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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
114 responses Add your response
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.
soshs
1 posts
 
Factories only match Ia, never consider mutual conductance (gm). The promise are crap.
tzh21y
1,654 posts
 
I bought a quad of kt 88z treasure tubes from grant fidelity. I am not impressed so far. They sound like old tubes. I put back kt 88s that came with the mc 275. How long do they take to break in? I will be honest,I have about 10 hours on them.
tzh21y
1,654 posts
 
Wow, all of a sudden they sound great. What a difference a couple of hours makes.
abucktwoeighty's avatar
abucktwoeighty
1,079 posts
 
My 6sn7's are noisy. But once I get the music flowing, I don't notice it until I have to flip the disc.
tzh21y
1,654 posts
 
I just turned them on again and they seem muddy sounding again. Is it because they are new?
tzh21y
1,654 posts
 
Just for the record.  I am back to using my tung Sol 6550 vintage tubes.  Their is no comparison.
saki70
907 posts
 

tzh21y ;

I don't have Kt88's but I do have the Black Treasure 6CA7's .

They did sound bad , good , bad etc. during the break in process . The break in

took at least 200 hrs until they opened up .

I don't think that you have really given your BT's a chance with just that few amount of hours . Plug them back in , put a dynamic CD on repeat and leave the house ! It may take awhile longer .

Good Luck .

deepee99's avatar
deepee99
86 posts
 
A bit off-topic here, but if you're rolling tubes it's a good idea to re-tension your tube sockets as often as you change tubes, especially outputs, power off of course, and a squirt of De-Oxit while you're at it! I am using both PSVanes and Black Treasures 6SN7s in my pre-amp. The BTs do take a bit of break-in time whereas the the PSVs sound "broken in" right out of the box. So I put the BTs in the splitter holes and the PSVs out front for about 50 hours, then swapped them front and back and now can't tell the difference. The Chinese are on to something; my wonderful Precambrian RCAs and Sylvanias can't hold a candle to them. I just hope they live a long time.
lostinmusic
10 posts
 
Hi all

I'm new to the site but wanted to comment on this thread as I am using both the shuguangs and ps vanes in my system.  The system comprises of a valve cd player into a valve pre amp/headphone amp into the direct feed on a mastersound 845 intergrated amp into a pair of spendor classic sp3/2r2 speakers.  inter connects are all chord indigo speaker cable is kimber  and all power cords are russ andrews.  Headphones are seinnheiser hd 800 and audio technica ath w-5000.  I split my time about 50/50 between headphone and full system listening

As mentioned above I have been using a pair of shuguang black bottle treasure cv -181s as the power out put tubes in my Icon Audio CDX 1 cd player.  My headphone/pre amp is the quad PA -One which I also re tubed with Shuguang treasure cv - 181s. I experienced much the same regarding burn in as others on this thread.  I have just purchased a pair ps vane cv 181s which are in the process of burning in on the cd player at the minute.  Initial thoughts on the ps vanes are they are in the same ball park sound quality wise and are displaying the same characteristics the shuguangs did whilst they were burning.  Having read reviews and comments on the ps vane before purchasing them they take about 300 hundred hours before they really start to sing.  I will do some serious comparisons between the two sets of valve once the ps vanes have about 300 hours on them but To be honest though at the minute I am not detecting that much of a difference which is a bit of a bummer as the ps vanes were quite a bit more expensive.  Having said that it is a while since I had the treasures in the cd player so I may be looking through rose tinted glasses at just how good the treasures are.  I also tend to look at the negatives with new gear (especially expensive gear) before I see the positives.  So I may be doing the ps vanes a dis service

I'm not really great at expressing my thoughts in audiophile terms but I will say my system may not have gut renching bass and is perhaps not the crispist in the treble but it does have musical coherance, a extremely wide soundstage, is laid back (which how in my opinion life should be) and loves most of the music I throw at, does not cause the listener farigue and puts the biggest grin on my face everytime I power it up.   I think a lot of this comes down to a combination of synergy between components and interconnects and tube rolling

On a side note has anyone had any experience with ps vane 845s.  The 845s I have in the intergrated are stock Chinese valves so I would love to hear any reviews on the ps vanes (or any other 845s for that matter) as I am thinking my next upgrade will be a change of power valve.   The ps vanes are really expensive so any advice on cheaper alternatives would be much appreciated

Thanks for reading

Mark
dr-john's avatar
dr-john
72 posts
 
I will never ever tube my VAC Phi 300 with any Psvane product again.  After months of assurances from Rachel in Grant Fidelity importers that their new 'higher plate voltage tubes' would work fine for me, they blew up my amp from a lint short. And their CV-181's lasted maybe 7 months. Buyer beware.
tzh21y
1,654 posts
 
I still am using the original Tungsol 6550.  The treasure just do not sound as good as the tung sols, at least in my system.  once in a while i put the treasures in, but always come back to the tungsols
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