Frankyc2003
03-04-2015, 12:53
Dear all,
I recently decided to start tube rolling on my Audion Silver Night 300.
It was just too tempting not to!
My existing tubes are Golden Dragons of unknown provenance and usage, no real way of telling how they actually sound.
Obviously, when it comes to 300B valves, budget is always a consideration as these don't come cheap. Western Electric being the 'Holy Grail' of mid range heaven, I set off on my journey quite modestly, but I thought I'd share some of my early findings.
First Stop. Psvane Valves.
I have been running Psvane valves on my 845 SET integrated for a few years and I have always been delighted by the VFM those Chinese tubes offer. They have quite an offering to be honest, with multiple tiers product ranges. So before committing to buying anything I got in touch with Ian at AA-Acoustics down in Brighton.
He immediately recommend me the Psvane 300B-L.
http://i835.photobucket.com/albums/zz275/frankyc2003/201311220021033095.png_zpsjmbnohw1.jpeg (http://s835.photobucket.com/user/frankyc2003/media/201311220021033095.png_zpsjmbnohw1.jpeg.html)
These tubes are a trickled down version of Psvane WE replicas at a fraction of their price. As the marketing material makes obvious, is that they have been 'voiced' especially for the British audience. Not a bad idea I thought since my Audion was designed and manufactured in Old Blighty. The bases are quite basic, and the pins are certainly not in any noble metal, but the overall quality inside the glass is obvious. All the components are neatly and very well soldered and connected.
We had a quick chat about the benefits and advantages of Mesh Plates vs Solid Plates. These 300B - L have a solid plate offering a larger frequency response in the lower registers. They also offer the benefits of not being prone to fatal failure at switch on, when most of the current flows in those thin meshes of wire. A slow star mod on your amp, being the ideal situation, but the Audion didn't offer that refinement.
http://i835.photobucket.com/albums/zz275/frankyc2003/unnamed_zpskrrqotmt.jpg (http://s835.photobucket.com/user/frankyc2003/media/unnamed_zpskrrqotmt.jpg.html)
http://i835.photobucket.com/albums/zz275/frankyc2003/unnamed-1_zpsjnnrxbuq.jpg (http://s835.photobucket.com/user/frankyc2003/media/unnamed-1_zpsjnnrxbuq.jpg.html)
Swiftly the order was processed and in a jiffy, here are the tubes in their 'So British' packages. Very well protected by a few layers of foam, the tubes are looking lush and are begging for some action.:eyebrows:
Leaving them to settle at their working voltages and temperatures gives me the time to line up some tunes…
http://i835.photobucket.com/albums/zz275/frankyc2003/Screen%20Shot%202015-04-03%20at%2013.34.01_zpsmpboeeoc.png (http://s835.photobucket.com/user/frankyc2003/media/Screen%20Shot%202015-04-03%20at%2013.34.01_zpsmpboeeoc.png.html)
Directly streaming from Squeezebox via Spotify 320 encoding into the Arcam RDac.
Immediately what was apparent was that the soundstage opened by quite a few inches on each side of the speakers. Always a welcome addition in my books. I am all about involvement you see!
The depth of those Viola's plucked strings have such bite and realness to them, the stroked strings make me shudder just at the shear musicality of them. Honestly this is almost as good as Alton Towers!:eek:
Next up, some classic Chris Isaak.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O_ygC2IFIU8/TFfwhVhPsRI/AAAAAAAAAAc/bnoIE92n3fY/s400/Forever-Blue-093624584520.jpg
Baby did a bad thing! Apparently… Well those tubes don't seem to be doing anything wrong so far.
The thump of the drum kick are frightening. The Bass is taut, dry and very musical. Chris' voice jumps up in the room, his screams sending my neighbours into a sheer panic… Who ever said that valve amplifiers are slouch…
Shadows in a Mirror is an achingly sad song, and played through my system it all becomes almost too painful. Those new tubes are just shining so much, I have to blink…
So there we are. Some modest findings so far, but a massive grin is on my face. And it's there to stay!
I will keep you all posted soon, when those tubes settle down a bit more.
Happy Easter!
I recently decided to start tube rolling on my Audion Silver Night 300.
It was just too tempting not to!
My existing tubes are Golden Dragons of unknown provenance and usage, no real way of telling how they actually sound.
Obviously, when it comes to 300B valves, budget is always a consideration as these don't come cheap. Western Electric being the 'Holy Grail' of mid range heaven, I set off on my journey quite modestly, but I thought I'd share some of my early findings.
First Stop. Psvane Valves.
I have been running Psvane valves on my 845 SET integrated for a few years and I have always been delighted by the VFM those Chinese tubes offer. They have quite an offering to be honest, with multiple tiers product ranges. So before committing to buying anything I got in touch with Ian at AA-Acoustics down in Brighton.
He immediately recommend me the Psvane 300B-L.
http://i835.photobucket.com/albums/zz275/frankyc2003/201311220021033095.png_zpsjmbnohw1.jpeg (http://s835.photobucket.com/user/frankyc2003/media/201311220021033095.png_zpsjmbnohw1.jpeg.html)
These tubes are a trickled down version of Psvane WE replicas at a fraction of their price. As the marketing material makes obvious, is that they have been 'voiced' especially for the British audience. Not a bad idea I thought since my Audion was designed and manufactured in Old Blighty. The bases are quite basic, and the pins are certainly not in any noble metal, but the overall quality inside the glass is obvious. All the components are neatly and very well soldered and connected.
We had a quick chat about the benefits and advantages of Mesh Plates vs Solid Plates. These 300B - L have a solid plate offering a larger frequency response in the lower registers. They also offer the benefits of not being prone to fatal failure at switch on, when most of the current flows in those thin meshes of wire. A slow star mod on your amp, being the ideal situation, but the Audion didn't offer that refinement.
http://i835.photobucket.com/albums/zz275/frankyc2003/unnamed_zpskrrqotmt.jpg (http://s835.photobucket.com/user/frankyc2003/media/unnamed_zpskrrqotmt.jpg.html)
http://i835.photobucket.com/albums/zz275/frankyc2003/unnamed-1_zpsjnnrxbuq.jpg (http://s835.photobucket.com/user/frankyc2003/media/unnamed-1_zpsjnnrxbuq.jpg.html)
Swiftly the order was processed and in a jiffy, here are the tubes in their 'So British' packages. Very well protected by a few layers of foam, the tubes are looking lush and are begging for some action.:eyebrows:
Leaving them to settle at their working voltages and temperatures gives me the time to line up some tunes…
http://i835.photobucket.com/albums/zz275/frankyc2003/Screen%20Shot%202015-04-03%20at%2013.34.01_zpsmpboeeoc.png (http://s835.photobucket.com/user/frankyc2003/media/Screen%20Shot%202015-04-03%20at%2013.34.01_zpsmpboeeoc.png.html)
Directly streaming from Squeezebox via Spotify 320 encoding into the Arcam RDac.
Immediately what was apparent was that the soundstage opened by quite a few inches on each side of the speakers. Always a welcome addition in my books. I am all about involvement you see!
The depth of those Viola's plucked strings have such bite and realness to them, the stroked strings make me shudder just at the shear musicality of them. Honestly this is almost as good as Alton Towers!:eek:
Next up, some classic Chris Isaak.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O_ygC2IFIU8/TFfwhVhPsRI/AAAAAAAAAAc/bnoIE92n3fY/s400/Forever-Blue-093624584520.jpg
Baby did a bad thing! Apparently… Well those tubes don't seem to be doing anything wrong so far.
The thump of the drum kick are frightening. The Bass is taut, dry and very musical. Chris' voice jumps up in the room, his screams sending my neighbours into a sheer panic… Who ever said that valve amplifiers are slouch…
Shadows in a Mirror is an achingly sad song, and played through my system it all becomes almost too painful. Those new tubes are just shining so much, I have to blink…
So there we are. Some modest findings so far, but a massive grin is on my face. And it's there to stay!
I will keep you all posted soon, when those tubes settle down a bit more.
Happy Easter!