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Shuguang Treasure tubes....

I'm not sure if this is in the right place but this is about the tubes in my amp so here goes....Has anyone else given these Shuguan Treasure tubes a try?

I recently bought a used tube amp(VAC Phi 110) and the tubes that came with it were shot so I started poking around for some new tubes. I was looking for some Shuguang tubes, which are what I believe VAC supplies as standard/stock, and ran across Shuguangs limited production Treasure tubes. I poked around and did some reading, found a review or two and decided to give the only distributer for N. America(Grant Fidelity) a call. I spoke to a very kind and helpful lady who was patient with me(quite the task I might add!), was very nice and helpful and was darn knowledgeable on the tubes. Before I knew it my wallet had leapt out of my back pocket and I had splurged and ordered a matched quad of the Treasure Tubes, KT-88s. Within a couple of hours I had a tracking number and about a week later a box labeled "FRAGILE: GLASS!" was waiting for me when I got home from work.(A quick side note; during the short wait for the Treasure tubes to arrive I was using a borrowed quad of stock VAC KT-88 tubes and they were wonderful, great sounding tubes that I could live with forever....or that is until I found the Treasure tubes anyway.)

When the Treasure tubes showed up I ripped into the box and was shocked to see that each pair comes in a really nice presentation box with each tube very well protected in a foam insert, very classy. I removed the tubes, admired their beauty(they really are sweet looking tubes!) and popped them in the VAC and let them warm up for about 15-20 minutes. I then set bias on them and hit the play button expecting the usual tube break in time-wrong!...right out of the box these tubes sound fantastic! Seriously, I am shocked how at just good they sound fresh out of the box. Smooth clean highs, strong deep bass and all the other audiophile words we so endear. If they're this good right out of the box I can't wait until I get 100 hours or so on them. I'm no reviewer but I can say that these tubes offered a noticable improvement in my system and are worth every penny of their asking price, no doubt about it! So far they are chugging along and sounding beautiful and hold a rock solid bias, ZERO fluctuation.

Please understand that I have no affiliation with Grant Fidelity but when I run across a company that treats their customers so well and offers a product that performs at this level I feel I should share my experience with others, I'm one VERY hapy audionut!

Yes I actually do have a question and here it is; They(Grant Fidelity/Shuguang) also offer a 6SN7 substitute called the "CV-181", this is supposed to be a direct replacement for standard 6SN7's and I'm very interested in those as well. Has anyone else had the opportunity to give these tubes a try? Thanks for your replies.

Sincerely,
John
128x128johngp
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Look forward to hearing you thoughts on them. Still using the old Ei which are suppose to be pretty good, would be nice to try something new.
wrm57
1,041 posts
 
I tried the 12ax7 in my Mac C2300 when I had it. I thought the tube sounded very good. I actually liked it more than Tele ribbed and '50s RCA long blackplates (my favorite there).
bigredplane
10 posts
 
Well better late then never. But the Shuguang CV181-Z's grade A's just can't keep up with Mullards ECC32 gray plates. I ran the Shuguang CV181-Z's grade A's for 400+ hrs they never got any better with time. The CV181-z has less detail. The sound stage is almost as good but yet not there. If your system is on the bright side then give them a try, but if not I wouldn't go there. The test was done with a Cary Audio SLI-80 with EAT 6922 and some of the new Gold Loin KT88's

PS: I also trid some of the EAT KT88's. IMO way over rated. I sold them and keeping my Gold Loins. But I do Like the EAT 6922 they are the best I have ever heard. Like I said this is IMO. I have been using tube amps and preamps for 25 yrs now and rolling tubes.
dr_john
66 posts
 
I too own a VAC Phi and replaced Kevin's stock 6SN7's with the Psvane CV-181's, the best power tube I've heard. While Kevin's stock KT88's are just fine, I wonder if the Psvane KT88's are better, coupled with their own power tubes. Any experience ?

thanks,
-john
hifimaniac
508 posts
 
I responded to a more recent question abou the KT-88s from Psvane which are the direct competitor to the Treasure series. Both are manufactured in the Shaguang factory and look to be almost virtually the same. I too purchased a quad set of the Psvanes from Grant Audio; they talk such a good game at how they match and choose the best of the best. I have a friend who owns one of the very best tube testers ever built (name not on my tongue) but I wanted to check the quality of the Grant Audio matched quad. First off, they were not even closed to being matched! Secondly and more disheartening, two of the four didn't even test as new! They were weak. So, so much for Grant Fidelity's big claims of picking the best; my quads didn't even come close and sadly were not even matched as promised. I won't do business with them again after that. I guess all these companies assuring matched quads are not truly doing so.
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