Psvane Audio Tubes, Caps and Amps

A: Answers to this question is related to your budget, as well your desire for the level of sound improvement.

The general rule of thumb is:

1) Upgrade the pre-amp tubes first. These are typically the smaller tubes at the front of an amplifier (power tubes are typically at back closer to power output transformers). A sound signal from your source component (such as CD player) is sent into the amp for amplification – preamp stage is first amplification stage so money spent on upgrading preamp stage tubes will give you great improvement. Garbage in, garbage out. If you don’t get great preamp signal, you won’t get great final output signal to speakers.

2) Once the signal being amplified at preamp stage, it is further amplified at the power tube stage. If your budget allows, get the power tubes upgrade to the extent that your wallet is happy and your ears are happy too. Most common power tubes are EL34, KT88, 300B and 845. The price for these tubes are in the same sequence from low to high.  Read more...

A: No, not necessarily.

A tube tester uses a pre-built circuit to test a vacuum tube’s technical specs DURING THE TESTING PERIOD. Many factors come into play when the tester gives you a tube plate current result (in mA). This testing period typically last only a minute or two – some tester has pre-heat phase (such as Amplitrex has 60 seconds pre-heat on auto testing mode), others may not or the pre-heat period is too short to have the tubes emitting stable stream of electrons (current).

Tube is a live creature – when heated, it emits electrons and work in a circuit; when not heated enough, it will generate electrons but the quantity may fluctuate overtime then stabilize. A short testing in a tube tester will not definitely tell you if a tube is drifting (i.e. current keep changing) or not. Drifting is term used over extended period of usage time – not over a minute or two of testing in a tube tester, especially an old tube tester that hasn’t be calibrated for years with aged parts inside which could cause significant error in testing results generated.  Read more...