Elrog 300b's for sale. Your thoughts?


I noticed this morning an add for the new Elrogs.   I and many others on the forum ran the experiment when the Elrogs were initially launched.   We found the tubes to be superb sonically, but woefully unreliable.  In fact, the early failure rate on those tubes was apparently 100%.  I and others received replacements that were hand selected for suitability in our particular amps.  In fact one individual had 3 pairs fail.  In my case, I went so far as to purchase a PS audio power plant, having been assured that limiting incoming voltage to 115V would ensure reasonable lifetime for the Elrogs.  Two days ago, one of my replacements failed, after having been nursed along carefully.  Honestly, I doubt the tubes had 600 hours on them.  So the Psvane T1s went back in and I began the period of mourning for my deceased Elrogs.  This morning I awake to the siren song of an ad from a reputable dealer who is announcing availability of the new improved Elrogs with a 1 year warranty.   My initial reaction was, "I don't think so.  Someone else can run the $1200 experiment.  Burned once and lesson learned."  But here is the problem.  If all of Elrogs former customers take that approach, the new Elrog will also fail even if the tubes are good for 10000 hours, simply because no one will buy them.    The tubes are so good that it would be a tragedy if that happened.  So the question to all of you who have already been down this road is this?  What would it take for you to give these tubes a try again?
brownsfan
Hi Jcarcopo, 
I was impressed with the EML  meshplate right out of the box  I understand your positive comments,  as I said in an earlier post it's a terrific sounding tube as is the XLS.  The meshplate is finesse/nuance yet dynamic.   The XLS is dynamic yet nuanced.  I find both transparent and high resolution. 

I could see someone owning both and enjoying their individual differences which are subtle as you note but clearly noticeable. I wish I could use the meshplate in the Frankenstein.  Beautiful sound but failed in just a couple of months.  I strongly felt that you'd be happy with this tube. 
Charles 

Jdnrbob, Sorry, The SVIIs are Coincident Super Victory IIs and the TEIIs are Coincident Triumph Extreme IIs.  The TE IIs are monitors that are no longer manufactured.  
@charles1dad Yes, good call sir. I’m stoked to have 3 fine pairs tubes to roll with. I’m still on the fence on getting a pair of Takatsuki, but parts connexion has them for like $1650 which isn’t bad considering the $2500msrp and the Elrog’s recent bump in price. He listed them on Audiogon a few times, I think I offered him $1450, but he said no. 😂 Now to get Eric some money for some Ulfberts. I have a local audiogoner waiting patiently for up to 2 months to buy my DIs.
All this 300B tube talk has me wanting to try another pair. I'm currently using the Sophia Royal Princess 300B and am quite happy with them but I've not had any others to compare to. I'm currently on a waiting list for Western Electrics 80th anniversary 300B re-issue due out this September. I have no idea what they will sound like but I can't resist trying out a re-issue of such a classic. 

Good luck with your Ulfbehrts, Jcarcopo. I can't imagine you won't be very happy with them. I don't have the room size for them but I couldn't be happier with the SE's. 
Tom,
I used a loaned pair of the Sophia Electric Royal Princess  for about 3 weeks and they sounded very good in my Frankenstein.  I also had a loaned pair of the Western Electric reissue 300b about 4 years ago but didn't like them in my amplifier.  It's certainly quite possible that they could be a better match for your amplifier and you're getting a different version (presumably) of this reissued 300b. People say that the Psvane W.E.Replica is a very good sounding 300b option. 

Based on my experience I believe that certain 300b tubes sound better in some amplifiers compared to others. Tom I'm very interested in your listening impressions of the Western Electric reissues once you've heard them in your system. Tom depending on the operation points  (O.P.) of your Aric Audio amplifier the EML meshplate could be an option. 

The only drawback I note  with the upper tier 300bs is they are expensive. But I'll concede they do sound fantastic. 
Charles