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Which tubes to buy

I have an Audio Research Ref. 160s power amplifier. It's almost time to replace the tubes. This will be the first time I replace the tubes in this amp. In the past I have purchased tubes for my Ref. 6SE preamp directly from Audio Research or Upscale Audio. Audio Research furnishes Tung-Sol  KT 150 tubes with the amp. and also as replacements. Recently I have found PSVANE brand tubes available. Does anybody have experience using these tubes? I'm trying to get the best sound quality. Tung-Sol made in Russia have been around a long time. PSVANE made in China is new to me. Any suggestions or recommendations?

motorheadflash

Showing 1 response by decooney

decooney
2,305 posts
 

To @motorheadflash, I agree, best to stick with the same and what your amps were designed and voiced with originally.  Best to source from a dealer who truly batch matches the tubes as AR did for your amps new.  

While I use close-matched sets of TungSol KT150 / KT120s in my own amps -and-use PSVANE tubes in my preamps and input tubes for my amplifiers, quality has been better the past two years. We'll see how it goes for the PSVANE KT150s, and time will tell, watching forums and feedback.  I'm evaluating some other PSVANE replacements now that do seem better than my prior pairs from 2-3 years ago fwiw. 

 

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