Psvane - Myth or Reality ?

I am running the ps vane 12ax7 and 12at7 in my carvers and enjoy them a lot. They have a nice balanced sound with excellent bass.
 
tubemaze said:
Hi all, just wanted to share my experience with Psvane 12ax7-T Mark II. Check it out.
Psvane 12ax7-T Mark II

Have you tried them in your system?
Click to expand...
well that doesnt sound like a very good experience. lol. i only use 12ax7's im my preamp and i stick to the mullard or telefunkin, just because ive had great experiences with both. in several preamps. with tubes of all different kinds. always wanted to try out mazdas but never have. my amps use 6sn7's and i plan on getting a pair of psvanes to try out, as well as several others to test out.
i will say im using a brand new pair of psvane 300b's and they dont kill, but are better than the electro harm golds i was using right out of the box, and i still have a long way to go until broken in. but to be honest, im not sure any of these new production tubes of any kind are going to beat out the good old stuff.
i plan to buy both new production and nos until i find the best ones. of all the kinds of tubes i use. .thanks for your findings cause i already thought of trying the psvanes or sophia 12ax7's in my preamp.
 
The Psvane Replica Series is a whole different league. The Mark II (like the original Treasure) is nice. But the Replica Series? Oh boy....huge leap in performance (and sadly, price).
 
I think you are the first person who I have seen that has not liked the ps vane 12ax7. I use them in my cherry 180's and in my Vincent 236mk intergrated.
 
I think..a few things

1) Quality control is important and based on what I read, it is not there
2) Unless someone seriously goes full bore boutique spending millions on equipment, they wont ever match the quality of NOS tubes. Its not nostalgia - they just had the setup to do things right

even today, the Russian plants that make Sovtek and ElectroHarmonix (same plant) can't compare. Its a tube. I don't want "just a tube". I want a tube that has the following:

1) Very low microphonics (zero is great)
2) Balance on both side - no unmatched readings *(by a bad %)
3) Character - the character sound of the tube should reflect the expectations (ie Mullard character vs RCA blackplate character)

None of the new tubes exhibit #3. To me, they just don't have any character. I have tried a variety - including Cryogenic treated (okay, I had to try...lol)
Give me
Mullard
Sylvania
RCA
GE
Amperex
from before 1968 any day...
 
You haven't tried the Replica series....they are superb. The rest - yeah, I will grant you (no pun intended) - there isn't the magic. But the Replica series is outstanding. I've tried the 845, 300b and EL34's. All are terrific.
 
I am not saying they are bad MIke. But they are basically upgraded Shugangs, painted pretty - but I trust your ears. Now, have you tried the NOS equivelant of say the EL34's (I gather the EL34PH you have are Amperex replica's). I saw then on ebay $384 a quad ? The originals go for about the same...but I also saw a sweet of GE el34's...wow...

New Matched Quad 4pcs EL34 6CA7 Genral Electric Power Amplifier Pentode | eBay
 
Hmm..I looked for the Replica series for 12AX7 but they don't have them ...only the treasure series...or I would have ordered a pair to try..
 
I've heard good things about Replica series, never heard them.

About test equipment that was used. 3 amplifiers. 1) Crack headphone amp, 2) McIntosh 275, 3) DIY amp SE (Ultra Linear and Triode).

Here all depends on the sound that's desired - I really like very natural sound with a lot of body and texture - to have life like sound. They sounded more like GE tubes, but even brighter and sharper. I have very warm speakers with McIntosh Vienna Acoustics Beethoven, but even then the tubes just didn't deliver. My opinion - although educated, I tried PRACTICALLY every single tube that has ever been made, remember I sell them and have access to practically everything - is just my opinion. Considering the price, I just don't think they worth it.
 
tubemaze said:
I've heard good things about Replica series, never heard them.

About test equipment that was used. 3 amplifiers. 1) Crack headphone amp, 2) McIntosh 275, 3) DIY amp SE (Ultra Linear and Triode).

Here all depends on the sound that's desired - I really like very natural sound with a lot of body and texture - to have life like sound. They sounded more like GE tubes, but even brighter and sharper. I have very warm speakers with McIntosh Vienna Acoustics Beethoven, but even then the tubes just didn't deliver. My opinion - although educated, I tried PRACTICALLY every single tube that has ever been made, remember I sell them and have access to practically everything - is just my opinion. Considering the price, I just don't think they worth it.
Click to expand...

i agree 100% , which is the reason i dont buy sold state anything. every kind of tube offers different type of sound ,and its the listeners oppinon on what they like the best, or what you think goes best in your current equipment. solid state your stuck with what you buy.lol. it may be awesome sounding but boring to me. people told me not to sell my mullards and put telefunkins in my preamp,well a matched $600 quad of diamond bottoms later i thought they were the best of the 4 or 5 types i tried in there. really punches through the warm liquidiness of the hovland sound.
TUBES RULE!!!!
 
ohbythebay said:
I think..a few things

1) Quality control is important and based on what I read, it is not there
2) Unless someone seriously goes full bore boutique spending millions on equipment, they wont ever match the quality of NOS tubes. Its not nostalgia - they just had the setup to do things right

even today, the Russian plants that make Sovtek and ElectroHarmonix (same plant) can't compare. Its a tube. I don't want "just a tube". I want a tube that has the following:

1) Very low microphonics (zero is great)
2) Balance on both side - no unmatched readings *(by a bad %)
3) Character - the character sound of the tube should reflect the expectations (ie Mullard character vs RCA blackplate character)

None of the new tubes exhibit #3. To me, they just don't have any character. I have tried a variety - including Cryogenic treated (okay, I had to try...lol)
Give me
Mullard
Sylvania
RCA
GE
Amperex
from before 1968 any day...
Click to expand...

I have to agree with you on character. My current DAC and my former Van Alstine preamp used 6CG7's and I have to say that the current Electro-Harmonix suck in comparison to my Raytheon, Sylvania and Tung Sols Black Plates from the 1950's which also sound better than the highly overrated RCA Clear Tops. The 6CG7's from the 1950's has some warmth, a hint of darkness and transparency but each had a unique sound and character.
 
Its all part of the fun though...trying different tubes...and finding 1 or 2 sets that really make you say "ahhh..that's the one"...

It took me 12 tube tryouts to find the top 2 for my Tube DAC

It took me over a dozen pairs of 12AX7 and 5751's to get the right top 2 pairs....but the journey is half the fun....
 
ohbythebay said:
Its all part of the fun though...trying different tubes...and finding 1 or 2 sets that really make you say "ahhh..that's the one"...

It took me 12 tube tryouts to find the top 2 for my Tube DAC

It took me over a dozen pairs of 12AX7 and 5751's to get the right top 2 pairs....but the journey is half the fun....
Click to expand...

I went through about a dozen sets to find a few that I liked. What drove me crazy was that even though both my preamp and DAC used the same type of tube, they needed different brands in each to get the sound that I liked.
 
Mike, I'm new to this forum, so excuse if you've been asked about the Psvane replica WE300B. I'm in the process of 'almost' buying for my Shindo. Have had excellent experience with Psvane from GF including EL34PH and 845 plus others.
Have you managed to listen to the 300B - if so how do you reckon they rate out of 10?

peter
 
Welcome Peter. Comparing the WE300B to the GoldLion and Psvane T2, the WE300B is on another level.


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