Charles, I'm so glad that the Aqua II has been such a good performer for you. For me too, in all my components, I just can't keep them out.

It's such a shame about the Cryotone rectifiers. Have you reached out to Don about some recompense?

Well after living with the SEWE300b for a year, I started comparing a few 300b amps I have, and a few I borrowed. The Sarah revived my interest in the 300b. I have had a 300b amp in some form for over 25 years. The Sarah has been my favorite after all this time. I have since found a new favorite and here they are.

These have cobalt/M4 Magnequest TFA-2004JR parallel feed output transformers, M4 EXO-003 plate chokes, Magnequest filament chokes, Mundorf and Auricap coupling caps, Cardas posts and jacks. These use a 5965, and either a 2a3-40 or a 2.5v 300b. They are dead quiet, have amazing bass I did not know I was missing, and retain all the magical spaciousness, staging, and detail I became used to with the Sarah. These were built by my friend and chief tech at Bottlehead Paul Birkeland. There is one more that will be heard soon. It is a James Burgess built 300b amp with a separate power supply based on the Kumuro circuit.
Fun times, and interesting results from over ten 300b amps in the last year.