User Reviews/Feedback for Sophia Electric Classic 300B Tubes

Received date: June 28, 2016 

Hi Sue:

Just wanted to give you my additional thoughts on the Classic 300B tubes. In the past few weeks I have listened jazz, orchestral, chamber and vocal music and I have to say these tubes offer a level of listening pleasure I have not experienced before in my listening room. You are correct that these are perfect for a 300B push pull amp. No matter what cd I played I sat mesmerized. Recordings that I am very familiar with sounded new and alive. CDs do not sound like digital 1s and 0s but live music. I don't hear electronic artifacts and not once have I experienced fatigue or a sense of separation from the performers. What is really astonishing to me is how passionate performances sound with these tubes in my amps. I not only hear the realistic sound of a voice or a quartet or an orchestra but I can see in my mind's eye real human beings bringing a piece of music alive. There is a human element to performances that is deeply satisfying and so often missing in reproduced sound. If someone wants to hear living breathing human beings making music in their music room, I recommend they try these tubes. They really are something special.

Jim, Washington, D.C.

Received date: June 20, 2016 

First impressions on Aqua 274B and Classic 300B...

The Aqua 274B rectifier is a beautiful sounding tube period! I rolled that one first using the existing 300B (don't know it's manufacturer) and brought LIFE back into this older Sophia...detail, clarity and soundstage was just brilliant. Next I rolled the Classic 300B, it refined the sound, broaden the soundstage...great tube.

And these are not broken in yet, so looking forward to the next step in sound/music.

System components:

Sophia Electric 91-01 monos
Audible Illusions L1 tube pre amp
Spatial Audio M-4 speakers

Sources:

Apple AirExpress with iTunes
Avid Ingenum turntable with Ortofon 2m Black - Lehmann Statement phono stage
JA Michel GyroDec with ZYX R-100 - PS Audio

ChrisC in Littleton CO

Received date: June 9, 2016

My review after 100 hours:

Voices, voices, voices! The new Sophia Electric Classic 300B tubes are fantastic for vocals. Comparing to my previous favorite pair, the "Genalex Gold-Lion PX300b", it's like lifting off a filter and invite the artist to my living room. When I close my eyes to listen, I feel that the Sophia Electric's sounds incredibly natural and kind of spooky. I never heard anything like this before.

It is very important to give the tubes more than 100 hours break-in time. Right out of the box the voices did sound a bit hard, so be patient, it will sound better in a few hours. The soundstage is very detailed and everything is natural and warm. The Genalex are also very good tubes, I prefer Genalex for some instrumental classical music. As of today, Sophia Electric new Classic 300B tubes are my number one pair of 300b tubes (I have 4 pairs of different brand 300B tubes to compare with). Thanks for giving me the feeling of closer contact to the soul of the artists that I love.

Music used for test "Classic 300b" vs. "PX300b":

1.Palladians - The Devil's Trill - Flac 24/88 (Linn Records)

2.Paul Simon - Graceland (25th Anniversary Edition) - Flac 24/96 (Legacy Acoutic Sounds)

3.Eric Bibb - Blues, Ballads & Work Songs - Flac 24/88 (Opus 3)

4.Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline - 2x45rpm Vinyl (Mofi)

My equipment:

Amp: Audion Silvernight 300b MK2/b with Genalex E88CC driver tubes

Speakers: Ino Audio piPs

Turntable: Rega P25 with Ortofon 2M Black

Riaa: Rega Aria

Dac: Rega DAC-R

Peter Skoglund, Sweden

Received date: May 25, 2016

My initial response is that the Classic 300B tubes have a quality that I find very appealing but I have only listened to some small ensemble and acoustic recordings. No Mahler, Shostakovich or Tchaikovsky yet. With my limited listening I have been struck by how human performances sound and feel. I hear not only all the things important to audiophiles like soundstage, tonal balance, timing, pace, etc. but I am aware of human beings creating music. This was most striking when I played the cd of Grieg songs sung by Anne Sophie von Otter. I not only heard her voice beautifully rendered but I could sense her human presence in the room with me. Her voice was more human than I have ever heard before.

Jim, Washington, D.C.