PSVANE Discussion & Impressions Thread


Hi everyone,

We are the official PSVANE team, and we are thrilled to announce the release of our latest Horizon series vacuum tubes. This discussion thread is dedicated to engaging with you and addressing any questions you might have about PSVANE vacuum tubes.

With 16 years of experience in the tube sector, our team is empowered by many seasoned experts. We invite everyone to join in sharing, communicating, and discussing any questions and knowledge about vacuum tubes here.

128x128alightronics

@alightronics

I just wanted to come back and say that after a lot of stressful “on me” trying to return the faulty Psvane Acme 845 tubes, due to me not knowing with whom I was corresponding with for the return, not being able to communicate directly with GD-Audio Parts who utilize AliExpress to sell their tubes, etc and not fully trusting if I’d actually receive the refund as promised; I’m very happy to say that I have been fully refunded 👍

So, my question for you is this….

Is it safe for me to buy Psavne 845 Acme tubes from any seller via Aliexpress?

There is a selling store by the name of JUEQIZHE
Vacuum tube brand export store that is utilizing Aliexpress that claims they offer a 90 day free return window if I am not happy with the tubes for any reason and a 24 month warranty at a reasonable price.

Should I feel safe purchasing from them????

Will I get refunded if the arrive defected???

I don’t trust Amazon shipping fragile tubes in bags, and their price is much more expensive.

I look forward to your thoughts and response.

Best wishes,

Don

 

@audioquest4life 

We are very sorry for the unpleasant experience! We take your feedback very seriously and have immediately reported the issues to our internal team for review.
We also want to assure you that our products are fully tested before leaving the factory, including parameter and noise tests.

I received the Psvane Horizon tubes today. At first, I thought the order was messed up as the boxes they came in are printed with Psvane Classic series tubes, not Horizon. When I opened the boxes, that is when I saw that the tubes had Horizon etched on the glass.

Also, the Psvane web store states within the Amazon portal that these are matched, but there are no measurements scribed on the boxes, nor any indication that these are matched tubes. These are sold as a pair and are advertised as matched. I just don’t see any measurements to validate that they are in fact matched. One other thing is I don’t know if these are tested for low noise like when I purchase from other sellers. My preamp is sensitive to mismatches and noisy tubes. It will be a leap of faith for me to try these tubes in my preamp.

@hdm,

For sure. I will provide immediate feedback and likewise after roughly 20-30 hours of use. 

Audioquest4life: Very curious to hear your thoughts on the ART series vs Horizon 12AU7. Please let us know how it works out. 

@tlcocks The EL34 you have is already the highest grade EL34 from PSVANE, offering the best overall performance and sound quality.

@ampus,

I can certainly understand the defect concerns; however, that can be stated for any tune, new or NOS. I personally have had no failures with any variants, MKIIs or Art series. My failures were with NOS tubes. 
 

Also, the Octave Jubilee does not drive the preamp tubes hard. There is a high and low switch for gain. The Psvane tubes are in both high and low gain positions. I currently use the low gain setting due to having horns. 
 

I am not advocating or endorsing the Psvane but merely stating the facts as I know them from using the Psvane 12au7 Art and MKiI based on real world experiences. 

Since the Horizon is new and not that costly, I am going to order a set to experiment with. 

@audioquest4life 

Sounds like the Psvane Art series may suite my needs since I prefer a somewhat “tubey” sound.  My only concern is that some users on this forum reported problem with the longevity/reliability of the Art series tubes.  Would be nice if Psvane corrects this issue 

 

Just ordered an Art Series 12Au7 to try out in my Unison Research Triode 25. I felt that the Art Series might be a better choice for me than the new Horizon series based on my subjective listening preferences.

Not looking forward to the burn in process. My Psvane EL34 UK's seemed to take a very long time to burn in (at least 50 hours and very possibly double that-it was a bit hard for me to tell as I was dealing with a cartridge breaking in at exactly the same time). But I have been extremely happy with the EL34 UK's. 

I'm actually very happy with my setup at the moment so will be curious as to whether the ART 12AU7 will result in an improvement. 

Will post back impressions in a few months. 

Here is a new YouTube review of the Psvane Horizon tubes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp5XCcjtuow

I’ll have a short review, once I get them burned in. 12AT7 & 12AX7 in my phono stage and CV181/6SN7 in my DAC. So far very nice...

I tried Psvane EL34-Ph. Nice, but not bright enough for my Auris Nirvana. Is there another choice within the Psvane catalog that has more prominent treble extension?

@ampus 

You should try the Psvane Art series 12au7s for your Octave preamp. As we both have the same pre, Octave Jubilee, I have experimented with many NOS, including the original JAN, Siemens, and RFTs that Octave specs with the Jubilee. I find the Art series in the Octave Jubilee to be great all around tubes. They do need some good hours for break in, approximately 20-30 hours or so. I use all the same specs for all 4 spots in the Octave Jubilee, including the selected position. While NOS may sound good, sourcing them and reliability issues are detractors to me when I want to listen to music without any disruptions due to tube failure. 
 

 

@tksteingraber 

1. The two Cossor tubes you mentioned are customized tubes. Besides retail, Psvane also manufactures tubes for many audio and musical instrument brands worldwide. Due to the differences in performance and application environments required by each brand, these products cannot be directly compared with our retail products. Moreover, we have confidentiality obligations to our OEM customers, so I am sorry that I cannot provide an accurate answer to this question. 
These tubes are currently discontinued, but distributors may still have stock for sale.

2. The Mark II you mentioned is part of the ART series and is currently still available for sale.

3. The Treasure z black glass you mentioned is part of the Treasure series, which is still available for sale. However, the Treasure series is a collaboration between us and distributors and is not part of our classification hierarchy.

@alightronics what hierarchy category are these tubes?

Cossor blue glass

Cossor dark glass

Mark II grey glass

Treasure z black glass

The hierarchy of our product line is as follows:
Basic:HIFI、UK
Selected:HORIZON、ART
Premium:WE、ACME

Also, are they current tubes or discontinued tubes?  What tubes are ART I have not seen any labeled ART 

@alightronics Still confused on your 300b tubes.  What Quality category  do the following tubes fall under and are they still current? Are they considered Art?

Cossor blue glass

Cossor dark glass

Mark II grey glass

Treasure z black glass

 

@ampus 

Yes. The burn-in test is a part of our quality control process. After a 24-hour burn-in test, we conduct another inspection to eliminate any tubes with quality issues.

@markmuse 

 

I have an Octave preamp which actually uses 4 ECC82/12AU7 tubes.  I have tried a number of NOS as well as new production tubes and prefer RT and Gold Lions in combination with Amperex/Philips tubes.  Don’t get me wrong, the Horizon is a very good sounding tube, especially for its price, but it sounds a little thin in my system.  If the Horizons already sound nice in your system then they should even sound better after burning in although I thought that Psvane website said that all Horizon tubes are subjected to factory burn-in after production??

i cant believe youd say something like that, @alightronics.  they do this kind of thing all the time. havent you ever ordered anything from amazon? they stick records in envelopes. 

"
OMG, I can’t believe Amazon would use an envelope for packaging! "

@ampus 

What is your preamp? Mine is a Backert Labs Rhythm 1.3+ (has the brass plate). I will add that this is with only a few hours on them so far, but hope it doesn't change.

@alightronics 

Thanks!

@markmuse 

Our recommendation is to burn in the tubes for about 50 hours to allow them to stabilize. 
During this burn-in period, if you notice that the sound remains consistent without significant changes, it indicates that the tubes have reached a stable state. 
While we suggest 50 hours, it's not mandatory; some reviewers find that 4 hours are sufficient.

@markmuse 

I am surprised that you observed the Horizon 12au7’s sounding more full bodied than the Amperex BB’s.   I thought that it would be the other way.  I think that the tube sound is very system dependent.  In my preamp, I found the Horizon 12au7’s sounding nice and clear but a little thin for my taste.   Re-issued Gold Lion 12au7’s have fuller midrange, tighter bass, and more holographic sound.

I have to say these Horizon 12au7’s are really nice! More full bodied than the Amperex BB’s I had in there. Given the rest of my system (now using LRS+) the increase in warmth and pace is welcome. Really nice. The previous tubes were kinda thread bare in comparison.

I've always found about 40-50 hours of burn-in for most tubes.  Some have taken longer.  YMMV.

"For our ACME products sold on Amazon, we ship them directly from China. Before shipping, we ensure they are packaged with sufficient strength and ample padding."

How do you ensure that since you've stated Saleince isn't part of Psvane  that it is simply another vendor? 

Do tubes ‘burn in’? Can’t say I’ve noticed a change in any tube over time, but what do I know. 

Got my 12au7’s today. Same bubble bag as above. But they were undamaged. Listening now. They sound great!

@riparian 

OMG, I can’t believe Amazon would use an envelope for packaging! According to their original promise, this should have been placed in a box with proper padding. Thank God your items weren’t damaged. Thank you for informing us about this situation. We will seriously look into how to address this in future packaging. If your product gets damaged, please contact Amazon for a return promptly.

For our ACME products sold on Amazon, we ship them directly from China. Before shipping, we ensure they are packaged with sufficient strength and ample padding. Please rest assured.

I recently purchased Psvane Horizon 12BH7 from Amazon. At $58.99 for a pair, the price was right. They arrived in a lightly bubbled envelope with no additional packaging other than the Psvane boxes they came in. These tubres should not just be shoved into an envelope with nothing else.

The tubes had no visual damage. So far they sound pretty good in a circuit that includes much more expensive tubes. I cannot speak of the Psvane Horizon longevity because they only have a few hours on them

The packaging from Amazon is a big concern though. Mine arrived safely but the next shipment could easily have tubes damaged through poor packaging. Because of this, I will not buy more expensive Psvane tubes like the ACME 274B unless there is better assurance around Amazon packaging. 

The Horizon series is priced low enough so may be worth the risk, but even those should have better packaging.

 

@alightronics 

Thanks for the reply. I ordered a pair of 12au7's instead. Looking forward to hear how they compare to the bugle boys I am listening to now.

These,Horizon sound so good in my mac they are well worth the regular price. 

@alightronics

Sure would be nice for the Horizon series 12AX7s make a great $$ showing for Amazon Prime days...  Just sayin...

@vthokie83 ordering isn't the issue with an unsecured website the issue is none of your information is e.g. credit card, etc

@dwest1023

I'm excited for you and the improved sound that you are experiencing with these new tubes!

I hope they give you many, many hours of great listening enjoyment :)

Best wishes,

Don

facten, that is true; and I wish she had. Though I've never had any issue ordering from them

I purchased the  Horizon psvane 12ax7a and 12at7. I purchased them from Amazon. Sine the tubes just arrived today 7/14/24 I can’t vouch for longevity yet. I will say this, no matter how long they last, they will be replaced with same. These tubes have transformed my Mac. I did not know the amp was even capable of sounding this good.The bass is much improved with these tubes. Vocals are just uncanny compared to other tubes I’ve tried. 

@dwest1023

What tube type did you buy?

From where did you buy them?

Please let us know how the tubes longevity is?

Best wishes,

Don

 

I just purchased the Horizon preamp tubes in my Mac 352 hybrid. I must say these tubes are everything the rep said. I had gold lions in before which I preferred over the stock jj’s. Much smoother and musical with no missing extensions. I am very happy with these tubes.

For anyone who would like to take advantage of ordering Chinese tubes (Shuguang, PSVane, Linlai, Fullmusic, etc) directly from China, I can highly recommend jjyaudio.com. The owner Helen is great to deal with, you can get tubes 30% less than US suppliers, she stands behind her products, she uses fast shipping, and customer service has been great.....tracking updates, follow up emails after delivery, and asking to reach out to her if anything is not correct.

I've used them for a bunch of EL34 ppower tubes, and various 6SN7 tubes....as have several of my audiophile friends. Prices just a tad higher than aliexpress, but from a reliable Chinese supplier

@alightronics

Thank you for your correspondence with me via this forum and giving me assurance that I will at least receive a refund, one way or another.

I will be shipping these tubes back this morning, using the return shipping label that was provided.

I hope all goes well... if so, I may give them another chance and try to order another matched pair as I did really love the sound of these tubes.  I just really wish that they didn't arrive defective, because now I am nervous about having to go thru this all over again.  

Either way, I will report back with a follow up and let you know if the refund was received or not.

Thank you and best wishes,

Don

@no_regrets

Hi Don,

Based on the information you provided, the seller should be GD-PARTS Audio Store. As for the purchasing channels, you can choose the one you think offers the best price. All Acme series products currently sold on the market are genuine.

If you do not receive a refund after some time, please contact us. We will investigate and resolve the issue for you.

We are very sorry for the inconvenience caused to you.

 

Looking at my PayPal invoice it says...

Merchant
ALIPAY US, INC.

I have to admit, this is all very confusing to me.  

When I had ordered the tubes, I don't believe that I had seen them available on Amazon at that time.

However, I do see that they are listed for sale now on Amazon being sold via Salience Hi-Fi Audio for a higher price and with only a 12 month warranty and a return window of only 30 days.

Whomever I bought my tubes from says a warranty of 2 years with a return window of 90 days and the cost was less than on Amazon.

 

I did just now receive an automated email from AliExpress that they are awaiting my return shipment though.  On the invoice it says GD-PARTS Audio Store.

So, I have no idea who I bought these tubes from...

Did I buy them from....

1.  Shenzhen Dingwan Electronics Co

2.  Cititrans - A

3.  AliExpress

4.  GD-PARTS Audio Store

I'm embarrassed to say that I really do not have a clue.

Best wishes,

Don

@alightronics

Hello,

I had thought that AliExpress was the store that I had purchase the tubes from. Looking at the box they were shipped in, I see a very small label that says the following...

Shenzhen Dingwan Electronics Co.

405 Building A No.95-INanlian Community Botanical Garden Road Longgang Strc

Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, China.

However, the address on the return shipping label is address to:

Cititrans - A

801 Bridgeboro Road Building 4

Beverly, NJ 08010-1762

Best wishes,

Don

@no_regrets

Hi Don,

May I ask which store you purchased from on AliExpress? AliExpress collects a deposit from sellers, so it is likely that you will receive an automatic refund once the seller receives the returned item.

If you are located in the United States, we would recommend purchasing from our store on Amazon in the future.

Kind regards