@johnss
Thanks for that update Johnss. It’s helpful, as we kinda know many of us are trying, using, and always on the lookout for a few of the good ones to buy and keep spares of. I’ve concluded these really do become throw-away tubes with no warranty or replacement option in most cases (at the lower prices). However, at a premium price, and unless of course you buy through some intermediary outfit in the US you pay an up-charge for to gain some added coverage in year-1, or maybe not. I’ve not found a great benefit there yet, but keep searching there too.
I did something similar as you are doing with the Shuguang WE tubes with my input and driver tubes on my 6SN7 preamp. While I’ve stashed away my vintage 6SN7s, I bought two overseas N7s, then a quad, and a second spare quad after I found something I liked a lot. Unfortunately this particular overseas boutique company’s founder/owner/designer passed on and the Co. has since changed their lineup some and its no longer clear what the future holds. He was a small mfg selling and relabeling to the big outfits overseas. Part of his tooling and lineup was partially bought up by PSVANE, were told. Like you, hoping the spares hold up for a while. Not so easy to go back the more generic well known tubes that last longer but just sound "okay".
Once I noted Peter of AudioNote was now sourcing tubes from PSVANE for his lineup, it became clear we are seeing another evolution stage of these new tubes out there. Hopefully it continues to evolve and maybe quality will improve better than cheap throwaway light bulbs. I’m trying all PSVANE in my amps now for input and drivers. They sound pretty nice so far, but how long will the last, hopefully longer than a year. We we will see. Thanks.
Thanks for that update Johnss. It’s helpful, as we kinda know many of us are trying, using, and always on the lookout for a few of the good ones to buy and keep spares of. I’ve concluded these really do become throw-away tubes with no warranty or replacement option in most cases (at the lower prices). However, at a premium price, and unless of course you buy through some intermediary outfit in the US you pay an up-charge for to gain some added coverage in year-1, or maybe not. I’ve not found a great benefit there yet, but keep searching there too.
I did something similar as you are doing with the Shuguang WE tubes with my input and driver tubes on my 6SN7 preamp. While I’ve stashed away my vintage 6SN7s, I bought two overseas N7s, then a quad, and a second spare quad after I found something I liked a lot. Unfortunately this particular overseas boutique company’s founder/owner/designer passed on and the Co. has since changed their lineup some and its no longer clear what the future holds. He was a small mfg selling and relabeling to the big outfits overseas. Part of his tooling and lineup was partially bought up by PSVANE, were told. Like you, hoping the spares hold up for a while. Not so easy to go back the more generic well known tubes that last longer but just sound "okay".
Once I noted Peter of AudioNote was now sourcing tubes from PSVANE for his lineup, it became clear we are seeing another evolution stage of these new tubes out there. Hopefully it continues to evolve and maybe quality will improve better than cheap throwaway light bulbs. I’m trying all PSVANE in my amps now for input and drivers. They sound pretty nice so far, but how long will the last, hopefully longer than a year. We we will see. Thanks.