Linlai Elite vs Psvane Acme 845

I finally bought the Linlai E 845 tubes.  It’s all hype it’s an ok tube nothing special about it, sounds is kind of lean with no air, bass is tight but doesn’t blossom, to my ears the NOS United is alot better.   With only 50 hrs on them kind of new, we will see i will report back.  

@zipost My experience with power tubes is they need a minimum of 100 hours, you should hear a greater sense of openness, bloom starting around 80 hours, may take up to 150 or more hours for full bloom. I recently purchased Psvane Acme 300B tubes, followed this scenario exactly, Linlai Elite mesh and solid plate 101D's in my preamp, and various 845's in another amp same deal.

@zipost I would be happy to receive an update from you about the impression the Linlai E 845 is making on you, if there is a further increase in the play time since your last report. 

The more they settle and take on their sonic trait, will be good to get reports on, especially on how this valve compares in SQ to other 845's that are familiar.   

so far it’s been 2+months with the Linlai 845 tubes. I have jbl Everest dd-67000 speakers, driving my speakers with Komuro SET amps, pushing at 25watts output. So far the Linlai can bias really high without any problem, once in a while my filament fuse on the amp would trip, even when i swap tube from one side to another the same output tube would break the fuse. I am pretty sure it has to do with biasing the tube too high, which i plan to lower the bias point. Linlai 845 has good output rating, never would run out of gas, my only complaint would be the bass on the Linlai sounds stiff ( bass doesn’t blossom ) could be that the bias point is set above it limits.  Overall it’s an ok tube nothing too excited about it. If i don’t need the wattage, i strongly recommend the Shuguang 845 type C metal plate, to my ear it sounds even, has a nicer tone and overall a better sounding tube then the Linlai 845. Again, only if you don’t need the wattage and your speakers are efficient enough. I still like the United 845 better than the Linlai, Shuguang and RCA.

I purchased a pair of Linlai tubes (from Grant Fidelity).  I had my preamp serviced recently and discovered the tubes test low.  The technician stated they tested lower than any other 12 or 6SN7 that he’s tested.  And this was coming from a tube audio manufacture that utilizes a David Berning design.  The tester reached out to Grant Fidelity to determine why this was the case given the tubes were purchased in Sept. 2022 and it’s October 2023 (13 months).  He didn’t receive feedback to date.  I contacted the company and this is the received response:  For within warranty period, please read below for our position of 3rd party measurement. Tube factory maintains its own product quality control and credibility to its own measurement procedure. 

https://linlaiglobal.com/index.php/warranty/

Product test measurements: We do NOT accept any customer or 3rd party’s test measurement, on any brands of test equipment as the basis of warranty claim. If you do not agree with our test methods or test measurements, please do NOT place an order with us. By placing an order on our website, you have expressed explicit agreement to our product test methods and test measurements. This term cannot be re-negotiated AFTER an order is placed.

Regards, 

[Linlai™ Global]