Psvane KT120 amp

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Updates on the Psvane TC5 amp:

After considering TC5 owners' feedback on the seemingly high defect rate of the Psvane KT120 tubes, Grant Fidelity will put quality as our absolute first priority by starting to ship the TC5 amp without Psvane KT120 tubes installed from Hong Kong. A new set of Tung-Sol KT120 tubes will be provided separately directly from Canada at no extra cost. That is, the amp price stays at $1199 USD. This change of tubes should maintain the TC5' strength in amp build quality, and mitigate the weakness in the KT120 tube quality issue.

All past TC5 buyers will receive an email in the next week with Psvane KT120 return instructions to Canada. We have to gather these tubes to return to factory. Buyers can use slow mail to ship the tubes back to us in Canada to minimize return shipping cost (should only be around $15 USD by mail).

As always, we listen to our customers and hope this swift change will ensure our customer's highest satisfaction.

Happy Listening.

Best,
Rachel@Grant Fidelity

It is manual bias - easy to do with a screw driver. No multi-meter needed as the amp comes with a bias meter built-in.

I will have an open box impression posted soon on our site with more pictures. Turned on yesterday and had a brief listening - 'holy moly' is my first thought :) It's like KT88 on steroid :) It will have a serious run with the flagship Rita amp for 1/2 price.

Coming soon..
Rachel
 
This is very interesting Rachel, and at the same time very refreshing to read such news from GrantFidelity. This tubes amp look amazing and I am impressed by the 85watts rated. Looking forward to heard your impression, the price seem right too. I hope more products will come soon :)
 
It is manual bias - easy to do with a screw driver. No multi-meter needed as the amp comes with a bias meter built-in.

I will have an open box impression posted soon on our site with more pictures. Turned on yesterday and had a brief listening - 'holy moly' is my first thought :) It's like KT88 on steroid :) It will have a serious run with the flagship Rita amp for 1/2 price.

Coming soon..
Rachel

Thanks Rachel!
Does the amp actually come with the black bottles? That would be sweet!
I am very tempted to stop wasting money on food and hydro for the next year or so...:scratch2:
 
There is no black bottle KT120. It comes with standard KT120 tubes to keep the amp price affordable to more people. Maybe in the future Psvane will make a black bottle KT120 but so far I don't think they have that in plan yet.
 
This amp sounds amazing (with only 4 hours on it) and looks like it should cost 3 times as much.

Been a long time since something got me all excited and wanting to listen to music again.

Imaging is spooky accurate and having this much power does get your attention. I'll be posting my opinions on the product page.

At twice the intro price I'd call this a 'no brainer'. The big plus is that with Psvane doing the KT120 tubes, the hesitation to go with a KT120 amp can now be recommended, as always when an if done right and to me this amp is Psvane's best 'offering' in terms of value and build quality, it really looks great:) Point to Point of course.

Cheers,
Ian

Cheers,
Ian
 
I would be interesting to simply swap your RITA amp from your reference system to see exactly how’s this amplifier!
 
once it is broken in, then a tube and cap roll to try and make things even with Rita, no KT120 special tubes yet from Psvane. I can tell it isn't quite a Rita yet but might be close enough. There is only a hnadful of Rita's left, then they will be no more, too heavy for us to handle, I'll have mine parked somewhere :) It is my refererence that all other amps will always be compared against. To date for me nothing compares once put up to a comparison.

Cheers,
Ian
 
I was so worried you guys were out of the Amp business. So glad that is not so. Welcome back to form guys!
 
If anyone has listened to this amp I would love to hear your impressions. I am between this amp a NAD C375BEE. My only concern with the TC5 is the lack of reviews (because it is new to the market) and the lack of a pre-out to run a subwoofer.
 
They have just started shipping out late last week, so it will be a bit of time before any user feedback will be available and not everyone shares their opinions online. I am writing my opinions of this amp, somewhat biased it might seem but most will confirm I usually get it right. Comparing this amp to anything NAD would be like comparing a new Corvette to a Malibu if you catch my drift. Nothing wrong with NAD amps if you compare them against big box store solid state offerings, but this tube amp is just in a completely different league.

You likely won't need a sub, unless your speakers just don't do 45 hz or so. If your sub has speaker terminal inputs that is my preferred way to to do subs.

Here is my draft initial impressions of the TC5, Rachel might tone it down a bit before it goes on the product page:

I had a chance a few days ago when I walked into the showroom to see and listen to the new Psvane TC5, KT120 tube amp. Rachel was quite excited by it and as soon as I saw it I felt the old excitement coming back of checking out a new piece of gear. Solid State DACs don't get me very excited, now matter how good they are and that is about all that has been new for the past year or so. A new tube amp always get my attention, but a new tube type to try, heaven :)

First impressions are visual and it is a stunning amp to look at and ranks up there with one of the best looking packages at any price. This will make many other brands offerings look cheap and or gimmicky by comparison. The product page pictures give an idea of what it looks like, but once seen in person you will understand.

Rachel says it has about 4 hours on it so far, so I fire her up up, dead silence thru the horns at half volume on the volume control, which is likely close to rated power, nice. I'm pretty sure Psavane is giving them 50 hours in the factory as per our ongoing instructions, but will double check.Rachel has the interior pics show the typical Psavane (and prior to, Shuguang) point to point layout that again makes many competitors look incompetent.

I put on an old showroom demo cd and can only guess my jaw had dropped into my lap, the power on tap was obvious with how it controlled the speakers (ShengYa V-218), the depth of the bass can only only be describes as AudioPhile Balls :), the imaging is spooky, instruments just stayed in their place as if they were glued there. Soundstage was accurate but time will be needed for the TC5 to open up, same with tonal balance, with the mids being a bit forward (hey, going thru horns too).

I listened to various pieces of music for over an hour, a first for me since being diagnosed with cancer over a year ago. I was glued to the chair. Being able to play with this kind of high quality tube power was like taking the latest performance Jaguar for a test drive without the the salesman present :)

It doesn't matter what your tube amp arsenal is, this will compliment or replace most of them is my guess, this amp is that good. If you run SS amps because you think tubes can't drive your speakers or you need big volume, then this is the tube amp for you to consider. I will continue to evaluate the TC5 and report when big changes occur.

What a great amp !

Cheers,
Ian
 
Hi Ian, I really appreciate your time coming on here and letting us know your first impressions of this amp. Glad to see your surgery went well and wish you well in your recovery.

I was in between getting a rogue cronus and a line magnetic 216ia and had basically decided to definitely go with the LM, but then I checked your site and saw the TC5.

Was wondering if you knew any differences between the two or similarities etc.

I will be using the amp to power my B&W 685's and will be playing mostly vinyl with some digital as well. If you have any comments or suggestions it would be much appreciated.
 
It is maybe early to ask but if you had an amplifier to compare the new Psvane, which one would it be? Would I dare to think it could compare against the Shuguang S8MK or it is more sounding like the RITA ? I am not very familiar with KT120 tubes actually.
 
It is maybe early to ask but if you had an amplifier to compare the new Psvane, which one would it be? Would I dare to think it could compare against the Shuguang S8MK or it is more sounding like the RITA ? I am not very familiar with KT120 tubes actually.

I would like to know how it compares to my S8MK as well!
 
If anyone has listened to this amp I would love to hear your impressions. I am between this amp a NAD C375BEE. My only concern with the TC5 is the lack of reviews (because it is new to the market) and the lack of a pre-out to run a subwoofer.

That brings back memories - about 5 years ago I was auditioning some NAD amps with Focal speakers, I asked the dealer to hook up a Baby Sophia to the same speakers, because I had never heard a tube amp (other than an ancient worn out console radio in the 60s - 70s). I abandoned my plans to buy a 'good' SS amp on the spot. In comparison, the NAD sounded lifeless. Temporarily confined to P/T apartment life I am listening to an old Yamaha receiver. Lifeless, despite the TubeDAC-09. HK3490 - lifeless. Going home on weekend: Shuguang S300i - Holy crap! Music! I encourage you to find a dealer where you can compare the NAD with any tube amp. Then try to find a deal better than what you can get at GF. I got 1 headphone amp, 2 sets of speakers, 3 tubeDACs, and 3 tube amps at GF. No regrets. Great service. the 300B amp remains my favourite, despite its measly 9 WPC. That doesn't mean I'm not tempted by 85 WPC for my big room though...:D
 
Hi Ian, I really appreciate your time coming on here and letting us know your first impressions of this amp. Glad to see your surgery went well and wish you well in your recovery.

I was in between getting a rogue cronus and a line magnetic 216ia and had basically decided to definitely go with the LM, but then I checked your site and saw the TC5.

Was wondering if you knew any differences between the two or similarities etc.

I will be using the amp to power my B&W 685's and will be playing mostly vinyl with some digital as well. If you have any comments or suggestions it would be much appreciated.

Can't help you with what else is out there, I just haven't kept up with it at all. Unless LM and/or Rogue have drastically reduced their prices to be competitive with the likes of Psvane with the GF pricing model then I doubt they will be as good a deal new or used. I like the LM products, but the prices seemed relatively steep. What I really wanted was the monolith style LM 300B replica monoblock amps from the 1920's, nearly got to carry them :) Rogue has always had a good reputation. That all said I highly doubt either will be any better than the TC5 from what I've heard so far from the TC5. Both Rogue and LM are well known for their quality parts, the TC5 has that same level of quality and the execution is second to none.

The TC5 should be a fine match for your 685's. As I said the imaging is like glue thru the Shengyas, which are also finicky 2 ways, which is should make the entire 685 experience more enjoyable. The Audiophile Balls I mentioned should keep you more than satisfied on the bottom end.

Nice to be able to be back at it a bit. The TC5 is kind of what got me participating again. Great amp :)

Cheers,
Ian
 
It is maybe early to ask but if you had an amplifier to compare the new Psvane, which one would it be? Would I dare to think it could compare against the Shuguang S8MK or it is more sounding like the RITA ? I am not very familiar with KT120 tubes actually.

Leans in the Rita direction for sound quality. The S8MK was great entry/mid level KT88 amp that really came to life with the Psvane tube and cap roll. With Psvane doing their own KT120 tubes (Shuguang are soon to have their KT120 too) this tube topology will become more popular. Many think the sonics are better than the KT88, the power on a properly designed amp is likely the biggest improvement.

I've been thru comparing amps to Rita over 50 times, hell maybe 100 times, every time it turns out Rita does whatever is special about new contender and then Rita does all her other magic sonic tricks to again be the winner to my ears.

Cheers,
Ian
 
I'd like to hear your thoughts of the new TC5, RH67. I've been looking forward to Rachel's impressions on the Grant Fidelty website.

Ian, your impressions of the amp sound great. How do you think it would match with a set of Paradigm Studio 20's v3? They are currently being driven by an A/V receiver. I use my setup for two channel audio and am dying to upgrade my amp. I do enjoy listening at higher volumes, but am forced to turn the volume down when others are sleeping. How does the TC5 do at high and low volumes?

Thanks!
 
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