[jambaj0e]

The buzz traveled with the we300b tube! I swapped them, and the weird noise traveled to the right channel! On both the headphone and speaker, the noise is now on the right channel, not left! Next thing I'll have to do is take the WE300b out completely.

 

[jambaj0e]

@Andykong while I wait for the tubes to cool down, is there still a chance there's something to be checked out internally with the HA-300?

 

[jambaj0e]

Ok, so far so good with the stock TJ Full Music tubes. I really hope that this problem is now behind me and I will get a replacement Western Electric 300b tubes soon. Ugh, so disappointed that this happened, though.

 

[Andykong]

@Andykong while I wait for the tubes to cool down, is there still a chance there's something to be checked out internally with the HA-300?

Other then checking the fuse inside the HA-300, we don't recommend user to check out anything internally with HA-300, that's liability issue. Since your HA-300 is driving the headphones without any problem, it doesn't related to the fuse.

The buzz traveled with the we300b tube! I swapped them, and the weird noise traveled to the right channel! On both the headphone and speaker, the noise is now on the right channel, not left! Next thing I'll have to do is take the WE300b out completely.

I was under the assumption that you have fall back to previous tubes and the only changes were interconnects and power cord. If the noise shift from left to right when you swap the 300B tubes, then the tubes are suspicious.

 

[jambaj0e]

Other then checking the fuse inside the HA-300, we don't recommend user to check out anything internally with HA-300, that's liability issue. Since your HA-300 is driving the headphones without any problem, it doesn't related to the fuse.



I was under the assumption that you have fall back to previous tubes and the only changes were interconnects and power cord. If the noise shift from left to right when you swap the 300B tubes, then the tubes are suspicious.

I still don't even know how to check the fuse inside, lol, nor would I want to open it myself.

And yeah, I didn't have time to swap the 300bs until last night when I had more time. So you think I should be OK to use my new power cable, then? I'd assume if it was bad, it would've affected a whole lot more of the system, rather than just one tube...

Also, just got this email from Western Electric's support: "Based on the detail you've given us, you may have what we call a "leaker," or gassy tube. This problem can be quite difficult to detect during final inspection and sometimes goes for years without notice. "

 

[Andykong]

If the amplifier runs stable with another set of 300B tubes, then the new 300B tube probably is the primary suspect.

I didn't know any detail about your power cord, so I can't make any judgement at this point. Can't image your hum is caused by a bad power cord. Common problem with power cords are wrong connection or bad connection, or low voltage leaks to the chassis of the amplifier, nothing like the problem you have encountered.

 

[jambaj0e]

If the amplifier runs stable with another set of 300B tubes, then the new 300B tube probably is the primary suspect.

I didn't know any detail about your power cord, so I can't make any judgement at this point. Can't image your hum is caused by a bad power cord. Common problem with power cords are wrong connection or bad connection, or low voltage leaks to the chassis of the amplifier, nothing like the problem you have encountered.

That's what I suspect, too, especially given it affected one channel and the problem followed the WE 300b when I swapped channel and ultimately removed the WE300b completely from the system.

 

[llamaluv]

I feel like I should have asked this a long time ago, but out of curiosity, what is the output impedance when the impedance switch is at L, M, and H, and for XLR and SE outputs respectively?

Thanks.

 

[jambaj0e]

I feel like I should have asked this a long time ago, but out of curiosity, what is the output impedance when the impedance switch is at L, M, and H, and for XLR and SE outputs respectively?

Thanks.

The impedance is at M, which is where my Audeze LCD-3 is happiest at. This is for both XLR and SE, although I only use the XLR.

 

[llamaluv]

The impedance is at M, which is where my Audeze LCD-3 is happiest at. This is for both XLR and SE, although I only use the XLR.

I was asking about the impedance rating in ohms of the HA-300 when at the three impedance positions for the SE and XLR outputs.

I probably should have at'ed @Andykong in my question above...

 

[jambaj0e]

So in the ongoing saga of my Western Electric 300b, I got my replacement WE300b yesterday, and put them into my HA-300, which has been running dead silent w/ the stock TJ Full Music 300b when no music's playing. Sadly, the left channel tube (the working original WE300b) does have a low-volume radio static kind of noise that's particularly notable in the first 10-15 minutes, although it can kinda come back later, but much harder to hear.

The replacement 300b does not make this noise.

Last night, right before I went to sleep and with all the lights off, I noticed that the WE300b gives out a glow, so I took this photo from my phone (Huawei P40 Pro rocks in low light!). I sent that photo as well as what I'm hearing from the original tube to Western Electric's support.

They called me the next day. Turns out Western Electric 300b suppose to have a blue glow, BUT only in the top portion just like the replacement tube on the right. The glowing gas in the left meant that it's leaking or something because that gas is spreading downward. So they told me to send another RMA and they'll send me another replacement tube.

Other than the low, low level noise from the left channel tube, the tubes do sound great, and the support and warranty from Western Electric is world class. 5 years warranty with 90 day return goes a long way to keep me as their client. I'm looking forward to the 2nd replacement tube.

 

[ThanatosVI]

So in the ongoing saga of my Western Electric 300b, I got my replacement WE300b yesterday, and put them into my HA-300, which has been running dead silent w/ the stock TJ Full Music 300b when no music's playing. Sadly, the left channel tube (the working original WE300b) does have a low-volume radio static kind of noise that's particularly notable in the first 10-15 minutes, although it can kinda come back later, but much harder to hear.

The replacement 300b does not make this noise.

Last night, right before I went to sleep and with all the lights off, I noticed that the WE300b gives out a glow, so I took this photo from my phone (Huawei P40 Pro rocks in low light!). I sent that photo as well as what I'm hearing from the original tube to Western Electric's support.

They called me the next day. Turns out Western Electric 300b suppose to have a blue glow, BUT only in the top portion just like the replacement tube on the right. The glowing gas in the left meant that it's leaking or something because that gas is spreading downward. So they told me to send another RMA and they'll send me another replacement tube.

Other than the low, low level noise from the left channel tube, the tubes do sound great, and the support and warranty from Western Electric is world class. 5 years warranty with 90 day return goes a long way to keep me as their client. I'm looking forward to the 2nd replacement tube.

Thanks for sharing these impressions.
A welcome difference to EML warranty

 

[UntilThen]

Blue glow from some 300b tubes are not uncommon. Genelax Gold Lion 300b tubes have blue glow too.

Kudos to WE for their outstanding warranty support but I'm concern that you'll be on your 2nd replacements of WE 300b tubes.

 

[jambaj0e]

Blue glow from some 300b tubes are not uncommon. Genelax Gold Lion 300b tubes have blue glow too.

Kudos to WE for their outstanding warranty support but I'm concern that you'll be on your 2nd replacements of WE 300b tubes.

Yeah, he said perhaps the batch that I got both tubes had issues, so even though they have tested electronically and with computer matching, things like this don't show up until a decent amount of hours are burnt in (about 50 hours before problems occurred on both original tubes).

 

[jambaj0e]

And then this happened. My buddy @kyle1010 brought over not only his week old Abyss Ab-1266 TC Headphone (worth a cool $5000) with the Danacable Lazuli Ultra cables, but also his Innuos Zenith mk3 streamer and Chord M Scaler with Wave Storm BNC cables.

With my system before the Zenith and M Scaler, my Audeze Lcd-3 sounds quite amazing, but the Abyss brought a whole new level of clarity, detail, and separation that I didn't know was missing.

The Lcd-3 did sound a bit more sweeter and slightly more soulful in the vocals, though, but that is until we added the M Scaler and the Zenith into the mix.

What we discovered was that the gap between the two headphones expanded considerably. It's as if was 80% as good ad the Abyss, and now it's only 60% as good. The Abyss clearly scales much better when you started adding even more high end components into the mix.

There is a strong sense of confidence with where everything this is in the music spatially and clarity wise. For example, I thought the lcd-3 does a fine job with guitars, but the Abyss really shows when the guitarists play the steel VS nylon strings. You really can discern the difference. Everything just sounds more effortless, even when the layers of music got busier. Voice sounds even more alive and in your room VS just between the headphones.

That's also if you go through single-ended, as we found out right away the XLR jack makes the Abyss sound a bit distorted.

Single ended on high impedance is the best combination, and I can comfortably hear at around 65-70% volume level to match what I usually hear on the lcd-3.

In short, the Abyss Ab-1266 TC truly is an endgame headphone, and as long as you have enough power, it can really flex its muscle as you scale your components up.