For Sale: FS: Western Electric 300B Matched Quartet -NOS, NIB - SOLD

The Western Electric 300B has long been regarded ‘The Music Lover’s Triode’ and for good reasons. As the late Charlie Kittleson stated in Vacuum Tube Valley, Issue 8, page 23, “If you have the bucks to spend and want the finest and most musical 300B, go with the new Western Electric 300B. It is the most satisfying tube to listen to for long periods of time. When you plug a pair of these into your amp to replace Chinese 300Bs, the sonic improvement will be astounding. You will want to listen to all your favorite tunes again and again.”

In Vacuum Tube Valley, Issue 3, Volume 1, page 12, Eric Barbour tested a group of 300Bs from various manufacturers, including the 1950’s Western Electric 300B. In this test it was found that the new (reissued) Western Electric 300B had the lowest measured distortion of all 300Bs tested, or 0.095%. The 1950’s Western Electric 300B was second with a distortion reading of 0.104%.

This listing is for a factory matched quartet of NOS, new in box, absolute mint, unused Western Electric 300B Directly Heated Filamentary Triode Vacuum Tubes. This pristine set was purchased on July 20, 2008 in Honolulu, HI from an authorized Western Electric dealer. I am the first and only retail owner and this set has been in my possession since purchased. As shown in the attached pics, one of the four tubes has been opened. This tube was opened by the dealer for display purposes prior to my purchase of the set. The other three tubes remain factory sealed as also shown in the attached pics.

To illustrate that the sealed boxes contain a 300B tube, I measured the weight of all three sealed boxes. Each sealed box weighed 10.8 ounces as shown in one of the pics. The open box with the tube inside also weighed 10.8 ounces. I then weighed the empty opened box and all the included paperwork and this weighed 8.4 ounces as shown. The 300B tube was then weighed alone and this weighed 2.4 ounces as shown. Doing this simple math the empty box and single tube have weights of 8.4 and 2.4 ounces for a total of 10.8 ounces, the same weight as each sealed box.

This matched quartet is supplied in a beautiful velvet lined wooden display case which would make a fantastic jewelry box if one so chose. The box is in absolute mint condition as are the tube boxes. I have included pics of all sides of the wooden display case for your review. Each tube is supplied with a 20 page user manual in four languages, English, French, German, and Japanese. Also included is the factory test certificate, the warranty card and a return mailing envelope for the warranty card.

If sold at the asking price, track-able, insured USPS shipping and PayPal fees are included for buyers in the continental US. For buyers outside the continental US, the difference in shipping costs will be added. If sold below the asking price, track-able, insured USPS shipping and PayPal fees are not included for all buyers. PayPal fees are 3% for US buyers and 4% for non US buyers according to PayPal's published rates. PayPal eCheck preferred.

I currently have no Head-Fi feedback but I have extensive eBay feedback and some Audiogon feedback. My eBay user name is rastek_research and my Audiogon user name is Rastek.

Please PM with any questions, requests for additional pics, my phone number or any offers. Local pickup is available, however cash upon delivery would be preferred, please PM for my home address if picking up locally.

I am also selling a Sony MDR-R10 and the amplifier I have used to drive it which is a David Berning prototype MacroZotl 3W Class A speaker/headphone tube amp with a tube switching power supply. David tells me there is only one of these amps in existence as he decided not to place the MacroZotl into production. Also for sale is a Sony MDR-CD3000 and an EarMax Anniversary headphone amp.:.