We are receiving questions from customer on USPS tracking – here are the answers for all:
For many tube orders from USA customers, we use Canadian domestic courier service to ship to the border of Alberta/Montana, then customs brokers clear the parcels through US Customs into the USA. Once the parcels entered the USA (AFTER customs clearance and released by US Customs), the USPS tracking number will become live tracking on www.usps.com, and the journey starts from a small town called Sweet Grass, Montana.
Don’t jump when you see your order was shipped from Montana, not from Canada. It’s just cross-border paperwork to get on USPS shipping network.
This is the current QUICKEST way to ship cross the Canada/USA border at a realistic price. Alberta / Montana borders are much faster for parcel processing than the typical Western Canada/ USA parcel processing through the Vancouver BC Canada shipping hub, which is operated by Canada Post.
USA Customer will receive a 26 digit USPS tracking number (sometimes it’s a UPS tracking number) as soon as Grant Fidelity process your order in Canada – ie. pick n pack your orders and give the boxes to the Canadian couriers (this will happen within 48 hours of receiving your orders).
Customers in USA need to wait (patiently) for 2-3 business days for domestic transportation within Canada and border crossing into USA to complete, before starting to click on usps.com for updated USPS tracking, for either First Class mail (usually 5 days delivery within cont. USA) or Priority Mail (usually 2 days delivery within cont. USA).
The above described is the process of cross border shipments between Canada and USA these days – which can be subject to USA customs inspection and/or processing delay, depending on cross-border freight volume around holiday peak season, and/or the current Covid-19 restrictions which may cause even further delay with reduced staff everywhere in the supply chain.
Stay well and safe. Please bear with the freight forwarding system to cope with Covid-19 challenges. Your orders are sure coming to your way, as soon as it is humanly possible (till the day AI replaces human processing! 🙂
Our previous domain website (www.psvanetube.com) was started a decade ago when we primarily offer Psvane tubes. Now we have added Linlai™ tube brand, and more GF (Grant Fidelity) Special Edition tubes to come. The new domain (PremiumVacuumTubes.com) is a better reflection our upcoming wider range of tube offering.
Plus, in the past we have often received emails from consumers (from various parts of the world) writing about their complaints on their vendors runaway from tube warranty. Either those consumers wrongly took our website as their last resort saver to reclaim their loss from sub-quality tubes, or they simply didn’t read the ‘about us’ section of the website. We feel the new domain will help us to avoid such awkward situation – after all, we cannot provide warranty to other vendor’s tubes sales, but we do take very good care of our own customers.
What is not changing?
The new domain website (www.PremiumVacuumTubes.com) is an exact migration of our previous domain website, with all functions, information and order history remain EXACTLY the same. Customers accounts etc all remain exactly the same and all data are secured hosted in North America with a top quality hosting service provider in USA. Our website visitors, users and customers do not need to concern about their interaction with our business be affected by this ‘behind the scene’ website domain changes.
If you have come to this website from a forum discussion thread link about Psvane tube, Linlai tube, or Grant Fidelity special edition tube, or a Google organic search result, our previous domain (www.PsvaneTube.com) automatically re-directs you to this new domain seamlessly. This post here is to re-confirm and reassure to you that you are at the RIGHT web link destination for the information you are searching for, just with a new name! Our website URL has NOT been hijacked 🙂
We will be adding on more tube offerings in the coming weeks and months, from affordable entry level replacement for ‘tube newbie’, value performance driven upgrade for ‘smart shoppers’, and to ultra fidelity ‘best of best’ tubes for the ‘ultimate fi’ lovers!
Thank you for visiting our website. We look forward to doing some tube business with you in the near future!
We have received so many inquires lately from customers asking us to help them to make a choice between the two tube brands out of China. So here is a summary of our take – OBJECTIVELY:
Power of design:
High end product design need vision and dedication. Psvane had a track record of pumping out a few series of high end tubes for the worldwide audiophile upgrade market, since they initially launched ‘Treasure black bottle’ tube series back in 2008 till the recent ACME series.
That original Psvane design team includes the same people who left later on from Psvane to form Linlai brand. So, Psvane had proven track record. Linlai™ split out with a good number of the design / production team so they started off with good design strength too.
Conclusion: We have absolute confidence in the late new comer Linlai™’s design ability to pump out GREAT hifi tubes. Two brands provide varieties to the market – users can choose based on their preference.
2. Business focus:
When a business grows, they do tend to increase their offering to cover more market segments to increase revenue. Psvane indeed have taken the golden opportunity to expand and fill in the void left by Shuguang tube factory’s shutdown in 2019 due to sale of land and relocation, and Psvane has set the stage for expanding into the mass production guitar amp market, which mostly use small signal tubes and EL34/KT88/KT66 etc. Large triode tubes such as 300B/845 tubes are mostly used by HiFi market and are not the focus of the guitar amp musician market.
Shuguang now has resumed production in 2023. Psvane’s market share is being squeezed so they appear take more aggressive moves to maintain market share. However, we think the whole problem of Chinese tubes is about consistent quality. When Psvane grows to cover as wide scale as Shuguang used to be, the quality consistency might suffer.
On the contrary, Linlai™ set itself to be a niche player focusing on HiFi market only. They do not appear to take overly aggressive moves for market share. Instead, Linlai appears to be genuinely concerns about quality. Sub-par quality or un-confirmed quality tubes are not offered for sale on their official export website [www.linlaiglobal.com] to maintain brand reputation.
Conclusion: current Psvane tubes such as ACME series are confirmed by worldwide customers as ‘great tubes’ but quality consistency must be observed by diligent buyers . We are confident that Linlai™ will and may have caught up in the competition with their strong focus in the HiFi market.
3. Statistics says about Quality Control:
We have randomly taken 28 tubes from each brand that we have received and plotted their plate current. Blue line is Psvane, Orange line is Linlai™. We see a less deviation from Linlai™ measurements than from Psvane.
What does this chart tell us? It says: We are indeed getting great quality Linlai™ tubes with a very consistent measurements! The Linlai™ people are really serious about their products and take our quality control parameters to action and test numbers tell it! In our opinion, those Psvane tubes with plate current less than 48 should NEVER has been released to outside of China market if they were to maintain their brand reputation in the international market.
4. What if? – The Warranty question:
Both Psvane and Linlai offer a better warranty term than the state owned Shuguang brand used to offer. They are changing the reputation of ‘Made-in-China’ tubes.
Linlai factory backs up their [Linlai™ Global] tubes sold through their own website and their authorized overseas resellers. Buyers tempted by cheaper price and bought the Chinese version of Linlai tubes (it doesn’t have the [Linlai™ Global]) is only covered by their sellers (mostly located in Greater China).
Conclusion: Buying [Linlai™ Global] tubes does not leave the buyer to hold the bags, when problems arise. Consistent quality means less warranty cases – it will be a better user experience.
5. How do they compare, sonically?
We know this is the holy-grail question for audiophiles. But since this comparison is all about being ‘objectively’. We as vendor must leave this question to be answered by the audiophile community.
Objectively, we can shine some lights on Linlai™ design which will add to definite positives to the sonic performance. E-series with molybdenum material produce a much stronger electron emission than other type of plate material such as graphite or hybrid plate, and sustain higher voltage. This translates to more dynamic to the sound, better reliability and longer tube life. DG overhang filament series achieves better vibration control than other filament structures. With all these features, we trust that they are evident to well trained audiophile ears to hear the sonic improvements.
Conclusion: we have been selecting high quality tubes from China for over a decade. Our past combined experience does tell us that Linlai™ is a brand with great potential for both sonic quality and reliability – so far we have not seen a single defective tube from our 4 Linlai™ shipments, except one tube broken in handling from China to us.
We hope by sharing the above information and data, worldwide music lovers and audiophiles can be confident in making a well informed choice between the two brands.
Keep in mind: enjoying music is a journey. It’s not a quest for the absolute best. If there were ‘absolute best’ in the audiophile world, we wouldn’t have had today’s numerous HiFi brands and mind boggling choices from worldwide brilliant HiFi creators. We simply cannot answer your questions about ‘what is the best tube to buy’.
Feedback received from our long time customer Barry H. in Vancouver, Canada:
“I now own Space-Tech Laboratory SE-845-100W mono blocks that are single ended DHT pure class A triode OTL power amplifiers that were designed and hand built in Vancouver. They came with Psvane 845 Hi-Fi tubes and I was very happy with the sonics. Unfortunately, the adhesive holding the base to the glass failed after a year so I went looking for replacements and found Grant Fidelity’s website where I bought a set of Psvane WE845 tubes. They are great tubes but I couldn’t find the correct configuration of preamp tubes to make music the way I liked. I then ordered a pair of Psvane 845-TII Black Special Edition tubes that provided the warm texture that I enjoy.
Over the last year, I have upgraded my digital front with a KT-150 based upsampling DAC, re-clocker, switch and linear power supplies to the point where I was suspecting that the Black Special 845 tubes were holding back my system’s potential. I went back to Grant Fidelity and found the new tube manufacturer, Linlai. My logic was that if a group of Engineers left Shuguang to form Psvane, who are now a premium manufacturer, then the group who left Psvane to form Linlai must believe they can produce products at or better than Psvane. Rachel’s honesty about their warranty was all I needed to order the factory grade version of the Linlai 845-DG.
After the 845-DG arrived I listened to them for 2 hours and then began the burn-in process for 7 days, listening each evening for about an hour. They did improve until the 150-hour mark to the point that I did not hear an improvement at 175 hours. My impressions of the 845-DG vs the Psvane 845-TII (Black Special Edition) after 175 hours are:
I call them(Linlai 845-DG) 300B tubes that were fed performance enhancing drugs! Smooth, delicate, air, no harshness and wonderful dynamics. A blacker background with a wider and deeper soundstage with clarity of all instruments. I can discern a cedar top guitar from a maple one. Cymbals and bells float with a long decay. Bass has the articulation and warmth that I crave so, in comparison, the Psvane 845 T-II sounds like they are wrapped in a Kashmir sweater that must be smearing some details. The vibration of strings on upright bass and piano are easily heard. My addiction to snare drum rim shots is satisfied.
These 845-DG tubes have turned my system into the best I have ever experienced in my home and I couldn’t be happier. They and can lay claim to being expertly designed and built!
Feedback received via email from customer Lincoln W.:
“Hi Rachel, I thought I’d give you a preliminary feedback on the Treasure Globe 6SN7-SE. they are simply amazing. A pair makes the entire system sound like a brand new system! stunning life -live -like music. HUGE soundstage. I’m running a DAC that already made the soundstage big, but the tubes gave it more depth, the soundstage became bigger. lots of air, lots of presence…the music produced was jaw dropping – arms up in the air moments. and there were many!”
(note: Lincoln uses 6SN7SE in a Supratek preamplifier)
It has come to attention that some shoppers are confused by the different ‘6SN7SE’ tubes available on the market now.
We here clarify as below:
What we offer is called ‘Treasure Globe 6SN7-SE’ (GF Limited Special Edition).
GF stands for ‘Grant Fidelity’.
Globe is the shape of the glass enclosure as most 6SN7 tubes are either straight bottle, or mini 300B shaped with a shoulder.
SE stands for Special Edition, as this model was custom made for us based on the best possible design feature and electronic specs for single ended triode (SET) tube amplification.
We contracted tube factory made the special batch for us. We screen all tubes by our QC standards, not factory’s QC, and then further graded them to ‘low noise Grade A’ and ‘driver grade B’. For those not passing these two grades by our QC standard (about 53%), we instructed factory to destroy them (this we cannot verify if done or not, or these sub-grade tubes flew out of back door to some other vendors).
All our ‘Treasure Globe 6SN7-SE’ (GF Limited special Edition) tubes have front Chinese calligraphic logo of ‘Treasure’, plus a back printed line of ‘GF Special Edition’. They are only sold from THIS website, not any other vendors directly or indirectly. Whoever claim they sourced the tubes from us and of same quality, it’s NOT true.
Psvane itself has launched 6SN7SE (clear glass globe shape, with white ceramic base), and 6SN7BE (blue glass globe shape, with white ceramic base). Both are offered under ‘HIFI series’ as varieties to entry to mid level 6SN7. These are NOT the same tube as our ‘Treasure Globe 6SN7-SE’ (GF Limited special Edition). Other tube factories in China may also offer globe shaped 6SN7 and call it ‘6SN7SE’ – they are NOT the same as our offering and have no relations to us either.
Hope the above clarifies the confusion around this SE model, and allow all shoppers to shop wisely with adequate information.
Promo Offer! LINLAI factory is sponsoring us for ‘Feedback Bonus’ – valued at $50 per pair for first 30 pairs of all Elite and DG models combined, from now till Sept 30th, 2020. Conditions to receive the ‘Feedback Bonus”:
Must place order through THIS website, not other online vendors
Order completed by September 30th, 2020
Minimum order amount $499 for LINLAI E-series and DG-Series tubes only, not WE-series.
Submit a minimum 200 words ‘comparison’ feedback by email to what tubes you previously use – focus on sonic difference rather than putting down other brands. We are not buying good reviews – we want to hear from audiophiles how LINLAI sound in comparison to other tubes you have used.
First come first served. Bonus offer will end when 30 pairs reached.
Some precautions about using high voltage power tubes:
Unlike other vacuum tubes such as KT88 or EL34, which typically run at 450V plate voltage, high voltage power tubes such as 845, 805 and 211 run at plate voltage 900V or even higher depending on your amp design. Due to the high voltage in the circuit, biasing an 845 / 805 or 211 amp improperly may expose you to lethal high voltage causing instant death. If you haven’t owned any tube before, we recommend you not to start with a 845 /805/211 tube amps until you get comfortable with maintaining a lower voltage tube amp such as EL34 / KT88 or 300B amps.
Always bias your amplifier by strictly following your amp manufacturer’s instructions. Do not bias the plate current over suggested reading (usually in mA) in any case. This will cause tube overheat, tube failure and burning out other parts inside your amp.
High voltage tube has maximum rating of plate heat dissipation (see specification link on each tube listing page). Do not run your amp at a plate current that could cause the tube plate turn red hot. When you start using a new tube, try it first in a room with dark light so that you can observe the plate color closely. If the plate turns red hot, turn down your amp bias immediately until the plate no longer show overheat symptom. Bias the two channel’s plate current readings to the same safe level for both. It’s not recommended to have two channels biased at different level.
Plate heat dissipation (measured in watts) = plate voltage (in Volt) x plate current (in mA) / 1000
For example, if a tube amp has plate voltage of 960V on the 845 tube by design, and the 845 tube has max plate heat dissipation rating of 75w, your maximum plate current bias reading should be 78mA. If the amp has plate voltage of 910V by design, your maximum plate current bias reading should be 82mA. It is not recommended run a tube constantly at its peak rating so ideally you should set your plate current bias at about 10% below the maximum. This will prolong your tube life and ensure a safe and long term enjoyment of your amp.
Although each tube amp has its designed plate voltage for tubes at a fixed input power voltage, a variation of more than 5% of your input power voltage will cause the plate voltage for tubes vary greatly (for example, swing from designed 910V to 950V or even higher). In such a case, your tube could be overheated and fail in a very short time. It’s strongly recommended to use a power conditioner properly designed for audio with your tube amp to reduce the possibility of such an accident and financial loss.
An excellent tube amp design along with poor selection of parts and poor production quality control could also cause your amp to overheat a tube and cause it fail prematurely. Always choose amplifiers made properly for your local voltage from a reputable reseller. In the past, we have seen many after-market modified Chinese tube amps which have been sold into North America with main transformers not designed for the right voltage, and cause not only inferior performance, but also tube failure or burning up components.
Last but not least, never leave your tube amp unattended for extended period of time. Never leave a 845/805/211 high voltage tube amp on without anyone in the room.
Due to the complicated feature of a tube amp’s design and user’s settings and maintenance vary greatly, tube manufacturer only warrant a vacuum tube for 90 days. If a tube has inherent manufacturer defect, it will show in the first 90 days of normal use and it will be covered by warranty. Improper usage including amp voltage not matching your local power voltage, using in an amp not suitable for the tube or set bias too high or too low, input power spikes etc will result in tube failure prematurely – such incidence will not be covered by tube manufacturer’s warranty.
