Hey mk60,

Since no one else has replied.....might as well throw in my two cents.  

Several weeks ago Steve Deckert said "I am pleased to announce that we have our own 300B tube now. It comes as a result of over a year of testing. It is my pick/favorite sound of my collection. All of the tubes I've been testing are great with the WE300B leading the way followed by the Cryotone, but the WE300B is super transparent and neutral, and the Cyrotone is bold and dynamic. Both are also pricey. I wanted something a bit more laid back with a more addictive midrange and  less expensive. These are my ear candy 300B tubes. They make you want to listen because they have just the right color."  

Steve favors the Western Electric due to its transparency and neutrality.  Interestingly, that's pretty much the way I described the difference between Western Electric 300Bs and Sophia Electric Classic 300Bs a year or so ago.  Both are fantastic tubes, but the WE's transparency very well may place it as the tube to beat among the high dollar 300B contenders.  That's the way I hear it, for what it's worth.  

Hi Lon. What version of the Black Treasure tubes do you have? I believe that the current version has what looks like a grouping of three upside down As without overt Chinese lettering and the prior version had no upside down As but had Chinese lettering. I would love to see a picture of your tube. Thanks for all of your impressions!

Thanks Lon. I was hoping that these were the ones because they are reasonably priced.

Hey Lon, thanks for the tiip.  I may give the Z's a shot.

It is interesting how different we all are and our rooms and systems and preferences. I find the Black Treasure 300B-Z to be more organic and full sounding than the Cryotone 300B-WC and was able to afford three pairs of the 300B-Z for what I sold my 300B-WC for. And I moved away from a nearly full complement of Cryotone tubes in the SEWE300B to a complement without any Cryotone tubes. My least favorite Cryotone tubes so far have been their rectifiers.

In my experience it is not seeking a certain sound signature as much as it is power treatment, cabling differences and ultimately the room, size, whether it can be treated and is treated, etc. These differences define the system in disctinct ways.

There are many ways to skin the audio cat.

Oh I agree completely.

It's astonishing how much you can hear with this amp. Charles let me borrow his pair of Takatsuki 300B and I immediately liked them but preferred the Cryotone and even the Sophia Electric, and that experience, the way Steve compared the WE and Cryotone, and the high price made me cross off trying the WE300B. And Will sent me a pair of the Black Treasure 300B-Z to try and I was shocked at how perfect they were with my preferred tube complements.

There are so many great choices that one can certainly find the tailoring that one prefers. And the field and scope of the room really matters immensely. And backup tubes are fun to seek out as well.