Get TubeVIP Insider Pricing

Posted adminPosted in Recent News

Finally, the world seems turning around from Covid theme, to a bit normal-life theme! Let’s celebrate the world’s re-opening with ‘TubeVIP’ Insider pricing!

What is TubeVIP?

Step 1: Sign up for our TubeVIP membership with perks of extended warranty on high end tubes, current & future exclusive member-only insider pricing and specials, plus more perks to come!

TubeVIP Membership is priced for US$29.99-$39.99 per year. Read ‘TubeVIP membership’ full details& perks HERE.

Step 2: Once you have completed your order for your desired TubeVIP membership, your account will be assigned to to VIP membership status instantly. From here on, when you login to your account, you will see our current ‘TubeVIP member-only pricing’ on relevant product listing pages. You can place order from here on with all membership perks attached for your new orders, for the duration of your membership.

Please note the current TubeVIP insider pricing is limited to Linlai™ Global Elite series, WE Replica Series and DG Series. Grant Fidelity’s Special Edition tubes are not included due to their limited availability.

Happy Tube Rolling, and enjoy the summer!

Rachel @ Grant Fidelity

6SN7SE with HeadFi: Inspire by Dennis Had IHA-1 Dragon Version – ‘The tubes are magnificent.’

Posted adminPosted in - 6SN7 / CV181, - 6SN7 Tube Purchase Guide, Purchase Guide, Reviews by Tube Model

Feedback received via email from Kirk V. in USA:

“The tubes are magnificent. The change in musical quality is astonishing. This is the best investment I have made after spending thousands to improve the signal path. I cannot believe how much music I have missed until now. 
Kirk”

Linlai™ Global E-6SN7 on Feliks Euforia Headphone amp: from Germany

Posted adminPosted in - 6SN7 / CV181, - 6SN7 Tube Purchase Guide, Purchase Guide, Reviews by Tube Model

We have just received the feedback below from Greg K from Germany! Greg owns a ‘Feliks Euforia headphone amplifier’ which came with Psvane CV181-TII as driver tubes.

Read about his first impression after swapping to [Linlai™ Global] E-6SN7 for 26hrs – it might help those who wish to know how the E-6SN7 compared to Psvane tubes: (note: Linlai tubes full burn-in will take approximately 100hrs)

“I have now burned in the tubes for a good 26 hours so far.And on the Feliks Euforia, where the Psvane CV181-TII were before, a lot has happened. I listened with the Audeze Lcd 2 C headphones which are quite neutral. And relabelled 6080 Sylvania power tubes which also arrived on Saturday.

Compared to the Linlai Global E-6SN7, the Psvane are quite neutral in sound. I noticed this immediately after the exchange. This is no longer the case with the Lin Lai, they play much warmer.

The bass has increased considerably where before they were bloodless in direct comparison to the Psvane CV181-TII. The good thing about the Linlai is that the mids and highs are relatively unchanged compared to the Psvane CV181-TII. I didn’t notice any loss there, they seem to have gained a bit of sparkle.

They are also more accurate, closer to the music and go a bit deeper in the highs and a bit longer in the low end. Detail resolution is also very good, I like it better than the Psvane tubes.

Vocals are a bit more distant and more central than with the Psvane, or less voice accentuated, which I personally find better.

All in all, they are definitely worth the money and improve the sound of the Feliks Euforia dramatically. Before I was always getting disturbed by something, but that has gone since the first hour since the Linlai have been in. I don’t regret buying them. Much more the Psvane that you can book at Feliks.

It makes the Feliks neutral but cold, with the Linlai it’s just the opposite.

That was my first impression and I know they still need a little time to burn in. But they are getting better by the hour. Linlai has done a really good job. It also shows that after such a short time they are already so open and show the direction they are going in.

I am enthusiastic about the tubes. And I wanted to tell you that much about how good they are in the first hour.

With Kind regards
Greg”

Is the ‘Top 10% Best of Best Grade’ worth the money?

Posted adminPosted in - 6SN7 Tube Purchase Guide, Purchase Guide

You may have noticed that our tube offerings are priced to different gradings – the best, also the most expensive, grade is ‘Top 10% Best of Best Grade’ at a price premium over typical ‘factory QC pass grade’.

Is the ‘Top 10% Best of Best Grade’ worth the money? What are you paying for the best grade?

Tubes, like most bulk commodities, are graded according to their tested parameters from lab equipment. Although vacuum tubes are industrial products, they are not cookie-cutting universal exactly the same when rolling off the production line. Consider tubes like premium coffee beans: They are all coffee beans, but not all the same coffee beans, and are not sold at all the same price.

Tubes are hand-made products. Many human factors play into the final quality and lifespan of tubes. Tubes are also live creatures – they are not in static fixed state through their lifespan – they change with the environment they work in, and change itself unexpectedly like a ‘living creature’.

An example on 300B tubes:

A factory QC pass grade 300B tube can have 60-70% of full emission but still considered ‘QC pass’ by a tube factory. Our selected ‘top 10% Best of Best grade’ will have minimum 85% up to 110% of full emission. The top grade will have approximately extra 30%-50% emission (in comparison terms between the two grades) to allow your tubes last much much longer.

Additional screening of our ‘Top 10% Best of Best Grade’ also have matched transconductance to the best possible range and no other imperfections in tested specs.

Why called top 10%? Because these tubes only take about 10% of the entire tube production batch. They are rare and hard to come by, when ALL parameters considered.

This comparison on 300B grading also applies on other tube models.

If budget isn’t an issue, we as buyers would personally go with top 10% best of best grade on these high end tubes, to make sure to get the best possible commodity for longest time enjoyment. 

Hope this helps with your tube purchase selection!

Rachel @ Grant Fidelity

Can your 6SN7 replace my 6SN7GT, 6SN7GTA, 6SN7GTB?

Posted adminPosted in - 6SN7 / CV181, - 6SN7 Tube Purchase Guide, Purchase Guide

We sometimes receive amp owners question about tube substitute related to 6SN7. Here is a short summary:

  1. GT stands for ‘Glass Tube’.
  2. GTA is an enhanced version of original GT version – to allow higher plate dissipation than the GT version.
  3. GTB is variant of GTA, with a heater warmer control to further enhance reliability when this tube was used in TVs.
  4. Very early 6SN7 tubes can handle max 300V. Today’s new production 6SN7 tubes can handle max 450V.
  5. In short, new production 6SN7 can replace your old 6SN7 without frying the tubes. But you should not use a NOS 6SN7 designed to handle 300V, into a modern circuit of 450V.
  6. All our listed 6SN7 tubes (no matter what suffix it has) can electronically replace 6SN7GT, 6SN7GTA, and 6SN7GTB.
  7. Do check dimension clearance to make sure the different glass bulb shape can fit into your amp space!

Happy tube rolling!

We are ‘Global Shopping Friendly’: Multiple Currencies & EU / UK Zone

Posted adminPosted in Recent News

We now offer multi-currency shopping to worldwide customers in US$, Euro €, and CAD$!

You can simply select your desired currency on the right side of this website, and view all product pricing in that currency, shop and make payment in that currency. 

Currency exchange rate is updated EVERY MINUTE in real time, as per global foreign exchange market. (Please note exchange rate posted on xe.com is for mid-market rate reference only. Retail banking exchange rate is usually higher with a retail banking spread added by the banks.)

We have also added ‘Direct bank transfer’ payment in US$, Euro and CAD$ method besides Paypal & Credit Card payment methods. 

For EU/UK zone customers, starting Jan 1st, 2021 for UK and July 1st, 2021 for EU, we will not ship any orders valued BELOW 150 Euro or 135GBP due to new VAT regulations implemented in these regions. Orders above these value threshold will not be affected and will be shipped as usual. 

For EU/UK zone customers, we strongly suggest customers to choose ‘Express DHL’ shipment method. Although paying a small extra cost than other shipping methods, you will have real time full tracking from start to finish, the fastest shipping transit time and customs clearance in destination country is automatically done by courier DHL Express with digital invoice pre-submitted by us – no need to line up at a local postal office for pickup and if any tax amount due, you usually can pay it before delivery date online with DHL. It is time saving and hassle saving! 

Happy Listening and Happy Global Shopping!

Grant Fidelity

6SN7SE Globe Tube Tips – ‘You Raise Me Up’

Posted adminPosted in - 6SN7 Tube Purchase Guide, - 6SN7 / CV181, Purchase Guide

Some amps have preamp 6SN7 tubes placed in a very tight real estate – i.e. two tubes are placed very closely to each other so the new high end 6SN7 with curved larger / wider glass enclosure cannot fit in side by side.

A customer from Europe recently told me his solution and I think it is worthwhile to share! That is – use a socket saver to raise one of the tubes up!

Just google ‘8 pin socket saver’ (not ‘socket adapter’ which may change pin layout connections) and make sure to purchase from a reputable audio parts vendor. Some lower quality socket saver can introduce current leakage to your circuit and cause unexpected noise issues.

Happy Listening!

6SN7SE Globe – ‘The SE blows them all out of the water’

Posted adminPosted in - 6SN7 / CV181, Reviews by Tube Model

Feedback received from Craig M. on GF Special Edition – Treasure 6SN7SE Globe:

“Rachel,
I got my SE’s today!  I must say … I have spent a LOT of money on boutique 6SN7 variants and I have never heard anything like this before!  I am running a DIY 6SN7 line stage that was designed by Jack Elliano of Electra-Print.  This is by far the best 6SN7 I have ever heard.  I have NOS Sylvania Bad Boys, TJ, Black Treasure, various JAN and there is NO comparison!  The SE blows them all out of the water…”