Best 845 tube out there?


I am running a pair of Cary CAD-211AE monoblocks with the standard no-name Chinese tubes shipped by Cary. Whilst I am happy with the sound, I think I should buy a pair of 845's to keep as backup in case something happens to these tubes.

Because I will need to buy FOUR of them, this rules out any tube that sells for stupid money (e.g. vintage RCA 845 tubes).

The only current production 845's I am aware of are:

- Shuguang 845 "standard"
- Shuguang 845B
- Shuguang 845C
- Shuguang PSVANE 845
- KR Audio 845

I have found reviews of the Shuguang 845B and 845C, but there is virtually no information out there on the new Shuguang "psvane" 845. Has anybody heard this valve, and is it a noticable improvement over the 845B and C? Also, what do people think of the KR?
amfibius

Showing 7 responses by ecll80

Hi Guys, I have ordered a pair of Shuguang WE845 to replace my 845B without top mica. 
I am using a Line Magnetic LM518ia. 
Now waiting for the post to deliver the beauties ;) 
I will get the WE845 Shuguang tomorrow, let them burn in for a couple of days (if not more) and will let you know how it goes on.

t_ramey, on my amp the 845B (without top mica) was a nice improvement over the standard in terms of soundstage and treble.

Received my WE845 Shuguang tubes.
They do not sound anything special so far, indeed one was broken right out of the box ! I was so disappointed...
The seller will send me another pair, though he admitted he did not take care enough about the packaging.
Mine was broken at the same place ie on the top near the vertical spacer. It could indeed be that it was broken well before the package because the flash was white ie it looks it had faded since a long time. (forgive my miserable English :)


Hi all, I received the WE845 Shuguang this morning.
So far they sound less good than the 845B, especially on the treble.
They sound more spectacular with solid mids, definition and huge soundstage, but they shout, not refined at all on the treble.
It seems to me my sweet single-ended amplifier went from 22 watts to a 75 watts shouting solid state amp or a Cayin 500. We'll see if there is any change as the tube burn in a bit. But I am sceptic.
Please remember I am using high efficient wideband speakers with no filters and paper-cone so they are very sensitive and transparent. It could be that the "added" punch of those tubes convince people with low efficient speakers.
More to follow...
Cheers
Olivier
I will come back at the end of the week and tell you if some changes are observed. It should obviously, but will it change in the good direction? we'll see. 
Parsons, I indeed have Sorbothane pads under the amp. 
I would like to say that so far what I hear is not an evolution of the 845B, but rather a different family sound and signature. 
More to come...
After 100 hours of burning I can confirm that I like the WE845 Shuguang better than the 845B, despite the non-consistent construction of WE845 (internal is not as solid and fine built as the 845B, one on my 2 tubes is even weird to look at inside).
So I made another direct comparison by exchanging the tubes and warming them up at least 30 min before listening. 
The WE845 definitely brings more flesh, more tri-dimension soundstage, and punch as well (although this is not what I was looking for). The main thing is the midrange much thicker and "material" than the 845B.
I wish Shuguang could be more serious about the construction of these tubes, whether they are imported directly from China or from TAD, the few guys I know from other forums had the same surprise to see the weird internal assembly of those tubes, sometimes even broken.