Western Electric WE300B Vacuum Tubes

Until recently I bought back the long missing ECC803S and 6211 (ECC802S) and immediate restore the glory of the line amplifier once I inserted them onto it...
But my output tubes is not WE300B, it is China made 300B. I know that now my amplifier has at least 30% room for audio improvement if I insert the four tubes of WE300B...
But that is very expensive.. I bought them at HKD$6300.00 a pair in probably 2000.
And Now I think it is around HKD120,000 a pair for the year 95, and 95 was the last year of good quality WE300B…
I had one pair of 95 and one pair of 97...
I am thinking should I change to single stage WE300B , so at least I had a pair running and one pair as spare… as I think that is quite hard to find again in the market.
I have seen one bottle 1950’s NOS , Mr. Wong was asking HKD$40,000 two years ago at Choice Hi Fi….
These are my Western Electric Legendary tubes, they have been used slightly.. and I keep it in box again….
HK Snob

Collector's Private Collection of Telefunken ECC803S set of FIVE

This Collection Belongs to one Tycoon in Hong Kong who has many super Tubes; I am seriously considering to buy this set... But that is not cheap! Of course!
HK Snob

Telefunken ECC803S Collections

This is one of the collection of NOS Telefunken ECC803S, just acquired from a Tube Tycoon Today!

HK Snob

Telefunken ECC803S Super Bottles

I am seeking a chance to by back the ECC803S... I sold some of them to Audio Space Mr. Ma 7 years ago, and another 8 bottlles to Hi Fi Shop two years ago... I felt sinful as I can not tolerate listening to my Audio amplifier without using the best Audio Tubes... These are some of them, See how Fake it is as they are too beautiful, isn't it!?
I will have more to share with you in couple of days!!
HK Snob

Telefunken ECC803S Collection, World's Most Powerful Vacuum Tube for your Amplifier

I had sold 8 piece (4 Paris) of Telefunken ECC803S in two weeks time two year ago, I felt regret and I am starting to Collect them again.
This is the one I found Today from a good friend... price is of course not cheap, but be reasonable!
I have another pair ready by anothr chap in the Chinese New Year... Let you know...
I have found that there is a NOS sealed with Certificates ECC803S, Some one is asking for HKD$20,000.00!
It is time for you to find it as this is a piece of GEM... The instant magic for you Hi Fi upgrade in one minute!

HK Snob

Telefunken 6211

We have a Choice of Telefunken ECC82, ECC802S and This Great bottle Telefunken 6211, The Stainless steel plate is a single one piece instead a “E” shape as on your ECC82 or ECC802S as shown. It is low voltage operating tube, not same as 802S. If you do not have 802S, worth to try this with some modification on the electraic circuitry. HK Snob

Why Vacuum Tubes?

This is the Famous Telefunken ECC803S Vacuum Tubes

There are a lot of people open his eye big to look at me and had a strange question why I use Vacuum tubes on my Amplifier, my reply is Simply warm and real music reproduction by using Tubes. Not Transistor, MOSFET, or IC...could come and dare to make some similar good music as the tubes do!!

There are still certain area that Transistor is not working satisfactorily. These are

A. High-power RF applications
Many big radio stations continue to use big power tubes, especially for power levels above 10,000 watts and for frequencies above 50 MHz. High-power UHF TV stations and large FM broadcast stations are almost exclusively powered by tubes. The reason is cost and efficiency--only at low frequencies are transistors more efficient and less expensive than tubes. Making a big solid-state transmitter requires wiring hundreds or thousands of power transistors in parallel in groups of 4 or 5 at a time, then mixing their power outputs together in a cascade of combiner transformers. Plus, they require large heat-sinks to keep them cool. An equivalent tube transmitter can use only one tube, requires no combiner (which wastes some power), and can be cooled with forced air or water, thus making it smaller than the solid-state transmitter.
This equation becomes even more pronounced at microwave frequencies. Nearly all commercial communication satellites use a traveling-wave tube for their "downlink" power amplifiers. The "uplink" ground stations also use TWTs. And for high power outputs, the tube seems to reign unchallenged. Exotic transistors still are used only for small-signal amplification and for power outputs of less than 40 watts, even after considerable advances in the technology. The low cost of RF power generated by tubes has kept them economically viable, in the face of advancing science.
B. Guitar amps
In general, only very low-cost guitar amplifiers (and a few specialized professional models) are predominantly solid-state. We have estimated that at least 80% of the market for high-ticket guitar amps insists on all-tube or hybrid models. Especially popular with serious professional musicians are modern versions of classic Fender, Marshall and Vox models from the 1950s and 1960s. This business is thought to represent at least $100 million worldwide as of 1997.
Why tube amplifiers? It's the tone that musicians want. The amplifier and speaker become part of the musical instrument. The peculiar distortion and speaker-damping characteristics of a beam-tetrode or pentode amp, with an output transformer to match the speaker load, is unique and difficult to simulate with solid-state devices, unless very complex topologies or a digital signal processor are used. These methods apparently have not been successful; professional guitarists keep returning to tube amplifiers.
Even the wildest rock musicians seem to be very conservative about the actual equipment they use to make their music. And their preferences keep specifying the proven technology of vacuum tubes.
C. Professional audio
The recording studio is somewhat influenced by the prevalence of tube guitar amps in the hands of musicians. Also, classic condenser microphones, microphone preamplifiers, limiters, equalizers and other devices have become valuable collectibles, as various recording engineers discover the value of tube equipment in obtaining special sound effects. The result has been huge growth in the sales and advertising of tube- equipped audio processors for recording use. Although still a minor movement within the multi-billion-dollar recording industry, tubed recording-studio equipment probably enjoys double-digit sales growth today.


D. High-end audio
At its low point in the early 1970s, the sales of tube hi-fi equipment were barely detectable against the bulk of the consumer-electronics boom. Yet even in spite of the closure of American and European tube factories thereafter, since 1985 the sales of "high-end" audio components have boomed. And right along with them have boomed the sales of vacuum-tube audio equipment for home use. The use of tubes in this regime has been very controversial in engineering circles, yet the demand for tube hi-fi equipment continues to grow.
It is funny that some of the major Transistoried power amplifier with output of more than 300W a channel has to go for connecting 24 unit of Power transistor in parallel at output stage, can I ask how to enure each of the 24 transistor is identitical in the electrical and frequency response characteristers!? No way then how to ensure their performance is aligned!? How to ensure their current drift with different change in A/V due to Temperature curve are not identical.
Quall used a Computer to calculate, compute the Right Amount of biasing point for each of the transsitor, can thei computer cancel the difference of each if the current vs Bias response!? No way, how to ensure the sound of music can be compared with Single 100W power vacuum tubes that has a stable biasing point just by itself!?

Remarks,
The above infrmation is partly obtained from the website, for more understanding on how does the tube work, you can visit this website!
http://www.vacuumtubes.net/How_Vacuum_Tubes_Work.htm


Feverip

The legendary Rectifier Tube 274B

We have been told that the Western Electric Rectifier 274B is valued more than Gold, an vintage WE 274B costs likely more than Western Electic 300B in the same production year, I have seen a NOS WE274B from Simon Lee of Audiotronics, it was then sold at more than HKD$10,000.00!

Why!? Because that is the soul of the classic, it has better response, and the background is quiet with this Famous Bottle from Western Electric, mellow musical tonal reproduction guarranteed.
Now this New Tube is made n Czech Republic with a mess shape plate, They told me that the sound is more or less close to the WE274B, but of course there is a difference in the audio purity and clarify. Price is HKD$3,000.00 according to Audiotronics... My DIY amplifier does not go with Tube for Recitifer portion. As I am more keen on the music appreciation rather than the further investment on the Hardware. Only when I had made a sudden forture, I would consider to upgrade my system with No-silicon-device-Amplifier.
Till then, may be this tube will be selling at a more expensive price tag!?
HK Snob

Telefuken ECC803S Vacuum Tube

This is an awesome tubes from The Teleunken, the best of the 12AX7 Class, I had sold all my ECC803S in the past three years...at a cut throat Price of HKD2,500.00 a bottle.
How UK friend told me that the curreent price of  such a great bottle is HKD12,000.00 a pair... I would consider to buy only if  that is NOS... Or slightly used as this great vacuum Tubes will guarantee life time of 10000 hours with great audio reproduction pleasure for you!

Imagine a Solid State LED will last for 30,000 Hours. and this Telefunken heater can last for 10,000 hours, what can we day about the quality of such a great bottle, if you switch on your System for 4 hours a day and 5 days a week, then it is an operation for 10 years! That is a HKD$1,000 a year. Worth it...

Have you tried, if you had, I think you will think that is worthwhile!!

HK Snob

EL84

There is no question about what is best made of EL84: Telefunken EL84. Now it is about USD$100 each now... quite expensive, but donot ignore that it lasts longer than you can expect.
Then Funkwerk, Mullard, I guess...

Feverip