven't rolled 300bs.

I have read with interest many reviews of 300B tubes and the Linlai are intriguing. The Takatsukis are well-regarded, sound-wise, but are very pricey. It is daunting to consider how to do a shoot-out between the various 300B options these days. There are so many options out there! Linlai look very good. Psvane and TJ Fullmusic have been well reviewed and well regarded. The European tubes also well regarded.

I have been considering buying a new-production pair of the Western Electric 300Bs. I think they're $1500, direct from the factory. This is pretty expensive for new production tubes, but it sounds like they have worked hard to refine the consistency of the production process and are achieving good results. This is about double the price of the standard Linlai and $600 more than the Elite. But if they sound as good as the historic production and last as long, it seems they'd be worth it.

Good luck in making your decision, and please post the results back here so we can benefit from your experience.
I would be curious if there is a complete list of available 300b tubes. The number is overwhelming when it comes to making a decision, and the number seems to grow every year. My top two are Takatsuki and KR balloons. Has anyone heard the AudioNote 4300e?
OK...  I pulled the trigger on a matched-quad of the  LinLai Global Elite Permaloy 300B's...  I ended up joining their TubeVIP membership and on this purchase more than made up for the yearly membership cost on the discount for the 4 tubes...  Once I get them, I'll get them in place and do some listening.  I don't expect they'll sound terrific until they get ~100-hours on them so I'll try to document the sound as they break-in...
More to come...