Although all tubes from Grant Fidelity were tested multiple times before shipping, the reliability issue was caused by a minor structure problem that can only be identified when a tube is heated over extended period of time. To correct this issue and continue offering Grant Fidelity customers the highest possible quality tubes, we have returned all our stock acquired prior to April 15th back to factory for a new batch that has the issue addressed in production.

New stock of Psvane KT88-TII series GF Grade A tubes now are in stock and we will start shipping back orders and warranty replacement from our Hong Kong warehouse right away.

Thank you for all customers support to our continuous efforts in pursuing high quality products.

Models now include: WE300B, WE274B, WE275(2A3), WR2A3, WE212, and coming soon Philips EL34, WE845 and WE211. View details of the entire series here.

“Hi there, Rachel, just wanted to let you know that the tubes arrived in top condition on Friday 8th. I popped the 12AX7-T in first for a few hours and although it needed at least a couple of hours to get over the light bass and slight tonal greyness, the transparency of these Psvane tubes is wonderful! After 9-10 hours it simply becomes an essential addition to the TRI amp! There’s no going back after that.

To keep it simple, Rachel, I gingerly replaced the stock output tubes with the KT88-Ts and all went well and two days later everything seems fine, don’t know what happened all those weeks ago.

To say that having a complete compliment of Psvane tubes in the amp is a situation where the whole becomes far greater than the sum of it’s parts is an understatement. I’m simply staggered at what the amp sounds like now! Having a part Psvane, part stock tube compliment is always only having part of the picture, no matter how delicious it may sound. Adding the final 12AX7-T tube has locked in a balanced, weighty, transparent, 3D soundscape that seems to have completely banished any previous notions that I was getting close to the mark of satisfaction. It’s like I have gone from owning a really fine quality base model that was already apart from many of it’s peers and price range and upgraded to a top of the line model from the same stable. It’s now quite obvious that those KT88-Ts don’t work anywhere near their potential without the smaller brothers ahead of them, remaining a little dark and rolled in the top and flatter in perspective, no matter what other tubes I had before them. After 8-9 hours on Friday night, I had to force myself to switch off, the transformation was extraordinary.

The sheer solidity of instruments is such that if I walked into the soundstage and banged into the piano I would injure myself! Or a drum kit. That sort of weight and tangible solidity, and it applies to all instruments across the range. Whole layers of detail are now quite obvious even if they are subtle and gentle at the far back of the soundstage. Very very addictive!

I almost wish I was exaggerating to make a point, Rachel However, I’m actually understating the case.

Rachel, thank you again for your fine service, everything has been worth the effort, as my listening pleasure is enjoying a major upgrade to a level I never thought I might have in my own home. ”

Kind regards, Christopher.

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.

3) There is no such a thing called ‘best sounding’ tubes. All such comments are in certain context – tubes should only be compared when everything else is equal, i.e. same room, same speakers, same source etc.. No two amp owners have exactly the same set up so all impressions you heard or read online is just for reference. Let your own ears be the judge for good sound and no one else.

Happy listening.

Rachel @ Grant Fidelity

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.

You need to burn-in a tube over the manufacturer suggested time (Psvane tubes are recommended to burn-in for 150-300 hrs) then check it in an amp to see if the bias is drifting significantly or not (10-15% changes is not considered significant as many parts in an amplifier or electronic device has more than 10-15% variation from standard specification, and this range of variation will not do any harm to sound or equipment).

The bottom line is – do NOT become obsessed with numbers. Variation is expected when you have a piece of electronic device which is made with hundreds or thousands pieces of parts together. Unless the variation is statistically significant and you are seeing signs of problem on the playback device – i.e. amplifier  (such as overheated plate, distortion in sound, very noticeable noise through speakers etc), enjoy the tunes. When significant issue arise, contact us – we always stand behind our warranty 100%.

How they compare to the previous T-series? Check out our TII listings to find out!

Same price, better quality. This is how Psvane Audio takes over today’s tube market.

“Dear Grant Fidelity,