[Xcalibur255]

Just wanted to share my experience with KR here...somewhat related to your situation.

I bought a pair of KR KT150 tubes from an authorized distributor and one of the tubes suffered heater failure the 2nd time it was ever turned on. Both tubes had obvious quality issues, in the one whose heater failed the filament had fallen below the slot in the mica that was meant to hold it in place, and on the other tube the tabs holding the mica to the glass were broken and loose letting the entire structure of the tube rattle around inside. Possibly they had a very rough journey in shipping, but they were well packed and, again, brand new from an authorized seller. KR wouldn't help me, directing me to the seller. The seller answered an initial inquiry saying "of course we'll replace them under warranty" then I never heard from them again. They ghosted me on all communications after that initial response. That was the first and only time in this hobby I've had to open a dispute against a charge and pursue resolution on the financial institution side because nobody involved would do the right thing.

KR tubes look so tempting, but after this experience I'll never try to buy a pair of them again. These things are too expensive to gamble on like this.

 

[walterboss]

what is this beauty right here?? Wowza!

RIP Auris. You were once a maker of beautiful amps. I see that's no longer the case.

 

[ThanatosVI]

so what you're saying is you could buy tubes from elrog for your wa33, and if it dies within a year you have no chance of a warranty claim? i don't think this rule is stated on the elrog site so i'd be interested to know more about how this works.

I don't have a Wa33 so I can't tell from experience, you'd have to ask in the Wa33 thread.

I assume he usually asks which amp you want to use the tubes in when you order (and you can't order without direct email exchange, no webshop or anything)
If you tell him Woo Wa33, he either won't sell to you at all or notify you that this amp doesn't run them in correct spec during startup and that it will void warranty. However you'd have to ask in the Wa33 thread if you want to know how it actually is.

At least that's where I read that the Wa33 is sort of on a warranty blacklist

 

[ThanatosVI]

Actually, I've heard pretty good things lately from both of those two companies honoring their warranties

I really hope that's true, since I want to get some WE300B at some point.

 

[dynamic headphones]

I don't have a Wa33 so I can't tell from experience, you'd have to ask in the Wa33 thread.

I assume he usually asks which amp you want to use the tubes in when you order (and you can't order without direct email exchange, no webshop or anything)
If you tell him Woo Wa33, he either won't sell to you at all or notify you that this amp doesn't run them in correct spec during startup and that it will void warranty. However you'd have to ask in the Wa33 thread if you want to know how it actually is.

At least that's where I read that the Wa33 is sort of on a warranty blacklist

elrog does have some authorised dealers so i'm curious how it's handled if you just directly ordered from an authorised dealers site.

 

[ThanatosVI]

elrog does have some authorised dealers so i'm curious how it's handled if you just directly ordered from an authorised dealers site.

There are no authorised dealers anymore, only direct sales World wide. This used to be different.

 

[ChJL]

what is this beauty right here?? Wowza!

Ha, beauty... well I guess most folks on here are more fond of Auris' previous designs.

I just posted it because this thread started as:
"The hunt for ALL!!! 300B tube amps". Also Alex from RAAL mentioned it on the first few pages on Immanis/Magna thread...
Now this morphed into a mostley EE 300B (Envy, Elrog) thread. Envy 25AE, 4k Elrog... sure why not.

I'm out "hunting" for this one:
https://iconaudio.com/hp205d-headphone-amplifier-hp205d

now it can be used with 300Bs as well but Icon consider 205Ds as upgrade. I guess because it was designed to preferably use it with them.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Ha, beauty... well I guess most folks on here are more fond of Auris' previous designs.

I just posted it because this thread started as:
"The hunt for ALL!!! 300B tube amps". Also Alex from RAAL mentioned it on the first few pages on Immanis/Magna thread...
Now this morphed into a mostley EE 300B (Envy, Elrog) thread. Envy 25AE, 4k Elrog... sure why not.

I'm out "hunting" for this one:
https://iconaudio.com/hp205d-headphone-amplifier-hp205d


now it can be used with 300Bs as well but Icon consider 205Ds as upgrade. I guess because it was designed to preferably use it with them.

All these years in the hobby and I've never seen that one before

 

[ChJL]

All these years in the hobby and I've never seen that one before

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/icon-audio-hp205d.972137/
looks like @ardbeg1975 uses it and
@geoffalter11 mentioned it in the headamp CFA3 thread

So many skilled folks, craftsman in this hobby...

 

[geoffalter11]

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/icon-audio-hp205d.972137/
looks like @ardbeg1975 uses it and
@geoffalter11 mentioned it in the headamp CFA3 thread

So many skilled folks, craftsman in this hobby...

Yes he does. He is a friend and I can proudly say that it was my recommendation for him to buy the 205D. Our goal was to buy them together as I also want one, but he could afford to do it before me. The 205D is the oldest DHT tube still in production. The original 205Ds were made by Western Electric from 1926-1934. Finding originals is next to impossible, so Icon made the amp to take either 205Ds or 300Bs. The new production 205Ds has the same pin sizing as the 300B. However, the original 205Ds do not and need a UX4 connector to be used in that amp. Icon makes amazing products.

 

[ardbeg1975]

Yes he does. He is a friend and I can proudly say that it was my recommendation for him to buy the 205D. Our goal was to buy them together as I also want one, but he could afford to do it before me. The 205D is the oldest DHT tube still in production. The original 205Ds were made by Western Electric from 1926-1934. Finding originals is next to impossible, so Icon made the amp to take either 205Ds or 300Bs. The new production 205Ds has the same pin sizing as the 300B. However, the original 205Ds do not and need a UX4 connector to be used in that amp. Icon makes amazing products.

The Icon is stunning running NOS WE205Ds. I’m testing out the “maximum thoriated glow” setup, i.e. ER300B-MOs + ER274B rectifier, tomorrow.

 

[kkrazik2008]

Ha, beauty... well I guess most folks on here are more fond of Auris' previous designs.

I just posted it because this thread started as:
"The hunt for ALL!!! 300B tube amps". Also Alex from RAAL mentioned it on the first few pages on Immanis/Magna thread...
Now this morphed into a mostley EE 300B (Envy, Elrog) thread. Envy 25AE, 4k Elrog... sure why not.

I'm out "hunting" for this one:
https://iconaudio.com/hp205d-headphone-amplifier-hp205d


now it can be used with 300Bs as well but Icon consider 205Ds as upgrade. I guess because it was designed to preferably use it with them.

I like your way to re-focus the thread. Here is my 300B headphone/speaker amp and not using Elrog 300B, although I do own an Elrog rectifier but not for use in this amp:

I’ve taken to calling this amp “The Beast”

 

[dynamic headphones]

@kkrazik2008 we need a pic of your amp with the lights off...

 

[kkrazik2008]

@kkrazik2008 we need a pic of your amp with the lights off...

I will see what I can do tonight, maybe will switch the EML 300B mesh for a nice glow

 

[nwavesailor]

Yes, a longer than 365 day warranty would be nice.

With 0 control of how the 300b are used in a particular circuit I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect 5 years. I’ve read too many horror stories about the EML 5 year warranty.

If WE replaces any bad tube (?) during the entire 5 year warranty that’s pretty good.

I do hope my TM 300b last a long time!

I don’t think I’m buying a ‘backup’ TM pair