Text and photos by Juan C. Ayllon CHICAGOLAND -- It was a teenager in 1977 when seven-time Mr. Olympia winner Arnold Schwarzenegger -- also a burgeoning actor at the time -- denounced my hero, Steve Reeves. Bodybuilding was as socially acceptable as midget wrestling, but wanting muscles, I mail-ordered the Universal 12 Week Bodybuilding Course. It worked. Then on a hot summers night in Greenbriar Elementary's parking lot, former classmates Troy and Jeff took drags from their cigarettes and, looking around, slipped the over-sized book, Pumping Iron, out of a paper bag and showed me photos of Arnold. My mind blown, I became addicted to weights, muscle magazines, protein powders and the annual Midwest Open Bodybuilding Championships -- which I attended all four years of high school (I actually met Arnold when he guest posed there). "All my friends were more impressed by Steve Reeves, but I didn’t like him," he wrote in Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder. "[Mr. Universe] Reg Park had more of a rough look, a powerful look while Steve Reeves seemed elegant, smooth, polished. I knew in my mind that I was not geared for elegance. I wanted to be massive. It was the difference between cologne and sweat." (Schwarzenegger) That always stuck with me. Fast forward to 2018: my bodybuilding days long past, I am now obsessed with audio and frustrated with my vintage RCA Radiotron 45 tubes that have become a tad noisier with constant usage. A pair of them anchored the tube output stage of my Lampizator Lite 7 DAC (which came equipped with standard Emission Labs 45 tubes, but a friend convinced me to replace them with RCAs), imparting a very linear, detailed and sweet presentation on digital music playback. However, they are also a smidgen softer in the bass region than I'd like, so I start looking at other options. Think Steve Reeves. My exploration gradually narrows to 300B power tubes (my DAC can use 45, 2A3, 101D, 245/345, PX-4 or 242 tubes, as well). I reach out to Lampizator North America's Fred Ainsley, a hulking African American attorney and former bodybuilder (imagine that!) who tells me to get the Shuguang 300B-98B Mesh which are so loved at Lampizator that when their president, Lukasz Fikus, shipped their $30,000 Pacific DAC to a reviewer, he packed these tubes with it. I mention my new find to a speaker builder who claims the best Shuguang 300B tubes are the Globes. "They are very special -- the best!" he enthuses. I have a hard time locating them, so he sends me a link to a site out of Poland. However, their cost is higher than I'd like and despite looking for a couple weeks, I cannot locate them elsewhere. I give up. Locating a China-based supplier via Albiba.com, I purchase a matched pair of their Export Grade Shuguang 300B-98B tubes for roughly $230 and they arrive via DHL several days later. I note that the mesh anode is coated in a graphite emulsion, as I'd read online. True enough, they play several decibels louder and have a slightly darker, thicker presentation through the bass region than the RCAs, while still packing plenty of detail. They sound massive, as Arnold would say and, not surprising, I like them a lot! Think Global I am enjoying my find when another friend, Joe, tells me that he's got a pair of the Shuguang 300B Globes through an industry connection (costing roughly $300 a pair with shipping, they're built by a small, hard to find factory in China, he says) and that they indeed are truly amazing. He not only lends them, but also the more costly Sophia Electric 300B Mesh Plates ($750 a pair) and Sophia Electric Royal Princess 300B's ($1,200 a pair). Encased in lovely wooden cases, he hands them off with the Globes in a plastic grocery bag. "Just make sure you don't drop them," he cautions. True enough, the Shuguang 300B Mesh Globes sound very, very good with a sonic signature somewhere between that of my 300B-98B Meshes and the RCA 45s; they have similar weightiness to my Shuguangs, but are also a little more defined through the treble region. I am impressed. Sophia Princess -- Who? About a week later, I try out the Sophia Royal Princesses. Wow. They not only are thick, but very lush at all levels of the sound spectrum. The French horn in Michael Frank's "Alone at Night" (Passion Fruit album) sounds rich and effusive; enhanced shimmer in the din of high hats emerge. I listen to various jazz and pop selections streaming on Qobuz and come away amazed. These truly are remarkable tubes, I think, but $1,200? The next day, the Sophia Electric 300B Princess mesh tubes are warming up. Listening closely, I note that they seem very, very detailed — accentuating the treble. Thirty minutes later, they are settling in a bit at the high end. It has a slightly lighter touch, more similar to the RCA Radiotron 45 in its high mids and treble region while a little less weight on the high, mid and lower bass. Cassandra Wilson's New Moon Daughter 44.1kHz ripped CD sounds more analytical and treble balanced than the others -- save, perhaps, the RCA 45s. Summing Up By comparison, the Sophia Electric Royal Princesses are more lush through the midrange, upper and lower bass while the Shuguang 300B Globe Mesh struck a very nice balance of treble detail and upper bass fullness. In a way, the Globes sound very similar to the significantly more expensive Royal Princesses. I just put my Shuguang 300B 98B Mesh tubes back in the Lampizator. Wow. Honestly, I really, really like these a LOT. They are fuller through the mid and high bass than the Sophia Electric 300B Mesh, a tad darker in the highs but still packing plenty of detail. Their effect reminds me of when Destination Audio’s Sam Wisniewski (another former bodybuilder -- what is it with us obsessive types?) substituted his proprietary DAC for my Lite 7 DAC in my system, bringing a little darker, weightier, more visceral presentation to the music. Listening again to Cassandra Wilson with them, as opposed to the Sophia Mesh, is more enthralling for me. Now the Sophia Royal Princesses were perhaps king here with its rich, luscious and balanced presentation, with the the Shuguang Globes right there just a tad behind, but I don’t know. I like the rich and somewhat thick imaging of my 300B 98B. Borrowing Schwarzenegger's line, it’s the difference between sweat and cologne. Sometimes sweat is a good thing. Associated Software and Equipment
Work Cited Schwarzenegger, Arnold. Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder. Simon & Schuster, 1977.
4 Comments
O_o scar Johnson
3/6/2019 10:22:51 am
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3/6/2019 11:32:35 am
Hi Oscar,
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3/6/2019 11:37:06 am
Hi Oscar,
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Oscar Johnson
3/6/2019 12:11:43 pm
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Juan C. AyllonA writer, artist, educator and owner of Prairie Audio Man Cave, he lives with his wife, Isabel (AKA Belle), and their Goldendoodle, Liam, enjoys listening to high fidelity music and all things hi-fi at their home in the greater Chicagoland area.. Archives
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