Which one to choose between two 80K$ tube amps?

shkong,

Unfotunately, the link to your photos is not working.  But, in any case, if you found something specific that you heard and liked, it does not matter what anyone else thinks.  Whether you get it or another vintage Western-based system, you can be well assured that you can always get your money back if you later decide to sell it; Western Electric prices go up and almost never down.

In the price/quality range you are looking at, it is hard to think of many high efficiency systems that I would recommend, although you could be in the market for custom designs.  It appears that you have already auditioned a number of good candidates, like the JBL system and Avantgarde speakers.  

Good luck on your search.  You certainly have the good fortune of being able to enjoy the Lansche system while search for something else.

@larryi 

Thanks for your kind word.

It is not easy to find WE vintage horn in original box.

That is the reason why it is so costly to get one.

But as you mentioned, vintage WE horn never lose its value like vintage WE 300B tubes.


I bought WE 300b tube made in 40's at 3k$ 20 years ago.

But it is still working fine after 10k hours.

Some people mentioned Nos WE 300B may last 20-30K hours.

If I sell my used tube, it will fetch more than 5k$.

But I will not do it, since it is  not easy to get one again.

Since I am happy with Lansch 4.1, I may wait 3 or 5 more years until I save enough money to buy vintage Western horn speaker.

Thomas

@shkong78  If you are looking for a speaker that will work with lower powered amps, one you might want to consider is the Classic Audio Loudspeakers Hartsfield (reproduction). John Wolff has done a lot to improve the speaker since it ceased production, with better drivers, better crossover, sturdier cabinet, field coil operation and so on.

The Western Electric stuff is collectable and classic, but does not compete with modern computer-optimized horns. It was state of the art in its day but that was before World War 2. If you really want to get the most out of your amplifier, you won't be doing it justice with a vintage horn that old!! 


The WE300bs are excellent- that was back when the only game in town was tubes and they had to be right; they were often placed in service as line amplifiers for the phone company, and had to hold up. Some were even sunk in the ocean embedded into the inter-continental telephone trunk cables!

@atmasphere 

Thanks for your suggestion.

But vintage Western horn sounds like vintage wine which has unique flavor

One of my friend is the owner of Silbatone who display his vintage horn in Munich high end show.

My goal is to have a nice Western vintage horn system before I die.

I may try one of your OTL amp next year since I am curios how ii will sound with my speakers.

Western Electric Audio Porn.....if you are into that sort of thing.

and some definitely are. i've not personally been bitten by this bug....yet.

http://www.silbatoneacoustics.com/collection.html

http://www.silbatoneacoustics.com/labsystems.html