Home » Audio » Thermionic Emissions » Western Electric 80th anniversary "300B" tube (WE re-release)
Western Electric 80th anniversary "300B" tube [message #87122] Tue, 23 January 2018 07:42 Go to next message
johnnycamp5 is currently offline  johnnycamp5
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Registered: June 2015
Location: NJ
Grand Master
Here we go again!

Shocked

https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2018/01/21/western-electric-announce-300b-to-re-enter-production-launch-of-new-amplifier/amp/
Re: Western Electric 80th anniversary "300B" tube [message #87124 is a reply to message #87122] Tue, 23 January 2018 11:06 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18670
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

Wow! How cool! Thanks for the heads-up!

Re: Western Electric 80th anniversary "300B" tube [message #87126 is a reply to message #87124] Tue, 23 January 2018 15:16 Go to previous messageGo to next message
gofar99 is currently offline  gofar99
Messages: 1895
Registered: May 2010
Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Perhaps, Where will they actually be made and really by whom. The original fabricating gear is probably long gone as are the original materials the tubes were made from. I have heard stuff like this before and usually it doesn't live up the promises. But then in this case I must state that I am not fond of the directly heated triode magic that some hear. I figure that highish levels of second harmonic distortion (that some say sound nice) is still distortion and to be avoided. Confused

Good Listening
Bruce
Re: Western Electric 80th anniversary "300B" tube [message #87128 is a reply to message #87122] Tue, 23 January 2018 15:32 Go to previous messageGo to next message
johnnycamp5 is currently offline  johnnycamp5
Messages: 354
Registered: June 2015
Location: NJ
Grand Master
Yup.
They're really hyping it up, and we know the mystique and hype that comes with the WE's.

Here is one of the claims about the tooling and materials-

Quote- "The current tube enjoys a vacuum that is at least two decades lower (2x10**-6) Torr than previous runs due to the employment of turbomolecular vacuum pumps, resulting in longer life. Although the tube is newly produced, the filamentary cathode core material is from the original WE inventory derived from a 1963 melt from the Western Electric Hawthorne Works in Chicago. The tooling used in the manufacture of WE 300-Bs is original equipment, some going back as far as 1943."

http://www.westernelectric.com/products/300b.html

Nice cherry wood box, and to describe the highs as sounding "transparent, lovely, sweet, burnished and beautifully seductive"?

Burnished Laughing

I guess I shouldn't judge though, as I've never owned a pair.
Re: Western Electric 80th anniversary "300B" tube [message #88797 is a reply to message #87122] Sat, 08 September 2018 14:33 Go to previous messageGo to next message
johnnycamp5 is currently offline  johnnycamp5
Messages: 354
Registered: June 2015
Location: NJ
Grand Master
I've been getting updates from WE from time to time...about their new 300B tube.

Last week was the most recent one -

" As part of our ongoing effort to keep you informed about the return of the WE 300B, we're reporting a not too unexpected production delay.

This past January, Western Electric was proud to announce first availability of the new tubes for September 1. But, we could not have foreseen exactly how much time and attention each unique and valuable piece of the assembly line would need. It's a complex, magical process, bringing together old tech and 21st-century standards. As we continue this transition, run materials inventory, and install new machinery, we must also clean and re-clean nearly one acre of floor space so it is ready to safely handle the ultra-pure materials inside each 300B. After these steps are completed we will move on to a highly regimented testing stage. Only then can we deliver product with confidence.

Please note that we are adjusting our September 2018 deadline to December 2018. We'll continue providing updates and begin taking pre-orders soon.

Delivering the promise of Western Electric quality takes time--time we hope you'll continue sharing with us.

Thank you

WE."

"magical process" lol!
WE 300b fans will have to wait.
Re: Western Electric 80th anniversary "300B" tube [message #89742 is a reply to message #88797] Thu, 07 February 2019 10:55 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Rusty is currently offline  Rusty
Messages: 1076
Registered: May 2018
Location: Kansas City Missouri
Illuminati (2nd Degree)
Guy's...guy's, guy's. If you can't wait for the new ones. Here's an even more heavenly deal to be had. A matched set of new old stock, (from the 1930's), at a most reasonable understandably priced amount of $19995.00. Free shipping over $99*. There you go, step right up.
https://www.tubedepot.com/products/nos-western-electric-engraved-base-300b-black-plate-late-1930-s-matched-pair
Re: Western Electric 80th anniversary "300B" tube [message #89750 is a reply to message #89742] Thu, 07 February 2019 16:37 Go to previous messageGo to next message
johnnycamp5 is currently offline  johnnycamp5
Messages: 354
Registered: June 2015
Location: NJ
Grand Master
I believe that pair has been available for about a year now.

The new WE 300b tubes are about 1500. a pair...

But really, if you have the means for a 20,000. pair of vintage WE's,
more power to you...

I would not spend my money that way,
unless of course it was a drop in the bucket...
Re: Western Electric 80th anniversary "300B" tube [message #89759 is a reply to message #89750] Fri, 08 February 2019 10:19 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Rusty is currently offline  Rusty
Messages: 1076
Registered: May 2018
Location: Kansas City Missouri
Illuminati (2nd Degree)
Maybe the consumers of 1.2 million speakers, (under home theater), might have a 300b amp to lavish this absurd pair of vacuum tubes on.
Re: Western Electric 80th anniversary "300B" tube [message #89760 is a reply to message #87122] Fri, 08 February 2019 13:18 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18670
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

I don't know the folks at TubeDepot.com but I bought a few tubes from them back before I really got to know Aki at TubesForAmps.com. Now I buy all my tubes from Aki, 'cause I've sort of gotten to know him and trust him.

My guess is someone found those WE tubes in an estate sale of some kind. That's how ALL the "NOS" stuff comes around. Some guy has a bunch of tubes in his attic and when he dies, if his heirs don't throw it all away as "obsolete junk," it finds its way into an estate sale. Sometimes it's from an old repair shop, and sometimes it's just personal stash. But usually the bigger finds are from a long-defunct hifi shop or something like that.

So the folks at TubeDepot.com were understandably excited when they found this pair of tubes. When they list them for $20K, in my mind, it's like setting the price at a "jillion dollars." It's not like they expect to ever sell them, although if someone offered the money they'd take it. And they would probably have "sellers remorse" if they did, because they are probably kind of emotionally attached to these rare tubes. It's like Smeagol's "precious" ring. They aren't trying to sell them; They are just showing off. I kind of get that.

Ironically, I'll bet a "jillion dollars" that they got 'em for next to nothing. I wouldn't be surprised if they paid a hundred bucks for a big pile of tubes in their original cardboard boxes, and that pair of tubes was in the pile. I've bought lots like that a few times - piles of hundreds of tubes - and found some pretty sweet old tubes in the pile. Lots of 45s and 2A3s, and of course a ton of rectifiers and random pentodes and stuff like that.

So anyway, I agree with you guys that 20-grand for a pair of light-bulbs is a bit steep, and could be seen as greedy, arrogant or crazy. But I think it's more like an unrealistic emotional attachment. I have some nutso emotional attachments like that to some of my stuff too. And a few of my rare things, I wouldn't sell for a "million bucks." Rolling Eyes
Re: Western Electric 80th anniversary "300B" tube [message #89761 is a reply to message #87122] Fri, 08 February 2019 16:30 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
johnnycamp5 is currently offline  johnnycamp5
Messages: 354
Registered: June 2015
Location: NJ
Grand Master
I hadn't thought of it that way, Wayne.
"Bragging rights".

I found an Elvis 1977 "moody blues" LP "yellow". for 2G's
Could the same be said of this-?

Needless to say, I love the King and his TCB band, but this album in particular, for its recording quality (70's of course)
But 2G's??

I guess I'll keep looking lol. Meanwhile, I have the CD.

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