I like them. A lot.
Enough that I immediately put in an order for a second set.
Maybe I’ll put up a proper thread for them to say more, so I’ll keep this brief …
Tonally they’re closer to the original WE300B (both pre and post war, I have NOS sets from both periods), than the Takatsuki’s. The Takatsuki’s have a very slight advantage in treble resolution, but the latest WE300B are a little more lucid in the mids, richer, and have a hair more bloom to the upper bass. Image/stage is about on par. Neither have quite the dynamics of the originals, though they’re excellent all the same.
Of all the 300B’s I have at the moment, which is enough that I shouldn’t ever have to buy more for any reason other than accidental damage, I’d rank them from best down as follows:
- Pre-War WE300B (NOS*)
- Post-War WE300B (NOS**)
- 2018 WE300B
- Takastuki 300B
- 1998 WE300B
- EML 300B
I could see people taking the EML 300B over the 1998 WE300B, and the Takatsuki over the 2018 WE300B depending on amplifier and preferences.
After that we’re into Psvane ACME, Elrogs, Sophia and so on … most of the better of which sound excellent. Then it’s into the less premium and/or small production “excellent but not worth the effort to find” tubes.
Interestingly, the 2018 WE300B had an almost identical burn-in experience as my three sets of NOS originals. Which took a couple of hundred hours before the various, spurious, swirlies, whines and mechanical pinging effects fully went away. The Takasuki’s and EMLs needed a few hours at most fo the swirlies (etc.) to fade, and only a few days for the pings from expansion/contraction to abate.
*They were NOS when I got them, though they’ve definitely been used since then! I think these are 1938 builds, but I’d have to look.
**Also NOS when I received them. One set is from 1950 the other from 1954, as I recall.