[Beefy]

Quote:

If I can avoid buying two or three sets of different EL34 tubes, and directly get those considered the best, factory tuned, EL34s, I think this is a good solution. In addition, I can't see how I could guess what the Shuguang option price will be... only Justin knows. 

 
I'm sure it is a good solution for you. But what about Justin, who you want to support your whims, and the changing tides of audiofoolishness? When the next best thing comes along, you may or may not demand Justin stocks that as well.
 
Not to mention that the Psvane are clrealy an unreliable product in this application.

 

[Phil95]

Quote:

Asr has a point.

And just in case you were in doubt Beefy: aggressive-aggressive is no better than what you perceive as being “passive-aggressive.” 

Totally agree with you, sator... I've just been called "a lazy git" by Beefy, because I asked Justin if he could offer a Psvane EL34PH option, and what the price of the Shuguang Treasure option he announced would be! This is a bit excessive IMO.

 

[Phil95]

Quote:

 
I'm sure it is a good solution for you. But what about Justin, who you want to support your whims, and the changing tides of audiofoolishness? When the next best thing comes along, you may or may not demand Justin stocks that as well.
 
Not to mention that the Psvane are clrealy an unreliable product in this application.

Thank you Beffy for your very fast response!

 

[Phil95]

Quote:

I also have the SED winged C's which I've been using with my BHSE for about a year without a problem, but the posts I've read saying about the improvement in SQ the EL34PH gives did provoke my interest in a quad, however the posts about their build quality is telling me to stay away from them.

Hello David
 
Don't you think it should be Justin's responsibility to test the Psvane EL34PH's performance and reliability when used with the BHSE?. If the BHSE sell very well, as they seem to do, Justin could hire a test person dedicated to this useful task.

 

[shipsupt]

Perhaps two test persons, so they could test around the clock.

 

[Audio Jester]

Sorry for being OT, but are there any companies that are starting to make high-end tubes to replace/compete with vintage ones?  ....If only there was another "Justin" that made tubes.

 

[wink]

Justin should be called Santa, and give us all a BHSE with flavour-of-the-month output tubes for chrissie pressies......  every other year.....

 

[David1961]

Quote:

Hello David
 
Don't you think it should be Justin's responsibility to test the Psvane EL34PH's performance and reliability when used with the BHSE?. If the BHSE sell very well, as they seem to do, Justin could hire a test person dedicated to this useful task.

 
Hi Philippe,
 
IMO definitely not.
Justin's job is building amps NOT testing tubes, also because of the posts written that putts the EL34PH's build quality in question, IMO Justin would be better off staying well clear.
When I first heard about the EL34PH, I did ask Justin if he could send me a quad with the Aristaeus when that amp's ready, but this was before the tubes build quality issues.

 

[Rico613]

^ To Wit !!
When I talked with Justin a couple weeks ago, he was thinking that his customers would prefer that he spend his time building BHSE's rather than testing various tubes.

 

[David1961]

Quote:

^ To Wit !!
When I talked with Justin a couple weeks ago, he was thinking that his customers would prefer that he spend his time building BHSE's rather than testing various tubes.

 
My point exactly.

 

[The Monkey]

Quote:

Hello David
 
Don't you think it should be Justin's responsibility to test the Psvane EL34PH's performance and reliability when used with the BHSE?. If the BHSE sell very well, as they seem to do, Justin could hire a test person dedicated to this useful task.

 
How big an operation do you think HeadAmp is?

 

[shipsupt]

Do we count the dog as part of the operation?

 

[Phil95]

Quote:

^ To Wit !!
When I talked with Justin a couple weeks ago, he was thinking that his customers would prefer that he spend his time building BHSE's rather than testing various tubes.

OK, but all high-end equipment (not only audio rigs) makers carefully test the various components available on the market to select those which best fit their products. Regarding the BHSE, this was certainly done for, say, condensers and pots; why not for tubes? Of course, reliability is as important as performance. 

 

[Golfnutz]

For what it's worth, I sent an email to Grant Fidelity regarding the reliability issue:
 
[size=11pt]You might want to consider sending a note to the manufacture of the Psvane EL34PH regarding reliability issues.[/size]
 
[size=11pt]One of the forum groups I belong to is reporting serious issues with these tubes.[/size]
[size=11pt]1.[/size]       [size=11pt]3 different people have reported breaking the center guide pin (just mentioning this since it seems to be happening frequently).[/size]
[size=11pt]2.[/size]       [size=11pt]1 person has reported a tubes arriving DOA.[/size]
[size=11pt]3.[/size]       [size=11pt]1 person has reported mechanical buzzing with 2 of the 4 tubes received, and some rattling when gently shaken (has sent them back).[/size]
[size=11pt]4.[/size]       [size=11pt]1 person has reported the glue melting and a result of bubbling, also a cracked tube, and the heaters not all glowing the same brightness (has sent them back).[/size]
 
[size=11pt]I have no idea where the tubes were purchased, but I really don’t think it matters. The tubes themselves are getting very bad press at the moment, and it would appear anyone looking to purchase these are now looking for alternative (forum members).[/size]
 
[size=11pt]Myself, other than the guide pin, I couldn’t be happier and just hope they keep performing like they have been for the past couple of weeks.[/size]
 
[size=11pt]Reply received:[/size]
[size=11pt][size=medium]The tube purchase source is an important factor of tube quality. We ask the factory to re-test all tubes on our Amplitrex tester before shipping for multiple factors and we request visual appearance test as well - and we pay premium for such screening from factory. Tubes sold by other vendors I don't know the quality and cannot comment on them. [/size][/size]
 
[size=11pt][size=medium]I have provided feedback to the factory about the quality issues and they agree to improve on it. We will have new batch soon and hopefully quality will be better. [/size][/size]
 
[size=11pt][size=medium]Thanks again for the feedback. [/size][/size]
[size=11pt] [/size]
[size=11pt] [/size]

 

[Golfnutz]

I have no association with Grant Fidelity. I pulled this from the 'Quality Control' tab on their website:
 
A well-made vacuum tube needs to be burned in and further tested before it is ready for sale from the factory. Shuguang conduct burn-in on all tubes when they are off the production line. After burn-in, the tubes are tested and sometimes re burn-in is required at the factory and then matched according to “plate current” (aka ‘Bias Point’) with industrial equipment which will be calibrated every couple of months, as advised by the production engineer at Shuguang. Factory tube testing results usually have some inherent statistical error due to the time from the most recent equipment calibration. Such an error is normal in most industrial testing procedure as in large scale production. It is impossible to calibrate the testing equipment for every tube.
 
Test results obtained right after equipment calibration are tend to be more accurate then those obtained close to the next calibration. Chinese tube manufacturers typically only measure plate current at the factory QC process. At Shuguang, microphonics, transconductance, heater-to-cathode leakage and internal gas are not numerically tested in the production or QC process. These parameters are “controlled” by the manufacturing process but are not “measured” with a test equipment. Logically there will be some tubes with inferior or even failing results on these untested parameters will end up into distribution as if they are quality tubes. These are the ‘lemons’ covered by Shuguang manufacturer warranty which typically lasts 6 months from the factory shipping date. Shuguang historically select the tubes with better plate current test results (strong emission) for its export market. These tubes are sold as “Premium Grade or Export Grade” with higher price and tend to work closer to the tube’s designed specification and has a longer life expectancy. Weaker tubes are sold mostly within Greater China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan) with lower price for domestic consumers to match local affordability.
 
Slam away...