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RE: REVIEW: PSVANE WE845 Tubes

Posted by thetubeguy1954 (A) on March 15, 2014 at 17:56:29

In Reply to: RE: REVIEW: PSVANE WE845 Tubes posted by sherod on March 13, 2014 at 14:45:59:

Sherod,

Thanks for your well-wishes. I too hope these WE845 have a long life. The 845-Bs did so I'm rather confident these will as well. I really wished I knew you were originally looking for a good 12AU7 type of tube. When I originally purchased my Mastersound, some 13 years ago now, I also looked for the "ultimate" 12AU7 to use in it's preamp stage. Back then I went everywhere I could find, i.e., SETriodes group, Audio Asylum, Audio Roundtable, Audioholics and World Tube Audio forums and I asked for some suggestions on what others considered to be "the best" 12AU7. Well as might be expected the "Use Amperex, Mullard, Telefunken" chant started everywhere. Back then I was new to tube rolling so I believed what I was told. Thus I bought Amperex, Mullards & Telefunkens. However I was not quite satisfied with what I heard.

So I also bought Brimar, La Radiotechnique, Maroni, Mazda, Phillips, RFT, Siemens, Valvo, and just about every European 12AU7 I could find. I also tried the US tubes GE, JAN, RCA, Raytheon, Sylvania and Tung-Sol etc. But that wasn't all. I was so obsessed with finding "the best" 12AU7-type tube I tried every different tube types within the 12AU7 family I could find. This included the CV4003, CV491, 12AU7, 12AU7A, 12AU7WA, 5814, 5814A, 5963, 6067, 6189, 7730, ECC82, E82CC, ECC802S & M8136. I hope you're getting my drift here.

After spending more $$$$ than I care to remember and after much trial and a lot of errors, I found the two 12AU7 "types" I liked best. Did you notice the I LIKED BEST part? You see IMHO the number one "best" 12AU7 variant is the Mazda "silver-plate" 12AU7WA / E82CC / 6189 by a far margin and the number two 12AU7 variant is the RFT Foil-getter 12AU7 / ECC82. In the Mazda I found "the King" of 12AU7's bar none ---{of course this was 13 years ago in the pre-Psvane days}--- But in the RFT I found all the salient traits of a Teley with much better midrange bloom and detail...the RFT smokes the Teleys IMHO!

But the most valuable lesson I learned however was this, EVERYTHING MATTERS, and there is no BEST 12AU7! The Mazda "silver-plate" 6189 sounded the best-bar none in my Mastersound, using my speakers, my transport, my DAC, my wires etc. No other 12AU7 even came close back then ---{except the RFT "foil-getter"}--- However that same tube in your amp, with your CD Player, and speakers etc. might not have "the magic" at all. Our systems are a gestalt of all the different components involved. Unfortunately the only way to find what "the best" 12AU7 for you is through trial and error. Thankfully you found the Psvane 12AU7 tubes. After hearing how amazing these Psvane WE845 tubes sound I'll believe have to try a pair of their 12AU7 tubes myself now.


I'm listening to:

Thetubeguy1954 (Tom Scata)
Thetubeguy1954 (Tom)

Central Florida Audio Society -- SETriodes Group -- Space Coast Audio Society
Full-range/Wide-range Drivers --- Front & Back-Loaded Horns --- High Sensitivity Speakers

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