User Feedback for S.E.T. Princess™ 300B Mesh Plate Tubes - By Lew, Vivaldi Audio (November 2005)

Hi Sue,

Just wanted to fire off a quick note regarding the Princess 300bs I just received from you.

First off, the customer service was as good as it gets, thank you.

In the past, I have used the TJ Meshplate 300bs in other amps have always been impressed with them. When I was researching 300bs, the Sophia Electric Princess was mentioned in several posts on the net as being very good, and a step up from the standard balloon style 300bs.

The amps that I am using the Princess 300bs are new to me and came with EH 300bs. Frankly, I was disappointed with the sound of these amps with the EH 300bs -- somewhat depressed over their performance and feeling that amps were not quite as good as I had hoped. Of course you can imagine my angst over my situation.

So, after reading all I could on the net on the various 300B offerings, I settled on the WE 300bs, the KR 300bs, the TJ 300bs and the Sophia Electric Princess 300bs, I took the plunge and ordered the Sophias.

Now, obviously I haven't compared them in these amps with anything other than the EH 300bs, so, I don't know if I could have done better with any of the other tubes I was considering.

That being said, I simply have to shout:

The Sophia Electric Princess 300bs are absolutely wonderful.

Right out of the box they absolutely demolished the EH 300bs. Wide open dynamic presentation, lush midranges, silky highs, tons of weight in the bass, in short, all of the wonderful attributes of the 300b tube with just the right amount of 300bness. A fantastic tube.

After a couple of hours of break in, things just got better. You know that something special has occurred when you find your wife rummaging through the old CD shelving, pulling piles of CDs that haven't been played in years, because they weren't satisfying to listen too, and having a marathon listening session till the wee hours.

I couldn't be more thrilled, and I can say with complete candor, that after years of tube rolling, with all different styles and manufacturers of tubes, I have never heard as big an improvement when rolling tubes as I heard with your tube over the Electro Harmonix 300b.

Sincerely,

Lew Hardy
www.vivaldiaudio.com