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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

Showing 3 responses by trelja

trelja
3,223 posts
 
I think you bring up a very cogent point in tube rolling!

It's not the type of exercise where one can replace one tube in an amp, be it output, driver, phase splitter, etc., and be done with it. Rather, the combination of tubes must work synergistically.

I personally find in most of my amps, the combination of driver and output tubes should should be looked at as a marriage. If I do change output tubes, I'll normally need to then return to maximize the results by finding the right driver tube to mate with them.

But, it's an awful lot of fun. Getting the most out of one's amp ala the tube combination offers a lot more to the end result than many people would realize.

Continued best of luck with your Shuguangs!
trelja
3,223 posts
 
This is your second great post in this thread!

We in the high-end audio crowd overlook the importance of bias in our tube amplifiers. Generally, the guitar amplifier crowd has a far deeper understanding of this parameter, and there are tuners build their business simply from the proper application of bias.

In actuality, bias is more important than the tube itself, as it is where the tube operates which determines the tone of the amplifier. Optimizing bias in one's amplifier is the key to getting the best sound.

This is not as simple or obvious as we hope as the characteristics of both tube and amplifier must be thorougly balanced. By this I mean that tubes of the same type from different manufacturers are more different than we may think. Likewise, it seems obvious the differences between amplifier A and amplifier B are often such that simply biasing an output tube to the same value (say -40 mV or whatever) would go against the grain of the manic tweaking and tinkering (cabling, isolation devices, room treatments, cryogenics, rolling tubes, etc.) of the high-end audio today, yet that is exactly what happens.

Hopefully, the new tubes work out for you in the end.
trelja
3,223 posts
 
Honest1, you make an interesting point. As far as I know, Kevin Deal of Upscale Audio is one of the few, if any, people providing such service. Though, if I recall correctly, the position he takes is one of reliability. I think the way he has historically put it in his advertising is, "We do not use your amplifier as a tube tester."

Given that Grant Fidelity seems to be a customer oriented outfit, I would not bet against them taking your suggestion to heart. I believe it would make good business sense, as it would serve as extra incentive for those in Canada and the USA considering a purchase of these more expensive tubes. Since the Shuguang Treasure tubes are also available from HK/China and Europe (though likely without any price advantage in Europe) via outlets like ebay, any edge a North American importer can find in these instances is always welcome.
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