The Return Of The Legend

[wink]

Remanufacture of the Western Electric 300B to start...........

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-return-of-the-legend.870227/

[Craig Sawyers]

WE reissued these a few years ago; I guess they must have stopped at some point and have restarted. When they made them they were a stupidly eye popping amount of money each. And if you wanted a matched pair - second mortgage time.

Oh yes - just looked at the link. $1299 for a matched pair.

[wink]

Enough to make your eyes water.....

This is a very happy start of the year 2018!

 

It is my distinct pleasure to announce that the WE 300B electron tube will re-enter production this year, in time for its 80th Anniversary. The famous triode was developed at Bell Labs in 1933 in the form of its predecessor, the 300A, which was modified, patented, and then produced at many historic works facilities beginning in 1938. The 300B has journeyed from the original New York tube shops, to the legendary Hawthorne Works, Allentown Works, Kansas City Works, then the Huntsville Works. The sparkling new tubes that will roll off the line this September will be assembled here in Rossville, Georgia at a new and reimagined electron tube works facility. Furthering our commitment to manufacturing excellence, we are installing new hydrogen reduction ovens, automated cathode cleaning lines, new laser welding systems, a state-of-the-art water deionization plant, and an updated testing system with improved accuracy. However, the 300B will still be manufactured from its original tooling and assembly specification standards.

Although we’ve invested in a modernized production line, many of its aspects will of course remain true to tradition. For example, the core material, the so-called “secret sauce” embedded in each cathode is derived from an original Hawthorne Works 1963 melt. Western Electric’s attention to each delicate detail and historic promise of quality place the WE 300B in a category of its own.

The new 300B’s will be priced at a reasonable rate of $1299 per matched pair or $599 for a single. They will also be available in quads and octets. Each tube ships with our peerless 5-year limited warranty starting September 1, 2018. By internal estimates, this is a conservative timeframe we can easily achieve, barring any unforeseen setbacks. A complex process like this involves many moving parts—literally—and we appreciate your patience.

In addition to announcing the availability of the 300B, I’d like to share some of our adventures in product development. Continuing our 80th anniversary celebration of the 300B, we are unveiling a new single-ended amplifier called the 91E, as an homage to its famous predecessor the 91A, first introduced in 1936. The 91E embodies a new proprietary Class A2 parallel feed current source topology (patent pending), combined with toroidal output transformers, and microprocessor controlled automatic bias. It will achieve in excess of twenty watts per channel—a never before realized level of performance for the 300B in a single-ended circuit.

Be on the lookout for a limited edition monoblock set of this amp topology called the 91C Metropolis. Only 500 of these beautifully designed 300B amplifiers will be available!

Western Electric has been working hard to give our followers big things to look forward to in 2018. This is just the beginning! The best way to stay in the loop is to subscribe to our exclusive 300B mailing list and by following our newly launched social accounts. Or maybe we’ll see you at the shows, starting this April at Axpona.

Stay tuned!

Charles Whitener | President, Western Electric

 

[Torpedo]

1 hour ago, wink said:

The new 300B’s will be priced at a reasonable rate of $1299 per matched pair or $599 for a single

In what universe is 1299$ for a pair of tubes "reasonable"? in Trump's where everybody is rich and beautiful?  

[spritzer]

Crazy tuberoller world... 

[Dusty Chalk]

49 minutes ago, Torpedo said:

In what universe is 1299$ for a pair of tubes "reasonable"? in Trump's where everybody is rich and beautiful?  

You haven’t priced NOS tubes lately, have you?

That said, that’s only reasonable if they compete with NOS.

[Craig Sawyers]

I didn't interrogate eBay, but I caught sight of $6k per tube for NOS as I was googling trying to find out how much they cost in the 50's. I failed miserably to find that out. But they were originally designed for telephone system amplifiers, so they must have been pretty cheap.

[Torpedo]

16 minutes ago, Dusty Chalk said:

You haven’t priced NOS tubes lately, have you?

That said, that’s only reasonable if they compete with NOS.

Collective stupidity doesn't make that price "reasonable"  but I must accept your point. Sad days...

[Dusty Chalk]

Agreed, just because it’s relatively reasonable does not mean it’s reasonable on an absolute scale.

[SeaWolf]

I thought some of the old guys who made tubes back in the day said the new ones will not sound the same because some of the chemicals and production methods are not be allowed today. I have and will always avoid some amps that make use of specific tube types because the prices for "good" variations of the tubes are just too ridiculously high.

Edited January 21, 2018 by SeaWolf

[purk]

So glad that my ECP L3 utilizes relatively cheap tube (match quad for less than $100) and manage to sound quite amazing!

[dsavitsk]

Unless the ruble is doing really well these days, I feel like $8 for a matched quad is about right.

[justin]

i've looked into having a custom tube made, might do it someday, maybe, probably not...

the part where it got expensive was that if you're going to sell an elite tube, you have to cherry pick the best ones

10 hours ago, Craig Sawyers said:

I didn't interrogate eBay, but I caught sight of $6k per tube for NOS as I was googling trying to find out how much they cost in the 50's. I failed miserably to find that out. But they were originally designed for telephone system amplifiers, so they must have been pretty cheap.

i would guess that with inflation the original price is probably around $300 per tube

[justin]

i found an old WE ad from 1916 and it calls electrical outlets "lamp sockets". i realized that i've even heard people use that term in my lifetime, but maybe not since early 90s

[purk]

2 hours ago, dsavitsk said:

Unless the ruble is doing really well these days, I feel like $8 for a matched quad is about right.

I need to get several matched quads from you before the price goes up. 

Edited January 22, 2018 by purk

[DefQon]

This is great news. I mean it's not cheap by any means but it will make ebay and online resellers to drop prices on existing NOS and used 300B stock.

[Whitigir]

I can’t even stand XF2 quad which is flying at 1k...now a quad of these legendaries will be $2400 ? Legendary pricing, I can give you that

[Laowei]

6 hours ago, Whitigir said:

I can’t even stand XF2 quad which is flying at 1k...now a quad of these legendaries will be $2400 ? Legendary pricing, I can give you that

They are more like modern reissues, not in the same league as vintage WE300Bs.

I bought a MP for $900 back in the 1990s when they first started remaking them. Several friends in The Oregon Triode Society were using 1940s-60s manufactured WE300Bs and the new ones were not comparable in side by side listening tests. Some folks attributed the SQ difference to the new tubes having a higher vacuum, but IDK. I ended up with some Chinese TJ Meshplates that sounded better in my amp and sold the WE300Bs. There is a lot better selection of 300B type tubes these days, better sounding than the new WE300Bs and  at a much cheaper cost. 

 

 

[garageboy]

Which 300Bs would you say are comparable to the 90s remakes? Even those are up there in price now. 

 

This is why my dad stuck to 6a3 tubes