Psvane Acme Series (new flagship series)

Do you guys ever feel that the ACME 300b is "too dry"? Granted, I'm still burning mine on my Cayin HA-300 tube amp paired with the Psvane CV181-T II drivers (6SN7 tube), and I'm probably 80-100 hours in on the ACMEs. When I swap to my stock TJ Full Music 300b, I have that more "tubey" sound that I'm expecting.

I get back this smoother treble that still has good extension, sweeter sounding mid-treble, a more fuller mids and mid-bass, and a more resonant, more impactful bass and slam. Lastly, vocals sound sweeter.



The ACME is still a bit tight but leaner on the mid and mid-bass, and a little low on the bass. The treble is nice and a bit airier, and instrument separation and soundstage is larger, too. So far, though, the ACMEs sounds a bit more about resolution and air.

What should I expect from the ACME from the 100-200 hours on?

I am curious if anyone has compared the Elrog 845 to the Acme 845 ?

Has anyone compared the ACME 300b to the TJ Full Music 300b/SE (Special Edition)? Those are supposed to be highly rated, as well.

Hi Everyone,

In an earlier post on this thread, I mentioned that I have managed to try my friend's Elrog 845 in my Line magnetic 845 premium integrated amplifier, vs the ACME 845. at that time I was impressed, and even though I thought ACME full set (845, 300b) was fabulous, I ended up getting an Elrog full set as well. they sound different for sure, and there is nothing wrong with tube rolling (except the damage done to your wallet!).

my own feeling, Elrogs are a better tube over all, but at a premium price as well. better highs, deeper bass, separation is superior, they sound "bigger" and livelier, they are certainly quieter. I'm not an expert in musical instruments to say which has better timbrel/tonality accuracy thou. however, since at such high end level tubes, it could be very much a matter of personal taste, and since its really hard to convey sound into words, and since one man's detailed sound could be another's bright/ harsh sound, I decided - since I have extra time with this quarantine situation - to record few tracks (All streamed from Qobuz) using my ZOOM H6 recorder (stereo mic cartridge), with full set of each. 12ax7 input tubes were my NOS telefunkan, 310a tubes were Psvane WE replicas, fixed. only changes were 845s and 300bs

quick idea about components of my setup:
LM845 premium integrated amp, Singapore edition modified by Robert lai,
Rockna wavedream Signature Balanced DAC (fresh out of oven with less than 50 hours on it), first impression; absolutely a magical DAC by the way. will put against AC Kassandra when I get the chance! for now let it break in.
temporarily using my Laptop with Singxer SU-1 for source, as I've sold my Aurender N10.
speakers are Cube Audio Nenuphar single drivers + dual Cube Sub 12, connected via high level input.
All Cabling is Audioquest, PSS or PSC+
ifi power stations for AC power and Ifi ipower DC bricks for Etherregen switch and Ubiquity Edge router SFP.
SR orange fuses and SR HFTs

I've attached few pictures below as well, since I was lazy to make a video. just FLAC files recorded.
please find Sample recordings by copy/paste this Dropbox link.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/80fr4d4ysjgrnjv/AABOm0yYaVqXOHyVoT8pbN71a?dl=0

I will try my best to keep them uploaded there permanently!

hope that my selection of tracks would give a good idea about differences. please note, I was hand holding the ZOOM H6, didn't go through extreme measures by any means rather than attempting to keep db level same for each different set of tubes, during same tracks. and, by giving each set like an hour to warm up.
very slight changes in db might be still present, or occasionally you might hear my fingers slide on the recorder chassis - I apologize, but an idea of how each of these tubes sound like is better than no idea I guess, just trying to help curious people out there please use headphones or in ears, this is a stereo recorder and will get you closest possible to being in my actual room.

I'm gladly keeping both sets by the way, there is something I still like about ACME!

Thank you for the awesome comparison of the ACME and ELROG tubes. Best side-by-side demonstration I've ever heard. Impressive system too. The Cube Audio speakers are truly amazing. A friend was in the Philadelphia area a couple months ago to demo them. I think he plans to buy them once the quarantine is lifted. Happy listening.

My second pair of Psvane ACME 845. The tube on the left used to look like the one on the right but now has developed orange areas. Does anyone of you know what's the cause of this and whether this would be a problem and whether it would damage the amp ? For now, it plays fine. Thanks

That's definitely a problem. I would stop using it ASAP.

I had something like that happen to me with my Acme 805, and I resolved it by switching to different ohm-rated taps on my amp, and also rebiasing. I never got to the bottom of it and it's never reoccurred. Music sounded too good to bother with a return.

It sounds like your issue developed gradually over time, whereas mine was immediately upon inserting into the amp.

Ya it started out fine and only became like that after 50 hours or so. I swap it to the other side of my monoblock but the same tube still gave the same orange glow. Unfortunately my amp is fixed bias.

Is this a flagship product costing over 1000 US dollars?
If Psvane wants to be among the best vacuum tube manufacturers, it cannot market a premium product that has these problems. And it is not possible that a dealer like Grant Fidelity is forced to subject ACME to "a unique after-production test method" to limit the returns of the vacuum tubes sold.

adamaley said:

My 805 tubes arrived today, and I got down to breaking them in while working from home. After a few hours, one channel goes after a loud popping sound. One tube is suddenly glowing significantly brighter than the other and the bias meter is maxed out. I managed to take a pic before I shut off the amp since I was taking pics of a PC that I plan on selling.

This is very disappointing, especially since I had to wait till the 4th of July for the tubes to ship after purchasing on June 26th since Rachel of Grant Fidelity was away at an Audio Show. She was nice enough to expedite it to me after getting back but to now have to return this set due to this issue really leaves a bad taste in my mouth. When I purchased my Psvane 805-ATs last year through Grant Fidelity one of the tubes was DOA and I had to go through the return process as well.

Ah well - at least I can say the little music I listened to was a significant step up from the Psvane 805-ATs considering the Acme 805s were stone cold.

Click to expand...

You can see where I had the same tube glow. In my case, it happened right at start up, and didn't follow the tube when I moved it to the other channel.

adamaley said:

That's definitely a problem. I would stop using it ASAP.

I had something like that happen to me with my Acme 805, and I resolved it by switching to different ohm-rated taps on my amp, and also rebiasing. I never got to the bottom of it and it's never reoccurred. Music sounded too good to bother with a return.

It sounds like your issue developed gradually over time, whereas mine was immediately upon inserting into the amp.

Click to expand...

Hi adamaley,

Which ohm taps did you move from and to and what value did you rebias to

cheers
Tao

I had run 1500 hours on Acme 805 and 300B without problem.

It will be interesting when those tubes show sign of failure.



But so far, I am happy with those new production tubes.

Recently I had tried to get Nos WE 300B tube but without success.

They asked more than 10k$ on used(not Nos) pair of WE 300B made in 1950's.

Hi guys
One question.

Is it better to turn off a valve amp (specifically the LM-508IA) if you wont listen to music for about a couple of hours between listening setions?

I mean, how do Tubes, Caps and valve Amps wear out more, leaving them on or turning them off and then on again (with the cooling and heating processes involved) after a few hours?

On the other hand, I strongly recomend trying Shuguang tubes on the preamp sections of the LM-508IA, specifically Black Treasures and WE Replicas. First I liked better NOS (I've tried several: Tungsol, Sylvania, GE, RCA, etc), but then, on more carefully listening setions, I prefered the Shuguangs. The have more extended treble, more air, more life, better 3D sound. I strongly recomend them and they are not too expensive as some NOS.

chaccone said:

Ya it started out fine and only became like that after 50 hours or so. I swap it to the other side of my monoblock but the same tube still gave the same orange glow. Unfortunately my amp is fixed bias.

Click to expand...

Just an update: That glow has tamed down now, not so red. Working fine for now.

Joeygun..I have both the Psvane WE300B and the Psvane ACME 300B...The ACME tubes are the newer pair. I went back and forth initially and did not think there was a significant difference but about 2 weeks ago i put the ACME tubes back in and the improvement was immediate.Much better detail, vocal appreciation, SS ( width and depth), and bass tightness.Slightly warmer also.

Hello guys,
I'm thinking about upgrading some parts on my LM-508IA.

Robert Lai from Singapore is making me an offer for the parts and the instructions to do it here, where I live, with a tech guy I know.

I've read that some of you say that Robert is professional and trustable, but upgrading the parts on the amp won't be cheap and it will require some effort (it's a heavy beast) to do it. So, before deciding, I want to make sure that the upgrade will be worthwile. I mean, it has to make a noticeable improvement in sound quality, not a marginal one, not only cosmetics.

Has anyone made a similar upgrade of any Line Magnetic amp with Robert? How was the result?

So update: After having over 170 hours, my ACME 300b on my Cayin HA-300 has truly been a joy and lively. The bass, as you all has mentioned, has extended with the kind of punch and control that I wanted, especially on my LCD-3F headphones. It's not boomy, but it's accurate, fast, and has texture.



Soundstage, especially now that I also upgraded to the Chord HUGO TT2, is amazing and accurate. The speed of the transient on my system makes this feel as fast as a solid state, in my opinion. Vocals are amazing and instrumental timbre are accurate and life-life. Treble extension and air didn't disappear as the 300bs burn in, so more of the hours put in help extend the mid-bass and down.

I would say as far as tubes, these are musical, high-dynamic tubes that leans a bit more towards accuracy and soundstage vs overly warm. I've also had Sylvania 1952 3-hole Bad Boys that sadly died on my, but the Psvane CV-181t mkII are still good tubes for my system. I only lost a bit of the nice mid and mid-bass of the Bad Boys, but overall, that CV-181t gives me 85-90% of the Bad Boys.
System synergy is always important, and I think the combination I have now is just about there.

I have compared the Elrog 300B vs Psvane ACME 300B and, again, it was not a unanimous choice but i ended up with the ACME 300B and sold the Elrogs.Better midsized and highs with the ACMEs.

I have also exhibited the wish to have ACMEs on instead of Elrogs at times depending on mood. Both are fantastic, that's why i decided to keep both sets. I once expressed leaning more towards the Elrog, and right now this week I'm leaning more towards the acme. Its strange that I can't decide firmly which is my absolute preference!

I had compared Acme 300B and Nos WE 300B made in 40's in Line Magnetic 508 amp.

While Nos We give tighter bass and wider soundstage, Acme give slightly sweeter sounds and details are almost par.

Considering that Nos We 300b made in 40's cost more than 10k now, Acme is quite good.

Thus I am using Acme 300b in LM508 to save valuable WE 300b.