Lampizator Valve / Tube Rolling Review Thread

[highstream]

Well Psvane is chinese ( i think, pls correct when i am wrong). when the chinese says they make a replica ...haha i am not sure btw i am chinese singaporean ( now australianj) - not bagging my own just stating the truth

Uncalled for. There is some very good audio gear made in China, including the innards of gear developed by Western high end audio brands. I wasn’t aware of the Psvane replica version until a search for “274B tube engraved” turned up a few sellers, e.g., http://www.hifipartstore.com/?product=psvane-we274b

 

[plasmod3]

Uncalled for. There is some very good audio gear made in China, including the innards of gear developed by Western high end audio brands. I wasn’t aware of the Psvane replica version until a search for “274B tube engraved” turned up a few sellers, e.g., http://www.hifipartstore.com/?product=psvane-we274b

psvane are the stock tubes Luksz supplies with the horizon

I think every manufacturer tries to say their product is an exact replica of the original - can that be the case? from sophia to takatsuki to eml .

If you truly believe the manufacturers had the same access to materials , skillsets and even the burn in protocols of the old tube manufacturers then i can confidently say ...you are sucked into the marketing there.

Yes there are good gear in china and i am not saying there is none but are you saying the chinese made tubes are superior or equivalent to the old now tubes? That i would disagree with. I think any tube collector or experienced with tubes will also disagree.

So there is a wavac 833 amp and there is a chinese knock off of it that says it is just the same as the proper wavac one. Same thing. not the case. The only motivation to think they are the same are either that motivated by inexperience or money concerns or by lack of access - none of those reasons can mean that they are the same - not the sophia , eml or takatsuki ones. None of them can match the original.

 

[highstream]

I think you need to back off. I asked a question about a specific tube, which I take you don't know the answer to, but instead have used the opportunity to articulate some bones you have to pick. Please don't include me.

Is Lukasz supplying the Psvane WE replica with the Horizon or some other?

 

[plasmod3]

The engraved seem to go for $5K-25K. Notions of realism aside, I am aiming a lot lower, especially going blind (I've tried a lot of NOS and more recent rectis over the past several years). I've been offered a money back arrangement to audition the upgraded Sophia 274B Aqua II. Then there's their 274B Mesh, which I’m told is warm, but I don't know if it will work with the GG (capacitance) or would fit my tastes. Don't need or want lush or romantic warmth, just a touch on that side of the line. Tone aside, just how much the AZ1 mesh provided over the Sophia I makes me want to poke around. I should add that the power(?) tubes are current WE300B (fried a pair of Lampi Anniversary EML 45’s with the wrong voltage setting).

nothing wrong if you can try it for free and yes the prices of the nos tubes are as you say unrealistic.

 

[Powerman]

I think you need to back off. I asked a question about a specific tube, which I take you don't know the answer to, but instead have used the opportunity to articulate some bones you have to pick. Please don't include me.

Is Lukasz supplying the Psvane WE replica with the Horizon or some other?

I'm not sure why you would take issue with his statement. 100% true. Yes, we all know there are very good companies turning out very good products.... And ten right behind them turning out cloned crap. My B4 came with Psvane and every single tube I have tried is clearly better... NOS, and then Sophia 274B. I just ordered some EL34s cause I have to know myself if all the praise is true. I also loved my Denefrips and Matrix products.... I have no issues with Chi-Fi... But come on... It's not like the majority is beyond reproach and pure as the driven snow... And no, I automatically call BS on anyone claiming perfect copy of the gold standard. It's not.

Hell, even new production WE can't pull off perfect replicas of tubes made 70 years ago... Same tooling does not mean same materials and techniques... And that one Yoda guy, that knew all the secrets... He died 70 years ago. That's how it worked back then. And back then... They made tubes for horrid equipment, not what we have today... So it is what it is. This hobby is 80% hype.

And yes... I am eagerly waiting to see if Sophia can make a better El34 today than Mullard made 70-80 years ago... Because I love FX2s... We'll see.

 

[Powerman]

Hummm.... Promising. New Aqua 2 274B, and 2 new EL34-ST's in my friends Atlantic... Straight from the box first listening... Promising. Sound fantastic already. Dynamics, weight, space, decay, rich, realism, transpearancy.... Sound better than the 274B mesh and XF2s they replaced. I'll let them cook for the next few days and then of course compare, but Hummm.

While I'm listening to my friends Atlantic, this is for me too. I will see if the Aqua 2 is better than my SE 274B mesh in my Baltic 4. I also have 4 Mullard EL34s in my amp and want to see if the Sophia's are an improvement. Maybe I will retube with Sophia's?

 

[Powerman]

 

[Anyoldears]

View attachment 115196

Uh oh! What happened?

 

[Powerman]

Me, that's what happened. I was trying to take it out by the base which didn't have much space.. Popped out, felll on the corner of my DAC. So sad....

 

[highstream]

Hummm.... Promising. New Aqua 2 274B, and 2 new EL34-ST's in my friends Atlantic... Straight from the box first listening... Promising. Sound fantastic already. Dynamics, weight, space, decay, rich, realism, transpearancy.... Sound better than the 274B mesh and XF2s they replaced. I'll let them cook for the next few days and then of course compare, but Hummm.

While I'm listening to my friends Atlantic, this is for me too. I will see if the Aqua 2 is better than my SE 274B mesh in my Baltic 4. I also have 4 Mullard EL34s in my amp and want to see if the Sophia's are an improvement. Maybe I will retube with Sophia's?

Tough luck with the Aqua. A couple of weeks ago I had a WE300B that fell and broke something inside, but is still good (Sophia often sells good tubes with a plastic piece rattling around inside at a discount). My 274B Aqua II came yesterday and I was surprised how good it sounded after a few hours, as if it had time on it before. Will be interested to see how it develops over the next couple of weeks, when I have to make a decision. Compared to a transparent 1950's AZ1 I burned in recently that has a touch of warmth, it struck me how different very good tubes can sound. Not that the AZ1 is thin or edgy, but the Sophia has a bit of "thickness" to go with its modest warmth. Very different sounds. What’s nore accurate and what do I want to listen to, live with (I’m not a tube changer).

 

[Anyoldears]

Me, that's what happened. I was trying to take it out by the base which didn't have much space.. Popped out, felll on the corner of my DAC. So sad....

Yep, this hobby can be a bit testing at times. Had a few SR purple fuses go up in smoke before I realised what I was doing wrong....

But no one died, and it can be fixed, so chin up!

 

[Powerman]

Tough luck with the Aqua. A couple of weeks ago I had a WE300B that fell and broke something inside, but is still good (Sophia often sells good tubes with a plastic piece rattling around inside at a discount). My 274B Aqua II came yesterday and I was surprised how good it sounded after a few hours, as if it had time on it before. Will be interested to see how it develops over the next couple of weeks, when I have to make a decision. Compared to a transparent 1950's AZ1 I burned in recently that has a touch of warmth, it struck me how different very good tubes can sound. Not that the AZ1 is thin or edgy, but the Sophia has a bit of "thickness" to go with its modest warmth. Very different sounds.

So my combo of Aqua 2 and El34 was already sounding good. More texture, more realism, more warmth and more transpearant at the same time. Obviously not "warm colored". I was rolling to put stock back in for comparison after 24hrs. Stock sounded same... But lifeless. It's not that is sounds different as in FR or coloring... Just better. I hadn't even got around to figuring out how the Aqua 2 and EL34s sounded on their own. So I was really looking forward to to how that was going to go...

So now... Sue is going to call me back in the morning to see if she has a match, otherwise I have to ship mine back so I can get a pair. Errrrr... I am still looking forward to seeing how the Aqua 2 sounds in mine. I kinda just walked away in disgust...

 

[Powerman]

OK... So I have had some weird crap going on. Pounding headaches, my ears hurt. Music was flat, thin, 2D bathroom, sounded like crap. That's been a couple weeks... But tonight... My ears are back. Everything is rich and amazing again. I will hold off on being conclusive. Things need to burn in, and I need to compare more, but... I plugged my Baltic 4 back in. Back to what I know. The Atlantic "sounds" the same, just a bigger/different presentation. The B4, oh ya, still amazing. Listen a bit, then take out the Sophia 274B mesh, throw in the new Aqua II 274B...

Even better. I think it is a smidge warmer. Totally welcome by me. I don't think it loses any resolution to the mesh. A hair maybe. Really close, but no sacrifice there... But space... Everything is more defined, everything in a tighter space, seperation, convincing. More realism, more immersion... I don't know how to craft an audiophile word salad... Technical aspects are the same, but soundscape is even better.

And no, it's not huge, dramatic, night and day. But when you think soundscape is already amazing, and it gets better, well, that's amazing. Again, I'll have to spend more time, and things are suspect cause my thing going on, but I already know it's a keeper. And like usual, I want to forget about all this and just let my library play...

 

[christoph]

Me, that's what happened. I was trying to take it out by the base which didn't have much space.. Popped out, felll on the corner of my DAC. So sad....

Sorry for your bad luck
Was it the 274b or one of the EL34?

At least it is new production and can be replaced without much hassle

Luckily I never dropped a tube so far

 

[christoph]

Yep, this hobby can be a bit testing at times. Had a few SR purple fuses go up in smoke before I realised what I was doing wrong....

How did that happen?
I also had one SR Purple die on me

 

[Anyoldears]

How did that happen?
I also had one SR Purple die on me

It was in an Innuos Statement. The std fuse is 2A so that's what I replaced it with. Pop! Then I read the Innuos website on fuses and it says to use the 3.15A fuse when using audiophile fuses. Also I've had further advice that if its been sitting off for a while (enough for all the caps to discharge to nothing) then power on using the std fuse, let caps charge up for a few mins, then power off, swap to SR, then power on again. A lot of the caps wont need much power to top up and so it reduces the power on load

 

[highstream]

It sounds like you didn’t do much research online before turning to the SR fuse. There are lots of discussion out there, dating back several years, about how SR fuses are not made to industry spec and that going up a value, or 10%, is needed in many, if not most cases (even SR suggests it privately). That’s not the situation with most aftermarket fuses, although it’s prudent to do when in doubt.

 

[Zero000]

Good to see this nearly 5 year old thread still alive...

I am rolling power amps at the moment. Only the three options I own but each are great in their own very different ways.

I find changes in power amp presentation really enjoyable from time to time.

Hard to quantify how it is different to tube rolling but it is.

Let me qualify a bit, though. The three I own are a result of rejecting about 37 other options. Sounds unlikely, but it is true give or take a few amps.

 

[Anyoldears]

Good to see this nearly 5 year old thread still alive...

I am rolling power amps at the moment. Only the three options I own but each are great in their own very different ways.

I find changes in power amp presentation really enjoyable from time to time.

Hard to quantify how it is different to tube rolling but it is.

Let me qualify a bit, though. The three I own are a result of rejecting about 37 other options. Sounds unlikely, but it is true give or take a few amps.

So what are the final 3?

Thinking about a Allnic 2000 25th anniversary Ive seen secondhand with KT170s

 

[Blake]

After living with them now for a few months, I can say these are the best tubes I've ever purchased: