Psvane TC-5 integrated KT120 Tube Amplifier - RE-LAUNCH With Tung-Sol KT120 tubes

GrantFidelity

Active Member
Latest update of TC5 amp with Tung-Sol KT120 tubes:

From the all together 4 endusers' report of early failure of Psvane KT120 tubes that come with the Psvane TC5 amp, we have taken actions to address the issue immediately on Feb 27th. Below is what have been done to improve tube reliability on this amplifier:

1) All Psvane KT120 tubes installed on the entire stock of TC5 amps have been removed from packaging on Feb 28th and returned to Psvane Audio factory in China for their quality control investigation.

2) Two units of TC5 amps have been randomly chosen from our stock in Hong Kong and shipped to our long term tube amp repair tech in Canada on March 2nd for technical audit to confirm if any issue on the amp could be causing tube failure.

3) Replacement Tung-Sol KT120 tubes for every single TC5 amp in stock and those sold to buyers already have been ordered from Tung-Sol's North American distributor on March 1st.

4) Our long term tube amp service tech (with over 30 years experience in servicing high end tube amps such as Canary, Audio Space, Line Magnetic etc..) confirmed to us on March 10th that 'TC5 has no design issue. The tube failure is caused by tube reliability issue, not vise versa. The amp if used with reliable KT120 tubes, it should work as good as any well built tube amp.'

5) Tung-Sol distributor has provided quad matching for all Tung-Sol KT120 tubes that we ordered to ensure TC5 amp owners will have a matched quad to go with the TC5 amp. We have received the Tung-Sol tube shipment today March 12th in our Canadian office.

6) All previous buyers of TC5 (including those 4 who had reported Psvane KT120 tube failures) have been provided return instruction of Psvane KT120 tubes to Grant Fidelity in Canada on March 12th and replacement Tung-Sol tubes will be sent by DHL Air Express to all buyers once their return is confirmed by way of postage receipt.

7) We will start a fresh forum thread for "Re-Launching" Psvane TC5 integrated KT120 amp with Tung-Sol KT120 tubes shipped separately from Canada and amplifier continues being shipped from Hong Kong directly. This thread will be closed as of now.

We appreciate everyone's patience with us while we sort out this tube quality matter. As always, quality is always of first priority for Grant Fidelity and we will take all measures we can to ensure our product quality.

Thank you.
Rachel @ Grant Fidelity


Read about our own Open Box impression for Psvane TC5 amp:
Part 1: http://grantfidelity.com/factories/?p=265
Part 2: http://grantfidelity.com/factories/?p=291
Part 3: http://grantfidelity.com/factories/?p=314
Part 4: http://grantfidelity.com/factories/?p=324
Part 5: http://grantfidelity.com/factories/?p=342
Part 6: http://grantfidelity.com/factories/?p=349
Part 7: http://grantfidelity.com/factories/?p=352

Picture of TC5 with Tung-Sol KT120 tubes installed:

2449.jpg
 
overall it is a more relaxed sound presentation. We didn't compare it long as we no longer use the Psvane KT120 in case of potential problem.
 
Some specific tubes simply seem to have shorter lifespan (sometimes very short) in specific applications. I have an old Conrad Johnson MV-45 that would burn out a set of Winged "C" in six months. I've been running some repro Mullards for several years now without even having to touch up the bias, though I still check it regularly. The original tubes that came in the Psvane might be fine in other applications (I have no idea), but don't respond well to how they are driven in this particular amp. Time always tells, unfortunately.
 
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