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PSVANE 12Au7 12At7 12Ax7 "-T MKII" 2020 production run of small signal/driver tubes

Re-testing year 2020 production run of these tubes. Would like to hear from others who’ve re-tried recent production?

>>PSVANE 12Au7 12At7 12Ax7 "-T MKII" small signal/driver tubes made in year 2020"

Background:
After following stories about TJ Full Music’s founder passing, and the son reselling tooling of all of the small signal tubes to PSVANE, and recent luck over the past year with TJ 6SN7 tubes for my preamp, I thought I’d give the new PSVANE small tubes a retry. Checking to see if any designs or manufacturing goodness made it over to PSVANE yet from TJ. Also, took advantage of an opportunity to buy these direct from a major overseas distributor, direct. So far so good. Comparing to other known vintage tubes. Also following AudioNote’s recent use of PSVANE tubes in their preamplifiers, amplifiers, integrated amplifiers.

GOAL:
Find something "close enough" and hoard away all my vintage tubes. An improvement is always great too.  

COMPARISONS to vintage, others:
-Currently comparing to my vintage stash of 1960s Mullard "Blackburn", Tungsram, RCA, Sylvania, others.
-Also comparing to prior 2012 versions of these same PSVANE tubes made over eight years ago.
-No need to compare to new re-issue Mullard or JJ or other. Seems these new PSVANE are on a different level.

INITIAL Impression first 20 hours:
-a tad harsh and grainy
-midrange is obvious
-top end not rolled off
-sound stage front row, initially
-decent, interesting

AFTER 72 hours burn-in:
-smoothing out nicely, not there yet, close
-sound stage dropping back to mid-hall
-texture starting to come in
-nice midrange, top end smoothing out more
-tone of piano and guitars shaping up nicely
-Nice, haven’t pulled them yet!

APPLICATION
My mono tube amplifiers
(2) Input tubes; 12AU7s
(2) driver tubes; 12AT7s
Friend testing in his preamp
(2) Input, preamp: 12AX7s

------------------------------
REQUEST:
Would like to hear from others who’ve re-tried recent 2020 production of PSVANE 12AU7 or 12AT7 or 12AX7 ?
What are you hearing, are they better than prior PSVANE versions you tried years ago? Similar findings or ???





decooney
milpai's avatar
milpai
2,313 posts
 

I recently ordered the new Art Series for my Rhumba preamplifier and compared these tubes with the older series tubes. The very first thing that I noticed is the bass - there is something in this bass that you cannot miss. It is damn tight and tuneful. Not that the previous version did not deliver the bass - it is just that this new series has more oomph and sounds more musical. Love it! The midrange is more "there" rather than sounding warm/cool. The instruments sounds spread in the background which makes it sound more realistic. Also I find that the top end does not have the etch compared to the previous version. But this difference is so small that you have to listen to it super carefully. The thing that took me by surprise is that these new versions were not as hooty as the previous version - even when new. I am very happy with these new tubes.

I wonder if anyone compared this new ART series 12AU7s with NOS tubes. I don't think I will chase after NOS, but would like to hear from folks who have personally experienced both.

decooney OP
1,896 posts
 

@milpai... "The midrange is more there"..

Two questions. Can you share more -  

  • Is the midrange less laid back and more forward now with the Art Series?
  • How many burn-in hours do you have on them so far?

 

milpai's avatar
milpai
2,313 posts
 

@decooney ,

I did not find the midrange to be more forward nor laid back. But it has more "presence", such that the you can "see" the music better. Vocals feel more real to me. But all this is after letting the only about 30 hours of burn-in. Honestly I like this tube and I don't think I want to focus on the hours. I would rather enjoy the music that they make.

But again - the bass improvement is just so good. I hope this continues. If it improves, that that wold be a bonus. BTW, when the tubes were new, I kept them "ON" for the first 24 hours. Then for the past few days I have I warm up the tubes an hour before listening and promptly switch them off after I am done listening. So more rush to burn them.

jjss49's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
jjss49
6,605 posts
 

be really nice to know that a modern chinese or russian made 12ax7 can truly go toe to toe with old stock faves

good old 12au7 and at7 still very plentiful and reasonably priced

but nice ax7's have been pretty pricey for some time...

decooney OP
1,896 posts
 

  @milpai   Perfect!  That's plenty of time imo, and yes at least 45 minutes warmup helps getting that torroid transformer in the back and other bits warmed up for the tubes to do their best. Reading up on your Rhumba, the tubes should last a long time in your preamp, noting comments "they are not run that hard." in this preamp. Very nice. I’m using the std version u7 tubes as small signal input tubes for my mono amps right now. So far so good. Tracking good reports like yours on the "Art" series. Happy listening.

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