Anyone compared PSVANE to 50 year Treaure 6CA7s ?

thsmith

Any difference ?

Any good sellers ?

Thanks,

Tracy

thsmith

bump.

On GrantFidelitys site people say there is a noticiable difference with the PSVANEs , however I have read the only difference is gold pins and base cover.

Hoping someone here has first hand experience.

F1nut

I'd like to know myself.

Dawgfish

I'm interested in these myself. Tracy I know you have tried the Tung Sol 6550s before, which I'm currently running in one of my amps and I like very much. How do you like the sound of your Treasure KT88s compared to the TS 6550s? Also has anyone here heard either the Treasure or Psvane 6CA7s?

The reason I'm asking is I've been thinking of trying some Sylvania 6CA7 Fatboys, but I can get the Treasures or Psvanes cheaper. I was just wandering how they stack up against NOS tubes. I seem to be one of those ones in the minority who prefers 6550s over both KT88s and EL34s (never tried a 6CA7, but from what I've been reading they sound like they would be similiar to a typical 6550). I'm running GE 6550s in my amp I'm using for bass and Tung Sol 6550s in my amp for the mid/highs. Thanks in advance.

thsmith

Dawgfish, I found the sound of the treasure kt88s to have clearer highes and more textured bass than the TS 6550. The mid range was similiar.

I guess since I can get the PSVANES for about the same price as the 50 year treasure I will give them a try.

I will not be able to say how they sound compared to the treasures since I have not heard the 6CA7 treasures.

The EL34s I have now are miss matched sets so no baseline to start from, it will be just what I hear and how I like them.

thsmith

Well, we will see. I ordered a quad for my AMP 1. Probably wont see them until March.

Its the 200-300 breakin that is killer.

Dawgfish

Thanks. I appreciate the reply. I'm having a hard time deciding between the Shuaguang/Psvanes and the Sylvania 6CA7s. From the sound of the Treasure KT88s I may have to try them instead. I know I'll probably end up trying them all before it is all said and done, I just can't afford to go out and buy them all at once.

I hear you on the $200-300. I'm having that same dilema!

zingo

I've owned the Treasure 6CA7 tubes (along with many input and output Treasure and Psvane tubes) and liked them very much. I would consider Treasure and Psvane tubes (along with Gold Lion, but for different sonic reasons) the best new production tubes and would recommend any of them. I think Treasure and Psvane tubes are very similar, and I would buy the one I could get the best price on. Also keep in mind there is the new Psvane Series II, which also look great, but I haven't heard them.

thsmith

Thanks Jake, not heard anything on the series 2 either.

As far as price on the PSVANE and 50 year treasure 6CA7s, pretty much priced the same.

Dawgfish

Well after reading all of the positive reviews, I ordered a quad of Shuguang Treasure KT88s for my Rogue Eight Eight Magnum I'm using for the lows on my SRS 2s. I'm probably going to get a set of either the Shuguang or Psvane 6CA7s for the Prologue 4 I'm using on the highs on the SRS 2s. I'll definitely be interested to hear what you think of the Psvanes Tracy to help me decide betwen the two.

Currently I'm running a set of Wing C Kt88s in the Rogue and some older EI El34s I forgot I had in the PrimaLuna. I like this combo even better than the NOS GE 6550A/NOS Tung Sol 6550 combo I was running. I feel I'm getting better defined lows with the Wing C Kt88s than The GEs while having similiar impact and extension. The EIs really surprised me. I much prefered the Wing C EL34s in my Anthem Amp 1, but the EIs sound fantastic in the PrimaLuna. They have that famous warm and smooth EL34 midrange, while having more extension in the highs than the NOS Tung Sols and MUCH more than the Wing Cs. I can't wait to hear the treasures, especially since the EIs are impossible to find now.

thsmith

Congrats ! Mine just shipped so probably 2 weeks before I get mine.

larry777

Their are 2 Quads of the treasure 6CA7's on canuck audio mart for sale at $375 total (8 tubes).
Less than 70 hrs on all tubes. Just a heads up for anyone else looking.

Dawgfish

^^Thanks for the heads up^^. The Treasures are supposed to be in by the end of the week. I'll believe it when I see it though.

thsmith

They came today. With just 15 mins on them all I will say is they sound better than the 2 different types of EL34s they replaced.

Dawgfish

^^Beautiful tubes! Which series of Psvanes are those?^^

thsmith

series 1 I guess. I had to shut them down as I have some biasing resistor issues I need to sort out. They have been ordered and should be here by the weekend.

Tbone289

zingo wrote: »

I've owned the Treasure 6CA7 tubes (along with many input and output Treasure and Psvane tubes) and liked them very much. I would consider Treasure and Psvane tubes (along with Gold Lion, but for different sonic reasons)

Are the Gold Lion 6CA7 different than the Electro-Harmonix 6CA7? I know the Gold Lion 6922's are identical to Electro-Harmonix and are therefore a rip-off at a much higher price. Is this true across all tube models?

Dawgfish

thsmith wrote: »

series 1 I guess. I had to shut them down as I have some biasing resistor issues I need to sort out. They have been ordered and should be here by the weekend.

If you don't mind, describe the issues you are having. The reason I'm asking is I blew a tube on my amp 1 and blew a resistor in the process. I replaced both resistors and now I am getting much higher bias voltage at the sample ports on the two right tubes which were the ones I replaced.

txcoastal1

thsmith wrote: »

They have been ordered and should be here by the weekend.

Will they be upside down:cheesygrin:

thsmith

Dawgfish wrote: »

If you don't mind, describe the issues you are having. The reason I'm asking is I blew a tube on my amp 1 and blew a resistor in the process. I replaced both resistors and now I am getting much higher bias voltage at the sample ports on the two right tubes which were the ones I replaced.

One tube would not bias down like it should. I thought it was a tube problem until I put the new ones in and had the same issue. I swapped signal tubes and same issue. When I measured resistance on the bias resisters it was open, I checked the others and 1 was 10 ohms (correct) and 2 others were 18 ohms (incorrect).

When I first got the amp the fuse blew and I found 2 dead tubes. No biggie since I did not expect any tubes with the amp.

Anyway, I suspect the one resistor was damaged when the tube blew and took out the fuse.

Its all good and a cheap easy fix. The hard part is waiting since there is really nothing close where I live to get parts. Sure miss having a Frys close by.

What resistors did you replace and what was the ratings? I went with a metal film, 10 ohm, 1% 1/2 watt resistor and will replace all 4 with vishay's.

Dawgfish

The resistors where the two right bias resistors. The 3rd power tube (second from the right) blew and blew the bias resistor in the process. I went ahead and replaced the two right bias resistors with the specified 10 OHM, 1%, 1/2 watt resitors. I picked them up from my local Rat Shack. Maybe that is the problem. I bought a brand new quad of Wing C EL34s and when I put the new tubes in the Amp 1 and went to bias the new tubes, they would not bias correctly. I tried swapping the two right and left tubes (which biased correctly in the two left tube sockets) and still had the same problems. It's not the tubes that are the problem. What is strange is that when I set all of the bias nobs to the minimum position and measure the voltage at the sample ports, I'm getting like .26-.27 volts on the two left power tube sample ports and getting 26 to 27 volts on the right ones! Obviously something is amuck. The two right ones are two orders of magnitude higher than the left ones. I was thinking that maybe something is wrong with the new resistors because I'm gettting voltages at the sample ports that vary so widely between the right and left tubes.

What I was thinking of doing was measureing the voltage at the tube sockest between right and left tubes. If I'm getting similiar voltage at the tube sockets than I definitely know it's more than likely a problem with the resistors. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

thsmith

Sorry I dont. Try measuring the resistance of your replace resistors and make sure they are not already toast. What is the voltage rating of your resistors? I ordered 700v. even with the one resistor that was open the lowest I could get the bias voltage was .50v.

26 volts sounds crazy. Have you tried swapping (frogging) the 12AU7 tubes.

Dawgfish

I did try swapping different input/driver tubes alltogether (12AX7/5751s and 12AU7/5814s) to no avail. I'll have to measure the resistance on the resitors and see what is going on.

thsmith

Give me call if you want.

Dawgfish

I'll do that. Thank you very much for that. I'm heading back to GA tomorrow for a long weekend, but when I get back next week I'm going to resume working on the Amp 1 and I'll give you a call then.

I got the Treasure KT-88s in today. My initial impressions are very positive. I hear they take a LONG time to burn in though.

thsmith

I use them in my Wright and found it took about 60 hours for them to stabilize.

Dawgfish

That's not bad at all. I've heard reports of up to 300 hrs for them to break-in.

thsmith

At 60-80 hours they stabilize or did for me and I did not hear much differences after 120 hours. I suspect equipment may make a difference.

thsmith

Dawgfish, replaced all 4 with Vishays tonight and so far everything is biasing just fine.

Did you ever check the resistance of yours ?

Dawgfish

Awesome! Glad to here everything is working out fine. I haven't had a chance to check the resistance yet. I went back home to GA for a long weekend. I hope to check that out this week. Still liking the Psvanes?

thsmith

I like what I am hearing so far. They definately have some punch and sparkle.

The LS90s really like the tube gear and sounded very nice with the hot rodded Pioneer.