I would guess if PSA has no issues with their tube supplier and feel if the quality is good enough, I say PSA will just keep using the PSVane. Myself, for new tubes I prefer the Gold Lions. However, that’s on my system. The Psvanes may sound better to the more trained ears at PSA on their reference system.
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Assuming you ordered them from Upscale Audio that means:
Platinum grade - The best of the best. Lowest noise and microphony with the tightest triode balance we have available. This is typically 10% or tighter, but may be higher depending on available stock.
The Gold Lions I got were from Vacuum TubeValues and advertised as a matched, platinum set. There is no documentation to support this, however. I’ve had them a few weeks and I like them better than the stock BHK tubes. They have similar characteristics - quiet and neutral.
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You’re pleased with them and that’s what counts.
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I’m not a fan of Chinese tubes. IMHO based on 30 years of experience the Best source for tubes is Andy Bowman at Vintage Tube Services. They are expensive but will last much longer than the new stuff.
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For as many Psvane tube problems shared by members; and there are
quite a few. Noisy, very short life span and even creating problems in the
equipment itself…
My .02 of biased thinking is that Paul and PS Audio also drop Psvane tubes
altogether and go with new production Gold Lions, Tungsols, Mullards …
even Electro Harmonix would be a safer more reliable quality tube hands
down…
It is quite possible that given the unstable climate surrounding Psvane and country of origin
that they might well be dumping the dregs of their production on us…
Grant Fidelity is to be congratulated for parting ways with Psvane products…
particularly for the reasons given…being bullied by Psvane…
But the handwriting is on the wall regarding them…
Think about it Paul…
Best wishes everyone
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dclark2171…great post and eye opener
Thanks
Maybe reach out to Western Electric, they are operational again and is selling their famous 300B tubes. I’m sure they can design and build a 12au7 to meet PS Audio specifications. I would pay extra for that.
Maybe even work with all audiophile product manufacturers to create a Vacuum Tube Audio Consortium (VTAC) and fund US/Europe based tube production instead of relying on China.
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falling_leaves…
A Western electric 12au7 would be super long lived perhaps topping
a tele…and even top the sq quality…of the tele
Pricing though probably beyond the $$$$ interest reach of most …
Great idea though
I have had good communications with Grant Fidelity - they were quite quick in responding and gave me the info I received.
As for Psvane tubes, I have had a quartet of 845-T-MII/2 Psvane Reference MarkII running for ~4 years. Excellent sonically, rock solid bias.
By contrast I have found their small signal tubes underwhelming, as others have stated here. I’ve had better luck with NOS and new Tungsols.
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Hey madmacs…were you able to get more insight on Grant Fidelity
dropping Psvane tubes?
Thanks madmacs
I see a lot of “replaced stock for Gold Lion” around these forums. This photo was taken 12/7/2019 around the time my BHK 300’s arrived. These are PSA “stock” configuration for my shipment as I’ve not replaced these tubes. When buying replacement tubes on the PSA website they show a picture of PSVANE but don’t actually state what you’ll receive.
Did PSA go from PSV to EH/GL and back to PSV? (BTW, I like the GL/EH’s and have found no reason to replace them with something else).
OK, edit, Are these actually Gold Lion tubes? I’m seeing both this screen printing but I’m also seeing an actual gold lion holding a E88CC sign for GL now. Apologize for my lack of knowledge on tube branding. This tube stuff is still new to me.
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The last time I corresponded with Grant Fidelity was well before them dropping Psvane, and at that point they were still an enthusiastic dealer.
I took what they wrote on their website at more or less face value, and realize if there is more to the story it probably doesn’t affect me.
What does affect me is having sources for 845 which are not astronomically priced NOS and boutique new versions!
I can confirm you that my BHK Preamp just shipped last week from Boulder has the new 12AU7 S model on board. Another thread I opened on this brand new preamp is for ask help to forum members because I hear a white noise I’m trying to reduce, I don’t know if tubes is the main cause or not.
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Of course it’s the tubes.