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Thursday, December 1, 2016

ELROG ER242C - 211 With Molybdenum Plate

Update: We received pre orders for the entire first lot which is planned. So we cannot accept any more pre orders for the ER242C at this time. Another lot will probably be started around October 2017.


Hi!

Since I wrote about the future of the Elrog tubes, I am often asked if there will be new developments. I am very happy to announce a new Elrog tube type, the ER242C, a replica of the Western Electric 242C.




The 242 was first introduced by Western Electric as 242A with metal plate. It was later replaced by the 242B which had a graphite plate. In it's final release as 242C the plate was metal again using molybdenum and with a maximum plate dissipation increased to 100W.




It is basically a 211 with metal plate and increased plate dissipation. It can be used in any 211 amplifier without changes.




The photos show prototypes of the ER242C. These are without the characteristic black area and don't have any printing on the glass yet. The final version will get the same blackened area and the printing, similar to the 211:




Here a close up to show the different plates:




Molybdenum is very difficult to work with. After many trials we came up with a 4 piece plate structure which is assembled together with screws.




In normal operation the plates glow orange:




The plates are intended to be operated like that.




Here the tubes are working in my 801A/211 mono blocks.




Some close ups to the beautiful orange glow:





Quite a sight to behold!




We will do a first limited production run of about 20 pairs next year In February / March. If you are interested to get a pair, we are starting to accept pre-orders for the ELROG ER242C. Due to the difficult forming and assembly process of the molybdenum plate structure, these tubes will have a 50% price premium over the standard ER211.




Orders from within the European Union will be handled directly be us. Please contact me by email or phone. Contact information can be found under the Impressum link.

If you are in  the US or Canada you can buy Elrog tubes and pre-order the ER242C through George Lenz of tubesUSA.

I am happy to announce two new distributors for ELROG tubes:

For China, Hong Kong and Taiwan contact Emmanuel Lebreton.

Robert Lai of Live Acoustics represents Elrog in Singapore.

All other regions will be served directly. If you are interested to represent the Elrog brand in your area, please contact me. I hope to announce more distributors soon.







The sound of the molybdenum plate tubes is beautiful. They improve on the qualities of the ER211 with added ambience and resolution. Of course the subjective sound impression of these can vary between different amplifiers and different people might have different perceptions.




I expect the first batch of ER242C tubes to be reserved very quickly. Depending on demand and feedback from the first users we will occasionally make batches of these and might introduce molybdenum plates also as an option for the ER300B




Stay tuned for more news from the tube factory and for new tube type introductions!


Best regards

Thomas



14 comments:

  1. Very nice tube! My opinion :
    This 242 Elrog wihout black area is much prettier than the other Elrogs with black areas. I hope we will see Elrog 801 soon ?...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi!
      I am not sure if there will be enough demand for a 801A or 10Y.
      However since I got quite a few questions about it, I will probably consider it and open a pre-order process in a few months. If we get enough firm orders we can make it

      Thomas

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  2. Interessant! Wirds davon auch ein Paar geben, das man eine Woche ausprobieren kann? Sowas gabs mal bei der 211, oder?

    Gruß,
    Daniel

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hallo Daniel,
      wir können davon nur eine begrenzte Anzahl machen. Gemessen an den Anfragen, die ich bereits bekommen habe, erwarte ich, dass die ca 20 Paar die wir planen bald vorbestellt sein werden. Eventuell gibts dann ein halbes Jahr später nochmal ein Produktionslos 242C.

      Viele Grüße

      Thomas

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  3. Ok. Das klingt als würde keine "richtige" Serienproduktion von den Dingern starten?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hallo!
      Diese Variante ist sehr zeitintensiv in der Herstellung. Daher machen wir zunächst nur eine begrenzte Stückzahl. Wir müssen ja auch noch die anderen Röhren produzieren. Je nach dem wie die Nachfrage und das feedback zu der ersten Charge ist, sehen wir zu wie wir die Fertigung der Molybdän-Anoden optimieren können um diese Röhre auch in Serie herzustellen. Die klanglichen Resultate der Prototypen haben mich so begeistert, dass ich diese Geschichte nicht nur als Laborversuch belassen möchte. Gegebenenfalls wäre später auch eine Molybdän-Variante der 300B denkbar.

      Viele Grüße

      Thomas

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  4. Just curious why you chose molybdenum as the material? What special properties does it have? I think I have heard of it being used in X-ray tubes, but I don't associate it's use (except as an alloy) with audio.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Western Electric 242C used molybdenum. We heard claims of superior quality of molybdenum as plates from reputable sources. So we wanted to try it to get out own impression.

      Delete
    2. Ta (Eimac uses) 3290K melt; Mo 2896K pretty close.

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  5. I noticed the WE uses some kind of 'punch-through' method (don't know what the technical name for this is) for securing the two plates together.

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  6. Glad you sold out the first lot. Hope this proves the concept and a moly 300B might be the next candidate... all the best.

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  7. Are there are plans to make an 845 with Mo plate?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hmm... I wonder if it would mesh in a miniature package.... the material restrictions would require even more difficult processing but maybe with the punch through method above it would work.

    ReplyDelete