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Old Legendary tubes vs New Kids on the block Amperex/Siemens/Tele vs Psvane/TAD/Shugaung

Posting this on amps board, as pre tubes can make quite a dif on the amp ound. 
I just sent off all my oldstock tubes to a  guy who will sell them for me on ebay,,I am going all ~New kids on the block~ pre tubes. 
I am saying goodbye to my fav~ Amperex BB.s 
The only old stock i am keeping are the 2 tall bottle SQ Philips EC180's which will go in the AU section of the Defy,,i love the cool looking tall bottle of the EC180,'s, But i also bought some Psvane Au's , a sthey look quite impressive with taht double plate at the top,,,Will add some TAD AU's also on wish list, they also have thae cool looking double plate./high tech components.
I will roll the 3 labs, and see wich has the finer resolution/soundstage.
The 4 AX's will have to be the Shugaung, Maybe later on will add the TAD.
The cayin cd17 takes 4 6922's, for those I will go TAD, as they have the cool looking double plates. 
Which brings up this Q...will the old legends hold their top $ prices going forward, as folks begin cking out the new labs offerings, 
Psvane/Shugaung/TAD. 
I've not heard any of the new, as yet, I have the AU's/AX's arriving later this week. Since i sent all my old stock au/ax's off, can't compare to these new labs. Only compare from what i reacll the Defy sounding like  with Old stock. 
However as you guys know i still have that cheap chinese clone which is crippling the Defy's performance. 
The cayin SC6 is still a ways off, so a  true compare could only be made at that time. 
The cayin has 4 AU's, will roll both TAD and Psvane T series AU's. , Psvane has a  new ax out called T series,,,I will buy both the Psvane and the TAD, see which comes out for high resolution of fq's. 
Have you guys heard any of these newer labs, vs the old legends. 
On the power tubes, I have EH KT90's and also chinese KT88's i bought cheap off ebay,,so will roll those  when the front tubes arrive. 
Will not rebias the amp,,it will be a  justa  shortb 10 minute testing.
If I like the 88's over the EH90's,,I will add the Psvane KT88 C version to wish list, The C version is the newer KT88 from Psvane called the Classic 88, the older version is called the hifi 88. 
I will post notes over the comming year as these tests will be ongoing during the year 2020. 
What say you about these new kids on the block?
mozartfan
Post removed 
puffball08's avatar
puffball08
311 posts
 
To save everyone from searching through the 20 issues of "Vacuum Tube Valley", I'll list some of the better known types used in audio applications.
12AX7/ECC83  VTV #1, #14
300B  VTV #3, #8 (EL84 also in this issue)
EL34  VTV #2
6L6  VTV #4, #13
6550/KT88  VTV #6, #19
6DJ8  VTV #7
845  VTV #9
6V6, 6AV5  VTV #10
6SN7  VTV #11
2A3  VTV #12
45  VTV #15
12BH7 (and other miniature dual triodes used as vertical oscillator/output in TV sets that have found application in audio)  VTV #16  (Under the heading "Dumpster Tubes" by Eric Barbour)
Rectifiers for audio  VTV #17
7591  VTV #20


wrenth
26 posts
 
A lot of tubes has been told here. I could add to the subject a lot but please consider that tubes replacement is just a part of the story. How surprised I was when McIntosh C1100 with stock JJ tubes kicked ass to the bottom for all known to me NOS fed preamps.
It gave me a lot of to think about. Sometimes hardware exchange is a way better solution prior to tubs upgrade.
Hey, i am not saying that i will not upgrade my tubes someday but so far I see no reason to.

thx,
m
bsmg
296 posts
 
I have copies of the entire Vacuum Tube Valley set. My amp uses EL34 output tubes and VTV declares the 80's vintage Tesla to be the best. I disagree and prefer the Holland made EL34 with the twin "D" getters; these could be branded Amperex, RCA, Dynaco, or even Mullard even though Mullard and Amperex were in competition. Siemens never made an EL34; all EL34's labeled Siemens were made by someone else. I've used the original Chinese tubes, the new issue Gold Lion KT77, and the vintage Tesla (not JJ) and to my ear the Holland made EL34 sounds best. Always longed to have a quad of the original Genalex KT77's but these are so rare and expensive they're not really an option for me.
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,544 posts
 
For all the test "AX" tubes you've gone through, you could have just got a set of Telefunken ECC83/12AX7. They are the best. Unless, you use Shuguang Black 12AX7LS and allow 20 hours burn-in. They beat out Teles in my amps.
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