Audio Note 4300E output tube

Yes
and 10y...I think(actually it’s an ER801a)
wish I could afford them
 
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Audio Note was using Elrog but found the failure rate far too egregious. Audio Note looked into buying Elrog but opted to make their own.

I am waiting for their 2a3 tubes to be made for my Empress Silver amps. With the Jinro (211) I prefered the sound of the PSVANE to the Elrog that cost a lot more money.

Also PSVane made some really nice grey bottle KT88 tubes - I am not a big fan of KT88 but when I heard those tubes in a MasterSound integrated it was pretty amazing.
 
$1k for a pair of tubes is painful. Then again, I've never bought WE tubes, so that might be reasonable. There's a reason I have not dipped my toes into the limpid waters of 300b.
 
$1k for a pair of tubes is painful. Then again, I've never bought WE tubes, so that might be reasonable. There's a reason I have not dipped my toes into the limpid waters of 300b.

Not all WE tubes are high-priced. There are still some real bargains to be had with tubes that haven't been discovered yet. My latest example is the WE 407a which is a dual triode that is essentially the same as the well-regarded and high priced 396a except the 407a has a 40v/20v heater (20v if you use the two sides in parallel). For a DIY project that makes hardly any difference at all---just use a small inexpensive 20v transformer. It runs fine with AC on the heaters. There are 21 407a tubes listed on Ebay right now including a pair of WE 407a tubes for $14.99. How's that for a bargain?

Another example is the 403b which I used for a few years as the input/driver in my 46 amps. I eventually replaced the 403b with a 417a; the 417a sounds better but it is also a lot more expensive. There are also a lot of WE gas regulator tubes which are still available at reasonable prices.

Unfortunately I am not aware of any similar bargains with WE output tubes.
 
Not all WE tubes are high-priced. There are still some real bargains to be had with tubes that haven't been discovered yet. My latest example is the WE 407a which is a dual triode that is essentially the same as the well-regarded and high priced 396a except the 407a has a 40v/20v heater (20v if you use the two sides in parallel). For a DIY project that makes hardly any difference at all---just use a small inexpensive 20v transformer. It runs fine with AC on the heaters. There are 21 407a tubes listed on Ebay right now including a pair of WE 407a tubes for $14.99. How's that for a bargain?
Do you have issues with extraneous AC noise given the high heater voltage?
 
Do you have issues with extraneous AC noise given the high heater voltage?

No noise issues at all. And this is despite the transformer being further from the tube than I had planned. The photo below shows the 20v transformer (the smallest transformer) and the distance from the 407a (the 9-pin socket). There is probably 6-7” of wiring between them. Another factor is the heater current is rather low---100ma.

F6B7691D-1970-4E35-9E85-F2A67D62B588.jpeg
 
You could also use a voltage tripler on a 6.3V winding to make about 20V:
18432
There's a good amount of ripple from a supply like this, but it's completely fine for an indirectly heated tube.
 
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