--@H@B-->
Opinionated.
Poppachubby's recent thread about these tubes from grant audio caught my eye. Tube rolling is one of those things you can get caught up in and drive yourself mad with. There is always something to read about the process, and always something new to try. As you very well know it can get expensive when NOS tubes are involved.
My Conrad johnson pv7 was completely rebuilt over the summer. I populated the pre with telefunken smooth plates that i had collected over the years.
I also have a Van alstine 550 ex power amp that uses 2 12at7 that drive a mosfet output. I put 2 rca blackplates here, and liked the results.
My only real niggle with this setup was soundstaging could have been better, and i wasnt sure just how much time was on the telefunkens. Could i do better?
After seeing poppachubby's review of these chinese made tubes, and how they might best NOS varieties, i though i might take a chance. The price works out to about 32.50 a tube. They are sold in matched pairs, so it put me out about 300 bucks. Not cheap but considering what matched telefunkens go for, well you get the picture.
As of right now i have about 5 hours on them. They truly do sound wonderful right out of the box. They do everything very well top to bottom. I did note however a tad bit of congestion around the mid-bass region which seems to be improving.
Soundstaging is exceptional. especially front to back. They improved pinpointing markedly. Little bells, or placement of players is so good its kinda spooky. Air and detail is excellent. These things i might add are telefunkens strong points. And i only have 5 hours on them!
What i like about tele's is how they are in regard to tonality. They have a sort of dryness in the mid bass that helps my synergy with components in my system. My Dali speakers have a bump in the mid bass and this helps. These psvanes tubes i think are even flatter in response than the teles and might explain why im getting a bit of bloat in my mid bass. Again though i think its improving. Vocals are incredible!!!!! They lose no ground to any NOS variety here!!!
The top end is where the psvanes are exciting. Clear, no edge at all but detailed like you wouldnt believe. Bass is tight and extended, very nice.
i have alot of time to go before they are considered to be broken in. the idea that these might get better kinda confounds me. If they stay the same as they are i can live with these, they are not perfect but they are new. I know how many hours are on them. its just it wont take much to make these better than the teles in every way. Thats what blows my mind.
I will open new threads as they break in if anyone is interested.
My initial excitement aside, i have quite a few small signal tubes of good quality and i am very stoked by these.
My Conrad johnson pv7 was completely rebuilt over the summer. I populated the pre with telefunken smooth plates that i had collected over the years.
I also have a Van alstine 550 ex power amp that uses 2 12at7 that drive a mosfet output. I put 2 rca blackplates here, and liked the results.
My only real niggle with this setup was soundstaging could have been better, and i wasnt sure just how much time was on the telefunkens. Could i do better?
After seeing poppachubby's review of these chinese made tubes, and how they might best NOS varieties, i though i might take a chance. The price works out to about 32.50 a tube. They are sold in matched pairs, so it put me out about 300 bucks. Not cheap but considering what matched telefunkens go for, well you get the picture.
As of right now i have about 5 hours on them. They truly do sound wonderful right out of the box. They do everything very well top to bottom. I did note however a tad bit of congestion around the mid-bass region which seems to be improving.
Soundstaging is exceptional. especially front to back. They improved pinpointing markedly. Little bells, or placement of players is so good its kinda spooky. Air and detail is excellent. These things i might add are telefunkens strong points. And i only have 5 hours on them!
What i like about tele's is how they are in regard to tonality. They have a sort of dryness in the mid bass that helps my synergy with components in my system. My Dali speakers have a bump in the mid bass and this helps. These psvanes tubes i think are even flatter in response than the teles and might explain why im getting a bit of bloat in my mid bass. Again though i think its improving. Vocals are incredible!!!!! They lose no ground to any NOS variety here!!!
The top end is where the psvanes are exciting. Clear, no edge at all but detailed like you wouldnt believe. Bass is tight and extended, very nice.
i have alot of time to go before they are considered to be broken in. the idea that these might get better kinda confounds me. If they stay the same as they are i can live with these, they are not perfect but they are new. I know how many hours are on them. its just it wont take much to make these better than the teles in every way. Thats what blows my mind.
I will open new threads as they break in if anyone is interested.
My initial excitement aside, i have quite a few small signal tubes of good quality and i am very stoked by these.
