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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
johngp
jtimothya
612 posts
 
Well after 100 plus hours on the New CV181-z. I think they went to soft for me. They sound a little dark to my ears compared NOS Mullards ECC32 The new CV181-Z are good but to me not as good as the NOS Mullards but this is just in my system.

My experience too ... yes they are good tubes, I'd put them sonically on par with a Sylvania GTB, which, at their retail or discounted eBay price, stretches the value equation. I really was hoping for a modern 6SN7 compatible tube that could give me what I hear from a late-fourties early-fifties era Ken-Rad, Sylvania, RCA, or Raytheon VT-231 or GT. Those have magic, the Shuguang CV181-Z not so much. Still I'm glad to see a tube manufacturer pay attention to sonics and I hope Shuguang or New Sensor or someone else redoubles effort for the 6SN7 grail.
jriggy's avatar
jriggy
549 posts
 
I've heard a few people mention that the BT CV181's swing wildly in character somewhere around 100 or so through 200 or 250 hours... Can't remember the exact spance of hours but definitely dips in character for a while.
bigredplane
10 posts
 
Well I be gone for the weekend. So I won't report again untill Monday or Tuesday. The one thing I don't like is the oversize pins. Way to hard to get it in and out. I don't think it's necessary. Feels like I'm close to breaking something getting them out. My sockets are tight in my Cary Audio SLI-80
audiofeil
4,011 posts
 
>>01-23-11: Pubul57
What the heck is a PSVane and where do we get them?
Shuguangs's reference line of small signal tubes. Grant Fidelity carries them too<<

I just picked up a pair of 12AX7 from an alternate supplier; will fire them up next week and give a listen.
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.
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