Good review video. I rolled PSVANE KT88 Treasures in my Quicksilver Horn Mono to replace Tesla EL34 that were shipped with the amps. I also have JJ6l6 I can roll in. Of the 3 the PSVANE are well balanced. More bass. Rich sound. The PSVANE are currently in and will stay in. Led Zeppelin debut deluxe 2014 remastered Dazed and Confused Live vinyl sounds like I'm in the front row!
If you like the warmer sound of Mullard, may I suggest the Psvane Art series tubes. They are both from Psvane's "select" level of tube quality below ACME. I can only speak for 12AU7, but I have both the Art series and the Horizon 12AU7 and the Art series are a lot more warmer sounding. My fave combo in my Muzishare X7 was Psvane Art series 12AU7s and a NoS Telefunken ECC83, but I'm kinda liking the Horizon 12AU7s with a NoS Mullard 163 in the 12AX7 slot. The warmer Art series calms the top-endy Telefunken, but in the other combo the more neutral Horizons brighten up the warmer NoS Mullard 12AX7. I've tried most of the new production preamp tubes, but always fall back to the Psvanes. Definitely the best sounding new production tubes around. Great review thank you 👍
Wow what is old is new again. Being of a certain age, I certainly remember the old RCA Black and white TV we had, when I was 6. The tubes on that would go all the time, dad, would pull the tubes out of the back, with my mom yelling at him, “don’t forget when you pulled them from Bill, write it down”. Then we would go down to the local store, or drug store, use the in store tube tester, then buy the right tubes for the broken ones. Of course when we got our first color tv, dad was not allowed to mess with those tubes, cause of the price of the darn thing, that was for the repair man. Back in those days, they sold tubes everywhere, drug stores, department stores, electronic stores. Fun times, and good memories of hanging with Dad.
Hey Greg! Your memory strikes a chord with me. I remember in 1978 for the world premier of the Incredible Hulk tv series our tv blew a tube and my dad rushed us to a local store and bought a replacement and we made it back within 30 minutes of the show. He was the hero that night!! Thanks for reminding of that.
Affording tubes has changed for me. My local military surplus warehouse just closed its doors the end of last month. About a month before that a guy came (an online tube seller) and bought the "entire stock" of tubes they had. We are talking thousands of tubes. Most of their tubes were pulls but you could test them. They let me test them myself whenever I went there. But the buyer didn't get all the tubes. The place is huge and there were some pockets of tubes in a few places. The final auction for everything else that is there is next week. I went last week and asked if I could could still buy any tubes I found that I wanted. The guy said sure. I found an empty box that was around 1 foot x 2 foot by 16inches and filled it with 6bg6 and 6as7g/6080 tubes, over 200 tubes. Not the most desired tubes in the world but I have convertor sockets for the 6bg6 tubes to use in my 6L6 amps and I have one amp that uses 6as7 tubes. All for $75. In fact it was ridiculous to buy so many but there is something about tubes and if the opportunity is there then I want to buy all that I can. I have hundreds of tubes in my basement. More than the rest of my life will ever need. I have original GEC kt66 and Gold Lion kt88 tubes that I am afraid to use due to their value, lol. Two of the GEC tubes popped years ago in my basement. I think because of the thin glass and the temperature change in my basement from summer to winter. A real pity.
Very interesting! .The current power tubes in my Black Ice F22 are the PS Vane KT88 Classic Mk II with the gold band at the bottom. I'm very pleased with the sound. I have not tried anything else yet, but my guess is I would probably like the Horizon tubes based on your description. What I would be interested in learning about is how an EL34 tube would sound verses the KT88. Have you thought about trying an EL34?
I do think the Horizon are a step up from the classic and I want to pop those in again to compare further. I’d love to try EL34s but I can’t with the Galion. I’m hoping to try a an Aric Audio Transcend amp in the future and that will allow for EL34s. I’m really interested in hearing those
@TheJoyofVinylRecords My bad, I thought you could run EL34 tubes in the Galion. I can run them in my Black Ice amp, and that is what they offer as the stock tube setup. I can also run KT77, KT170, and 6550 tubes. At some point, it would be nice to try all of those variations. But the KT88 tubes were what I settled on after speaking to the owner of the company.
GM☕️..tubes …they are a mystical and enigmatic conundrum….some offer slight variations and others vast differences…suite to taste. An audiophile asks you for the time..but then adds “is that an analog or digital watch”…..sometimes it’s more a perception than reality. Have a great Sunday.
I've had good results with the Psvane Hifi series, which is not their best line. The EL34s I have in my Dynaco ST70 based kit I bought from tubes4hifi are freaking magical.
I've experience with KT88 tubes. Vintage GEC are the best. Psvane treasure ll are nearly as good but are simply unreliable failing often. Reissue Gold Lion are small step down from Psvane but sound great and are tough very reliable. I'm in the market for a quad of EL34 and Horizon has my interest. If bought from Amazon you can buy insurance on tubes otherwise I would avoid Psvane unsure of their reliability.
I don’t understand why you and everyone else don’t perform A/B comparisons. Set up one channel with Mullard tubes and the other with PSVANE tubes. Use an A/B switch to select the source for either the right or left channel. Make sure the same switch connects a dummy load to the output not under test as power amplifiers don’t tolerate open output. This ensures the sound comes from the same speaker position, making it easier to discern the differences between the two types of tubes. Remember to match the SPL levels for both channels. You can use the balance control or, if your amplifier has independent volume controls, adjust them accordingly. This method won’t test sound staging, but it will give you a clearer idea of the tonal differences between the tubes. That said, I’m not sure why different tubes would significantly affect staging, it seems more dependent on the amplifier’s design. I’ve been using this approach for years to compare various tubes at different stages and different tube amplifier designs. By the way, the best tube power amplifiers are those that don’t use coupling capacitors, opting instead for direct coupling or transformer coupling. You will be amazed by the sonics.
Price and cheapness are often big factors for me. For instance I'm using Sylvania 12AU7 tubes circa 1950s NOS instead of the Brimar 12au7 which is a vintage tube made in England and holds the crown for many. Since I have been listening to analog a lot lately, I'm not sure I need tubes, especially if it's an extra stage. With cd, I definitely prefer something tubes in the chain. My cassette deck mods didn't take long to hint at cassettes true potential. Amazing sound quality, at it's snail pace speed of 1 and 7/8 inches per second and so narrow a tape width. It is not breathing down the back of reel to reel yet, but it's hinting that it may be possible. Tape is as analog as you can get. At the record companies, transferring from session tape to cassette is probably a one step process. Simpler is usually best for sound quality. I would imagine there are many dozens of steps involved in making an lp from same said session tape or more likely digitally recorded copy. Who knows just how much information is hidden within the electromagnetic fields and layers of tape.
The issue with prerecorded tapes is that they are usually duplicated at high speed, which lowers their fidelity to the source. Some labels did advertise low speed duplication or even 1 to 1 (master & copy running at normal speed). I made cassette copies from 16-track tape using a nice, but not expensive, tape deck in recording class in the '80's. The sound quality was amazing.
True about their high speed duplication. Just about eeverything commercially made is high speed. Even audiophile lps claimed the stamer would sot in the vinyl for longer pressing times than regular lps. I remember Mofi saying that about their early 1980s UHQR lps. I Inow have cassette playback playback up to:where I don't consider it a significantly lower sound quality level than very fine lp and cd playback. The spatiality equals the two other formats. It is a softer sound and errors on the opposite side of an aggressive sound. But partly because of that, it sounds less flawed and more perfect in it's own smooth sounding & somewhat laid back backway. It has the kind of sound that most tube amps have. Like it's it'sonic foundation is built on non-offensiveness, yet the music still has a lot of life. Details and subtleties which take great spatiality to hear may beat my cd playback; cd playback beats it on transient detail and delineation. Like tubes it is not quite as clean and pure sounding, but the timbre still comes off as incredibly pleasant with a high degree of harmonic rightness.I don't even hate the dynamic limitations of a thin narrow tape moving at such a slow speed. I swear even that aspect seems to improve as you do more mod work on it. Cassette is a very feasible & true high fidelity medium. People might think myself and the guys over at the Tape Heads site are crazy, but cassettes can sound 4 or 5 times better than some people think. I thought that they should be more immune to vibration than say a cd player. But they both have circuit boards and they need good isolation from external vibration.
Not sure if I told you, but I landed a NOS sylvania AU7 last month - my father in law had a box of old tubes and a tester and this was in there collecting dust.
Yes you mentioned that. I use the long tube that they made in the early 50s. The shorter tubes which I assume you have Rick, are supposed to have less microphonics (good), but some say the old tall tubes tubes sound bigger with deeper bass. I haven't established that with comparing yet, and I could since I have some of the shorter Sylvania 12AU7 tubes, near NOS. I once put in some fresh Sylvania 6au6 tubes, replacing RCAs from inside an amp from a previous owner, and the Sylvanias were an amazingly big improvement. Some say saythat some tubes don't reach their full potential until they have about a thousand hours on them. Can't deny or confirm that. Silver cables some claim take 3,000 hours of use before they reach their peak of sound quality.
I was hoping you would like these, as I'm planning on getting them for my Willsenton R8 eventually. But I have a matched quad of Mullard EL34s that I still haven't tried, which I should be using in the summer for less heat. After three months I'm still enjoying the stock KT-88 tubes in my amp so I haven't been in a big hurry. I would like to get a matched quad of the Horizons but Amazon only has matched pairs.
I've only seen matched pairs as well - but you will like these. I am sure of it. I am still extremely happy with them - and prefer them over the Mullards now.
@@TheJoyofVinylRecords Being rather new to tubes I'm not sure if you actually need all four with matched gain or if two matched pairs are okay. I haven't been able to find a definitive answer.
@@chrislj2890@chrislj2890 I don't think all 4 need to be matched, but what I would do is grab matched pairs and put them opposite one another, if you know what I mean. If there are 4 slots put two on the outside slots, and the other matched pair on the inside slots.
@@TheJoyofVinylRecords Sure, one matched pair per channel. But i'm wondering if the gain could be different enough to where you could tell a difference left to right. I don't think setting the bias would affect that, would it?
I’ve been using KT120 in my old Croft 4S Amp for quite a few years now and the sound is generally very good. They seem bomb proof. Possibly as my amp was designed for KT88 and I didn’t want to risk burning my O/P Xfmrs out with the bias current I should be using for the KT120. Having said that they did sound good except for a bit of raggedness on complex music-may be being under biased, I don’t know(45%). The bass did seem deep using a sub woofer. I’m getting there 🙂. Because of that niggle about their sound and reading good reviews and feleling a bit flush I purchased a quad of the Horizon KT88. On advertising my forthcoming pleasure on social media of course in step the nay sayers-Chinese rubbish! They’ll blow your amp up! They’re not matched! etc. I did test them first and they showed good matching and passed all my other tests so I reconned they were safe to put in my amp. They look nice and glow more than the KT120 as the filament is exposed more-saves having to put an LED underneath 🙂. Turned the amp on without any fireworks and played some music I’m familiar with. What hit me first? I would say how clean the sound was. More holographic and instruments playing in their own wide space. Symbols were more noticeable and detailed. Drums detailed especially rim shots and more tonal detail in Tom toms and bass guitar. Lead Vocals stood out cleanly but not as warm as the KT120. Steel guitar strings also had a more detailed tone compared to the KT120. A tiny bit like listening to a 12 string as opposed to a six. In its favour I would say the KT120 at the moment does seem to reach down lower in the bass with more articulation on my subwoofer-as I run the Horizons in- but also sounds a bit flatter in its presentation. I have a WiiM plus pro which has an equaliser incorporated. I did find having a play that with the Horizons I could reduce around the 2KHz for a sort of warmer presentation as they are not bright but very open sounding-which is nice as they are certainly not harsh or sibilant. They will be staying in my amp and I might consider using Horizons smaller tubes in my pre and power amps (darn not long changed them ☹️).
I’m sure you’re aware they have an Art series above that one. Aren’t you curious about those? I have a Doge 10b set to class A low feedback setting with the stock tubes. It sounds great but like you say I’m curious to try their best tube. I prefer the look of the classic series to the horizon. The art looks cool, even better if the bottom was silver instead of gold. The Mullards look nice as well. My other amp is a Denon PMA a100, no slouch but the Doge sounds better. I like the silver finish with no tone controls. I’ve always thought tone controls slightly reduce that last bit of openness. Glad your enjoying your system.
Mullards will help tame the Doge 10 mk2b ' I also have the Galion Ts120se which I prefer Half Golden lion half TAD Str8 power tubes ' Yes I mix T 1-3/2-4 But the new Ray Tubes really opens up lots of air without being bright ' and strong bass Ray tubes may be my new fav still burning in atleast 300hrs before review 😃
Interesting. Any place where there is a description of the differences of the various psvane tube series? Classic, Art, Horizon, Legend, Acme? Looked on psvane website, but nothing there. At least some tube types are produced in several series, but many only in one. I might be tempted with 5AR4 and 12AU7 and 12AT7 for my PrimaLuna EVO 300 pre.
For audio vacuum tubes, the hierarchy of our product line is as follows: Basic：HIFI、UK Selected：HORIZON、ART Premium：WE、ACME The HORIZON Series is our latest line, featuring a more neutral sound compared to the Art Series and incorporating the latest technologies, such as HPC coating. The WE Series pays homage to the classic Western Electric sound. The ACME Series is our true flagship, offering a neutral and well-rounded sound profile.
@@PSVANE-official I couldn't find the Acme 12au7's, are these even available? The horizons I purchased are not sounding to good presently and I've removed them. I'm gonna put them back in and give them more time, I have about 12 hours on them now!
@@roofermarc1 The Acme series doesn’t have a 12AU7 model. I’m sorry to hear that the Horizon series didn’t meet your preferences. We do have other 12AU7 options, such as the 12AU7S from the ART series.
@@PSVANE-official I stand corrected. I put in just two of the four horizons and two nos, the sound was more to my liking, I wound up installing the other two Psvane and have another 4 hours on them. Either my listening is gaining familiarity with these or they could actually be sounding nicer! Someone said I need 50 hours on these new tubes. They have definitely lost most of the harshness, they've may just be a keeper. I'll keep you posted.
As always a nice honest review of you experiencing, in this case tube rolling ....... 1............I presume when you tzalk about Mullard you mean Mullard ( new sensor ) witch is a acquired brand name by new sensor ( sovtek ) and these are NOT the genuine real Mullard nos tubes . 2.........the tubes you got for review were tested, selected and closely matched , not the same as tubes bought by John Doe..........( this chinese commercial policy ) I got tubes for testing before ordering quantities in the nineties , these all sounded and tested GOOD..................not so when i got a batch of several hunderd tubes , less than 5 % was within spec or with similar triode sections or balanced . The samples were perfect nevertheless..... Wghen a manufacturer sells part of his tubes ( gold or platinum premium versions at a high price you won't find any ( zero) good tubes like these in the standard version that is sold , ouit of one hunderd no tube will match the platinum premium version . If a tube pleases your ear in your amplifier then it's ok ! BUT I always noticed and observed a returning fact with old stock ( if quality ) not so with current production tubes.....when good nos tubes age they still sound musical and beguiiling even when they loose some of the energy of their youth ! This is nt the case wit new production when the youth is goone and the freshness fades .YOU WILL BUY AND INSTALL A NEW SET OF TUBES .......................but who am I to tell tube stories after living with , working , servicing, building, selling tubes and using tubes for almost seven decades ... Anyway keep on posting your musical experince with all those who love music escpecially when played back with tubes..... PS: ....Most modern tube amplifier were voiced if they were........with new production tubes , so in some cases the superior quality of nos tubes may deceive in these kind of amplifiers . And false opinions are commonly made to easy ...........and to eagerly..
Hey Frank! Yes - I did mean the new production Mullards from New Sensor - at least with the KT88s, which this video focused on. I had NOS mullards in my phono stage, which I also switched out with the Horizons. The Telefunken NOS I left in (until yesterday). Still continuing my education! And also - THANK YOU for the information you provide.
Hello, I believe there might be a slight misunderstanding. The tubes we sent to the TH-camr were randomly selected and shipped directly from Amazon's local warehouse in the U.S., and were not specially selected or shipped from China.😊
They are not made in the UK. Most of their tubes are rebranded Russian tubes. They are trying to finance re-building the old machinery but as yet there is no UK production. As an aside, they will never sound the same as Brimar NOS tubes as the original materials are no longer available.
Did NOS Mullard KT-88 really exist? I thought Mullard just made El-34 and never made the GEC competitor KT-88 tube. I think all Mullard KT-88 tubes are reissues of a tube that never existed. That said, I use those too…well actually I use JJ E34L tubes as they have even more bass and goodness. Good to know, I am looking for a better KT-88 that can compete with the smaller JJ E34L tubes. I use them in my Willsenton R8 and my home made SET amp that beats all other amps I have heard for bass (at volumes less than 85 db Spl.). Try the JJ E34L (not the EL34) tubes, they are cheap, and sound awesome. If you like Mullard KT-88 you will love the JJ E34L tubes.
I should have been clearer and thought of it after, but no, Mullard (the real Mullard company) didn't make KT88s - so any are new production. I'm glad you brought it up so I could clarify. That being said, I really do enjoy the Mullard KT88s and have for a long time. Unfortunately, my amp (Galion TS120) won't run the El34s but I'm hoping to get a new amp in a few months that will. I'll definitely check them out!
No golden bullet with tubes, myself I concentrate on the pre amp stage, which is for me 70% of the sound . It's fun rolling but it gets expensive, I have many older mullard tubes, only downside with these tubes, is sometimes it can sound too thick . I've listened to many different amps and set ups, some I liked some I thought they are just deaf.. Ultimately it is your sound your music .
A very good evaluation tool over time is .................................long time listening and listening fatigue will tell you the truth ........ The tubes in my CDP ( not any solid state in the circuit ! ) , dac direct couplet to the tubes....those are the original tubes ( GE ) and they are over thirty years old........No need to replace them , still more musical than most modern SS and very expensive dacs..........and no listening fatigue .......
I'm slowly amassing a horde of tubes to swap in and out. There's a good chance my next tube amp will allow for an even wider variety of tubes so that will be fun... and expensive!
It would great to get an audio engineer to measure these tubes using a 1khz signal to see the harmonic distortion profile, so you can the profile of the mullards vs psvane horizon etc and then get a better insight as to why you prefer their sound etc...Skunkie did it with the 300B tubes and the Shuguang treasure series,which came out better than the WE version.th-cam.com/video/Ztm6g9MgShM/w-d-xo.html
Rick, I just came across a turntable video: th-cam.com/video/i-eNeLN2lWQ/w-d-xo.html I have no idea what he was saying. But that turntable tool-kit @1:00 looked impressive. Then, @11:16, that Aesthetix model "Rhea" phono-amp is the one I own. It is 100% tube based. Mine is the signature version. You can't tell from his video which version he has. My guess is the Eclipse version (one above mine, and the top Aesthetix phono-amp in that line -- until you get to Aesthetix's "IO" series phono-amp models, which are also 100% tube based). I never saw that turntable tool-kit. It is made by Clearaudio, so it must be very good. I want one. Maybe one day...
Just to be clear, I think you know new production Mullards are not really "Mullards", right?. They are made in Russia by New Sensor Corporation at the Expo-Pul factory in Saratov - which coincidentally also makes tubes under the following names: Tung-Sol, Electro-Harmonix, EH Gold, Genalex Gold Lion, Svetlana, and Sovtek tubes. [Edit: So you DO know New Sensor bought the rights to the Mullard name. Still, I would not refer to them as Mullards. That's just in name to cash grab IMO] So only the NOS Mullards are real Mullards. New production Mullards do not sound the same and I am surprised you seem to think so? They are no different than EH or Tung-Sol for that matter. Also the new production stuff coming out of New Sensor is not particularly reliable in my experience. They have a high failure rate.
@@patbarr1351 That could be it. And look, I know they are not "horrible". They are in fact, very good. But they are not OG vintage Mullard good. That was my main point. And the reason I don't consider new production Mullards, an authentic Mullard, is because Mullard (as in the original U.K. company) no longer exists. They were owned by Phillips up until 1988 and New Sensor simply purchased the name in 2007. This is akin to calling today's Nakamichi, Nakamichi. It is NOT Nakamichi of yore. The real Nakamichi company ceased to be in 1998 when the name was purchased by a Chinese conglomerate.
As a newcomer to vinyl but a long time guitar player, I don’t understand using tubes for sound reproduction. Solid state reproduction is much more accurate. That’s the whole reason guitarists love tubes. They distort and impart their own distinct and very colored sonic footprint onto whatever they are helping to amplify. Don’t you want to hear the music as closely as possible to the intentions of the producers and musicians?
@@762nato1 For music reproduction I prefer musicality over accuracy all day long. If I wanted accuracy above all other traits I would stick to digital and not bother with tape nor vinyl playback. Same deal with perennial vacuum tubes vs. solid state comparison. Few solid state amplification & pre-amplification can match the musicality, openness and liveliness of tube gear. As a dear mastering engineer friend of mine likes to say, tubes have an intangible "breadth of life". Solid state, not so much. It is usually colder, sterile, flatter, devoid of air and space compared to good tube designs. IMHO, YMMV
Good review video. I rolled PSVANE KT88 Treasures in my Quicksilver Horn Mono to replace Tesla EL34 that were shipped with the amps. I also have JJ6l6 I can roll in. Of the 3 the PSVANE are well balanced. More bass. Rich sound. The PSVANE are currently in and will stay in. Led Zeppelin debut deluxe 2014 remastered Dazed and Confused Live vinyl sounds like I'm in the front row!
I have that Jimmy Page debut remaster as well - I'll have to put that on the turntable this week now!
@@TheJoyofVinylRecords Let us know how it sounds with the PSVANE Horizon tubes.
Also liked the Treasure ll KT88 but for poor reliability.
If you like the warmer sound of Mullard, may I suggest the Psvane Art series tubes. They are both from Psvane's "select" level of tube quality below ACME. I can only speak for 12AU7, but I have both the Art series and the Horizon 12AU7 and the Art series are a lot more warmer sounding. My fave combo in my Muzishare X7 was Psvane Art series 12AU7s and a NoS Telefunken ECC83, but I'm kinda liking the Horizon 12AU7s with a NoS Mullard 163 in the 12AX7 slot.
The warmer Art series calms the top-endy Telefunken, but in the other combo the more neutral Horizons brighten up the warmer NoS Mullard 12AX7. I've tried most of the new production preamp tubes, but always fall back to the Psvanes. Definitely the best sounding new production tubes around. Great review thank you 👍
Thank you for the recommendation! I'll definitely see if I can get my hands on the Art series. Cheers!
Wow what is old is new again. Being of a certain age, I certainly remember the old RCA Black and white TV we had, when I was 6. The tubes on that would go all the time, dad, would pull the tubes out of the back, with my mom yelling at him, “don’t forget when you pulled them from Bill, write it down”. Then we would go down to the local store, or drug store, use the in store tube tester, then buy the right tubes for the broken ones. Of course when we got our first color tv, dad was not allowed to mess with those tubes, cause of the price of the darn thing, that was for the repair man. Back in those days, they sold tubes everywhere, drug stores, department stores, electronic stores. Fun times, and good memories of hanging with Dad.
Hey Greg! Your memory strikes a chord with me. I remember in 1978 for the world premier of the Incredible Hulk tv series our tv blew a tube and my dad rushed us to a local store and bought a replacement and we made it back within 30 minutes of the show. He was the hero that night!! Thanks for reminding of that.
Thanks for doing all the leg work.
Ok, I am getting a few of them. Thanks!
😂😂😂
Love your videos man.
That means a lot. Thank you! 🍺
Affording tubes has changed for me. My local military surplus warehouse just closed its doors the end of last month. About a month before that a guy came (an online tube seller) and bought the "entire stock" of tubes they had. We are talking thousands of tubes. Most of their tubes were pulls but you could test them. They let me test them myself whenever I went there. But the buyer didn't get all the tubes. The place is huge and there were some pockets of tubes in a few places. The final auction for everything else that is there is next week. I went last week and asked if I could could still buy any tubes I found that I wanted. The guy said sure. I found an empty box that was around 1 foot x 2 foot by 16inches and filled it with 6bg6 and 6as7g/6080 tubes, over 200 tubes. Not the most desired tubes in the world but I have convertor sockets for the 6bg6 tubes to use in my 6L6 amps and I have one amp that uses 6as7 tubes. All for $75. In fact it was ridiculous to buy so many but there is something about tubes and if the opportunity is there then I want to buy all that I can. I have hundreds of tubes in my basement. More than the rest of my life will ever need. I have original GEC kt66 and Gold Lion kt88 tubes that I am afraid to use due to their value, lol. Two of the GEC tubes popped years ago in my basement. I think because of the thin glass and the temperature change in my basement from summer to winter. A real pity.
Wow Alan - that's wild. A real treasure trove it sounds like. Awful about the GECs, but amazing with the NOS Gold Lion!
@@TheJoyofVinylRecords But now it's all done. All good things must come to an end.
Very interesting! .The current power tubes in my Black Ice F22 are the PS Vane KT88 Classic Mk II with the gold band at the bottom. I'm very pleased with the sound. I have not tried anything else yet, but my guess is I would probably like the Horizon tubes based on your description. What I would be interested in learning about is how an EL34 tube would sound verses the KT88. Have you thought about trying an EL34?
I do think the Horizon are a step up from the classic and I want to pop those in again to compare further. I’d love to try EL34s but I can’t with the Galion. I’m hoping to try a an Aric Audio Transcend amp in the future and that will allow for EL34s. I’m really interested in hearing those
@TheJoyofVinylRecords
My bad, I thought you could run EL34 tubes in the Galion. I can run them in my Black Ice amp, and that is what they offer as the stock tube setup. I can also run KT77, KT170, and 6550 tubes. At some point, it would be nice to try all of those variations. But the KT88 tubes were what I settled on after speaking to the owner of the company.
@@neilfisher7999 It doesn't appear that I can with the EL34s. There are 6550 tubes I can try as opposed to the KT88 however.
GM☕️..tubes …they are a mystical and enigmatic conundrum….some offer slight variations and others vast differences…suite to taste.
An audiophile asks you for the time..but then adds “is that an analog or digital watch”…..sometimes it’s more a perception than reality.
Have a great Sunday.
it's nice that you could afford some new fun tubes.. great review
Thanks, vendelilus!
I've had good results with the Psvane Hifi series, which is not their best line. The EL34s I have in my Dynaco ST70 based kit I bought from tubes4hifi are freaking magical.
I've been using their EL34s in my amp these last few days and so far very impressed.
@@TheJoyofVinylRecords I didn't think there'd be that much of a difference and I was very pleasantly surprised.
I've experience with KT88 tubes. Vintage GEC are the best. Psvane treasure ll are nearly as good but are simply unreliable failing often. Reissue Gold Lion are small step down from Psvane but sound great and are tough very reliable. I'm in the market for a quad of EL34 and Horizon has my interest. If bought from Amazon you can buy insurance on tubes otherwise I would avoid Psvane unsure of their reliability.
I've also noticed that the tubes i like depend on the rest of the system.
Good point!
I don’t understand why you and everyone else don’t perform A/B comparisons.
Set up one channel with Mullard tubes and the other with PSVANE tubes. Use an A/B switch to select the source for either the right or left channel. Make sure the same switch connects a dummy load to the output not under test as power amplifiers don’t tolerate open output. This ensures the sound comes from the same speaker position, making it easier to discern the differences between the two types of tubes.
Remember to match the SPL levels for both channels. You can use the balance control or, if your amplifier has independent volume controls, adjust them accordingly.
This method won’t test sound staging, but it will give you a clearer idea of the tonal differences between the tubes. That said, I’m not sure why different tubes would significantly affect staging, it seems more dependent on the amplifier’s design.
I’ve been using this approach for years to compare various tubes at different stages and different tube amplifier designs.
By the way, the best tube power amplifiers are those that don’t use coupling capacitors, opting instead for direct coupling or transformer coupling.
You will be amazed by the sonics.
Price and cheapness are often big factors for me. For instance I'm using Sylvania 12AU7 tubes circa 1950s NOS instead of the Brimar 12au7 which is a vintage tube made in England and holds the crown for many. Since I have been listening to analog a lot lately, I'm not sure I need tubes, especially if it's an extra stage. With cd, I definitely prefer something tubes in the chain.
My cassette deck mods didn't take long to hint at cassettes true potential. Amazing sound quality, at it's snail pace speed of 1 and 7/8 inches per second and so narrow a tape width. It is not breathing down the back of reel to reel yet, but it's hinting that it may be possible. Tape is as analog as you can get. At the record companies, transferring from session tape to cassette is probably a one step process. Simpler is usually best for sound quality. I would imagine there are many dozens of steps involved in making an lp from same said session tape or more likely digitally recorded copy. Who knows just how much information is hidden within the electromagnetic fields and layers of tape.
The issue with prerecorded tapes is that they are usually duplicated at high speed, which lowers their fidelity to the source. Some labels did advertise low speed duplication or even 1 to 1 (master & copy running at normal speed). I made cassette copies from 16-track tape using a nice, but not expensive, tape deck in recording class in the '80's. The sound quality was amazing.
True about their high speed duplication. Just about eeverything commercially made is high speed. Even audiophile lps claimed the stamer would sot in the vinyl for longer pressing times than regular lps. I remember Mofi saying that about their early 1980s UHQR lps. I Inow have cassette playback playback up to:where I don't consider it a significantly lower sound quality level than very fine lp and cd playback. The spatiality equals the two other formats. It is a softer sound and errors on the opposite side of an aggressive sound. But partly because of that, it sounds less flawed and more perfect in it's own smooth sounding & somewhat laid back backway. It has the kind of sound that most tube amps have. Like it's it'sonic foundation is built on non-offensiveness, yet the music still has a lot of life. Details and subtleties which take great spatiality to hear may beat my cd playback; cd playback beats it on transient detail and delineation. Like tubes it is not quite as clean and pure sounding, but the timbre still comes off as incredibly pleasant with a high degree of harmonic rightness.I don't even hate the dynamic limitations of a thin narrow tape moving at such a slow speed. I swear even that aspect seems to improve as you do more mod work on it. Cassette is a very feasible & true high fidelity medium. People might think myself and the guys over at the Tape Heads site are crazy, but cassettes can sound 4 or 5 times better than some people think. I thought that they should be more immune to vibration than say a cd player. But they both have circuit boards and they need good isolation from external vibration.
Not sure if I told you, but I landed a NOS sylvania AU7 last month - my father in law had a box of old tubes and a tester and this was in there collecting dust.
Yes you mentioned that. I use the long tube that they made in the early 50s. The shorter tubes which I assume you have Rick, are supposed to have less microphonics (good), but some say the old tall tubes tubes sound bigger with deeper bass. I haven't established that with comparing yet, and I could since I have some of the shorter Sylvania 12AU7 tubes, near NOS. I once put in some fresh Sylvania 6au6 tubes, replacing RCAs from inside an amp from a previous owner, and the Sylvanias were an amazingly big improvement. Some say saythat some tubes don't reach their full potential until they have about a thousand hours on them. Can't deny or confirm that. Silver cables some claim take 3,000 hours of use before they reach their peak of sound quality.
@@sidesup8286 woah - 3000!! 😳
I was hoping you would like these, as I'm planning on getting them for my Willsenton R8 eventually. But I have a matched quad of Mullard EL34s that I still haven't tried, which I should be using in the summer for less heat. After three months I'm still enjoying the stock KT-88 tubes in my amp so I haven't been in a big hurry. I would like to get a matched quad of the Horizons but Amazon only has matched pairs.
I've only seen matched pairs as well - but you will like these. I am sure of it. I am still extremely happy with them - and prefer them over the Mullards now.
@@TheJoyofVinylRecords
Being rather new to tubes I'm not sure if you actually need all four with matched gain or if two matched pairs are okay. I haven't been able to find a definitive answer.
@@chrislj2890@chrislj2890 I don't think all 4 need to be matched, but what I would do is grab matched pairs and put them opposite one another, if you know what I mean. If there are 4 slots put two on the outside slots, and the other matched pair on the inside slots.
@@TheJoyofVinylRecords
Sure, one matched pair per channel. But i'm wondering if the gain could be different enough to where you could tell a difference left to right. I don't think setting the bias would affect that, would it?
@@chrislj2890 I really don't think it will be noticeable as long as the bias is all set.
I’ve been using KT120 in my old Croft 4S Amp for quite a few years now and the sound is generally very good. They seem bomb proof. Possibly as my amp was designed for KT88 and I didn’t want to risk burning my O/P Xfmrs out with the bias current I should be using for the KT120. Having said that they did sound good except for a bit of raggedness on complex music-may be being under biased, I don’t know(45%). The bass did seem deep using a sub woofer. I’m getting there 🙂. Because of that niggle about their sound and reading good reviews and feleling a bit flush I purchased a quad of the Horizon KT88. On advertising my forthcoming pleasure on social media of course in step the nay sayers-Chinese rubbish! They’ll blow your amp up! They’re not matched! etc. I did test them first and they showed good matching and passed all my other tests so I reconned they were safe to put in my amp. They look nice and glow more than the KT120 as the filament is exposed more-saves having to put an LED underneath 🙂. Turned the amp on without any fireworks and played some music I’m familiar with. What hit me first? I would say how clean the sound was. More holographic and instruments playing in their own wide space. Symbols were more noticeable and detailed. Drums detailed especially rim shots and more tonal detail in Tom toms and bass guitar. Lead Vocals stood out cleanly but not as warm as the KT120. Steel guitar strings also had a more detailed tone compared to the KT120. A tiny bit like listening to a 12 string as opposed to a six. In its favour I would say the KT120 at the moment does seem to reach down lower in the bass with more articulation on my subwoofer-as I run the Horizons in- but also sounds a bit flatter in its presentation. I have a WiiM plus pro which has an equaliser incorporated. I did find having a play that with the Horizons I could reduce around the 2KHz for a sort of warmer presentation as they are not bright but very open sounding-which is nice as they are certainly not harsh or sibilant. They will be staying in my amp and I might consider using Horizons smaller tubes in my pre and power amps (darn not long changed them ☹️).
I’m sure you’re aware they have an Art series above that one. Aren’t you curious about those? I have a Doge 10b set to class A low feedback setting with the stock tubes. It sounds great but like you say I’m curious to try their best tube. I prefer the look of the classic series to the horizon. The art looks cool, even better if the bottom was silver instead of gold. The Mullards look nice as well. My other amp is a Denon PMA a100, no slouch but the Doge sounds better. I like the silver finish with no tone controls. I’ve always thought tone controls slightly reduce that last bit of openness. Glad your enjoying your system.
Hi Damian - Yes, I'm very curious about the Art series. I'll see if I can find out more about them.
Mullards will help tame the Doge 10 mk2b ' I also have the Galion Ts120se which I prefer Half Golden lion half TAD Str8 power tubes ' Yes I mix T 1-3/2-4
But the new Ray Tubes really opens up lots of air without being bright ' and strong bass Ray tubes may be my new fav still burning in atleast 300hrs before review 😃
@@tee-jaythestereo-bargainph2120 Ray tubes have come up a few times recently. I should check them out.
I need four tubes for my preamp 12au7's, which are the best warm tubes to use from Psvane,
Interesting. Any place where there is a description of the differences of the various psvane tube series? Classic, Art, Horizon, Legend, Acme? Looked on psvane website, but nothing there. At least some tube types are produced in several series, but many only in one. I might be tempted with 5AR4 and 12AU7 and 12AT7 for my PrimaLuna EVO 300 pre.
I haven't found one, Daniel. I'm going to reach out to my contact there and ask if there is. It would be great to have.
For audio vacuum tubes, the hierarchy of our product line is as follows:
Basic：HIFI、UK
Selected：HORIZON、ART
Premium：WE、ACME
The HORIZON Series is our latest line, featuring a more neutral sound compared to the Art Series and incorporating the latest technologies, such as HPC coating.
The WE Series pays homage to the classic Western Electric sound.
The ACME Series is our true flagship, offering a neutral and well-rounded sound profile.
@@PSVANE-official I couldn't find the Acme 12au7's, are these even available? The horizons I purchased are not sounding to good presently and I've removed them. I'm gonna put them back in and give them more time, I have about 12 hours on them now!
@@roofermarc1 The Acme series doesn’t have a 12AU7 model. I’m sorry to hear that the Horizon series didn’t meet your preferences. We do have other 12AU7 options, such as the 12AU7S from the ART series.
@@PSVANE-official I stand corrected. I put in just two of the four horizons and two nos, the sound was more to my liking, I wound up installing the other two Psvane and have another 4 hours on them. Either my listening is gaining familiarity with these or they could actually be sounding nicer! Someone said I need 50 hours on these new tubes. They have definitely lost most of the harshness, they've may just be a keeper. I'll keep you posted.
As always a nice honest review of you experiencing, in this case tube rolling .......
1............I presume when you tzalk about Mullard you mean Mullard ( new sensor ) witch is a acquired brand name by new sensor ( sovtek ) and these are NOT the genuine real Mullard nos tubes .
2.........the tubes you got for review were tested, selected and closely matched , not the same as tubes bought by John Doe..........( this chinese commercial policy )
I got tubes for testing before ordering quantities in the nineties , these all sounded and tested GOOD..................not so when i got a batch of several hunderd tubes , less than 5 % was within spec or with similar triode sections or balanced .
The samples were perfect nevertheless.....
Wghen a manufacturer sells part of his tubes ( gold or platinum premium versions at a high price you won't find any ( zero) good tubes like these in the standard version that is sold , ouit of one hunderd no tube will match the platinum premium version .
If a tube pleases your ear in your amplifier then it's ok !
BUT I always noticed and observed a returning fact with old stock ( if quality ) not so with current production tubes.....when good nos tubes age they still sound musical and beguiiling even when they loose some of the energy of their youth !
This is nt the case wit new production when the youth is goone and the freshness fades .YOU WILL BUY AND INSTALL A NEW SET OF TUBES .......................but who am I to tell tube stories after living with , working , servicing, building, selling tubes and using tubes for almost seven decades ...
Anyway keep on posting your musical experince with all those who love music escpecially when played back with tubes.....
PS: ....Most modern tube amplifier were voiced if they were........with new production tubes , so in some cases the superior quality of nos tubes may deceive in these kind of amplifiers .
And false opinions are commonly made to easy ...........and to eagerly..
Hey Frank! Yes - I did mean the new production Mullards from New Sensor - at least with the KT88s, which this video focused on. I had NOS mullards in my phono stage, which I also switched out with the Horizons. The Telefunken NOS I left in (until yesterday). Still continuing my education! And also - THANK YOU for the information you provide.
Hello, I believe there might be a slight misunderstanding.
The tubes we sent to the TH-camr were randomly selected and shipped directly from Amazon's local warehouse in the U.S., and were not specially selected or shipped from China.😊
@@PSVANE-officialdo you have an email address. I have some questions.
Have you tried the new production Brimar, made in the UK on the old machines. They are great. Edit Jim Carroll Band. excellent album.
Thank you for the info on Brimar! Just went to their website and going to learn more about them. I didn't know about their effort until now!
They are not made in the UK. Most of their tubes are rebranded Russian tubes. They are trying to finance re-building the old machinery but as yet there is no UK production. As an aside, they will never sound the same as Brimar NOS tubes as the original materials are no longer available.
@@ohyesitsme Damn, didnt know that. Thanks, John.
Dream on Brimar don't make valves in UK.
Did NOS Mullard KT-88 really exist? I thought Mullard just made El-34 and never made the GEC competitor KT-88 tube. I think all Mullard KT-88 tubes are reissues of a tube that never existed. That said, I use those too…well actually I use JJ E34L tubes as they have even more bass and goodness. Good to know, I am looking for a better KT-88 that can compete with the smaller JJ E34L tubes. I use them in my Willsenton R8 and my home made SET amp that beats all other amps I have heard for bass (at volumes less than 85 db Spl.). Try the JJ E34L (not the EL34) tubes, they are cheap, and sound awesome. If you like Mullard KT-88 you will love the JJ E34L tubes.
I should have been clearer and thought of it after, but no, Mullard (the real Mullard company) didn't make KT88s - so any are new production. I'm glad you brought it up so I could clarify. That being said, I really do enjoy the Mullard KT88s and have for a long time. Unfortunately, my amp (Galion TS120) won't run the El34s but I'm hoping to get a new amp in a few months that will. I'll definitely check them out!
KT-77 are great
GM 6:10 BRIGHT …try Cindy Lauper debut album ..
Have a great Sunday.
You as well, Carmine!
No golden bullet with tubes, myself I concentrate on the pre amp stage, which is for me 70% of the sound . It's fun rolling but it gets expensive, I have many older mullard tubes, only downside with these tubes, is sometimes it can sound too thick . I've listened to many different amps and set ups, some I liked some I thought they are just deaf.. Ultimately it is your sound your music .
I agree on Mullards, if done in excess, sound a bit thick and dark. I've taken to using PSVane Horizons to help with that
A very good evaluation tool over time is .................................long time listening and listening fatigue will tell you the truth ........
The tubes in my CDP ( not any solid state in the circuit ! ) , dac direct couplet to the tubes....those are the original tubes ( GE ) and they are over thirty years old........No need to replace them , still more musical than most modern SS and very expensive dacs..........and no listening fatigue .......
I'm slowly amassing a horde of tubes to swap in and out. There's a good chance my next tube amp will allow for an even wider variety of tubes so that will be fun... and expensive!
It would great to get an audio engineer to measure these tubes using a 1khz signal to see the harmonic distortion profile, so you can the profile of the mullards vs psvane horizon etc and then get a better insight as to why you prefer their sound etc...Skunkie did it with the 300B tubes and the Shuguang treasure series,which came out better than the WE version.th-cam.com/video/Ztm6g9MgShM/w-d-xo.html
I actually saw Stephe's video on that. I'd love to do something like that. maybe someday...
The tube rolling rabbit hole is deep with no end. Beware.
Yes, avoid like the plague 😮
It gets deeper every time too
Rick, I just came across a turntable video:
th-cam.com/video/i-eNeLN2lWQ/w-d-xo.html
I have no idea what he was saying. But that turntable tool-kit @1:00 looked impressive.
Then, @11:16, that Aesthetix model "Rhea" phono-amp is the one I own. It is 100% tube based. Mine is the signature version. You can't tell from his video which version he has. My guess is the Eclipse version (one above mine, and the top Aesthetix phono-amp in that line -- until you get to Aesthetix's "IO" series phono-amp models, which are also 100% tube based).
I never saw that turntable tool-kit. It is made by Clearaudio, so it must be very good. I want one. Maybe one day...
Thanks for sending this! That kit really is impressive. I need to watch that video again too. Even without understanding it It’s educational visually.
My go to is new production Gold Lion KT-88's. Before that, I had Electro Harmonix 6550's. I know both are New Sensor tubes made in the same factory.
The Gold Lion's a great tubes!
@@TheJoyofVinylRecords They sound good but don't last long.
Just to be clear, I think you know new production Mullards are not really "Mullards", right?. They are made in Russia by New Sensor Corporation at the Expo-Pul factory in Saratov - which coincidentally also makes tubes under the following names: Tung-Sol, Electro-Harmonix, EH Gold, Genalex Gold Lion, Svetlana, and Sovtek tubes.
[Edit: So you DO know New Sensor bought the rights to the Mullard name. Still, I would not refer to them as Mullards. That's just in name to cash grab IMO]
So only the NOS Mullards are real Mullards. New production Mullards do not sound the same and I am surprised you seem to think so? They are no different than EH or Tung-Sol for that matter. Also the new production stuff coming out of New Sensor is not particularly reliable in my experience. They have a high failure rate.
Hi! Sure do - I actually mentioned that in the video they are now Russian tubes made for NSC.
Maybe it depends on how hard you push them. I've had Russian EL34 Mullards in my Primaluna amp for over 4 years with no problems.
@@patbarr1351 That could be it. And look, I know they are not "horrible". They are in fact, very good. But they are not OG vintage Mullard good. That was my main point. And the reason I don't consider new production Mullards, an authentic Mullard, is because Mullard (as in the original U.K. company) no longer exists. They were owned by Phillips up until 1988 and New Sensor simply purchased the name in 2007.
This is akin to calling today's Nakamichi, Nakamichi. It is NOT Nakamichi of yore. The real Nakamichi company ceased to be in 1998 when the name was purchased by a Chinese conglomerate.
As a newcomer to vinyl but a long time guitar player, I don’t understand using tubes for sound reproduction. Solid state reproduction is much more accurate. That’s the whole reason guitarists love tubes. They distort and impart their own distinct and very colored sonic footprint onto whatever they are helping to amplify. Don’t you want to hear the music as closely as possible to the intentions of the producers and musicians?
@@762nato1 For music reproduction I prefer musicality over accuracy all day long. If I wanted accuracy above all other traits I would stick to digital and not bother with tape nor vinyl playback. Same deal with perennial vacuum tubes vs. solid state comparison. Few solid state amplification & pre-amplification can match the musicality, openness and liveliness of tube gear. As a dear mastering engineer friend of mine likes to say, tubes have an intangible "breadth of life". Solid state, not so much. It is usually colder, sterile, flatter, devoid of air and space compared to good tube designs.
IMHO, YMMV
Can’t do russian. I would never give them a dime
The New Sesor Mullards are not remotely like the NOS tubes.
Completely agree. Plus they never made KT88s in the past