I got a USPS tracking number…. now what.. why isn’t it moving?

Posted adminPosted in +++Shipping & Tariffs +++, Recent News

For tube orders from USA customers, we sometimes 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 for final delivery by USPS. 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.

In the above shipping scenario, USA Customer will receive a 26 digit USPS tracking number as soon as we process your order in Canada – ie. pick n pack your orders and give the boxes to the Canadian couriers (this will usually 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.

A New Milestone: NEW web domain with MORE tube options!

Posted adminPosted in Recent News

For those with sharp eyes, you may have noticed: From Dec 15th 2020, we have migrated our tube site to our new domain:

www.PremiumVacuumTubes.com

What has changed?

First, More tube options to come!

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!

 

Rachel @ Grant Fidelity

 

LINLAI™ 845-DG: “Turned my system into the best I have ever experienced…”

Posted adminPosted in - 845 all types, Reviews by Tube Model

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!

Barry H., Vancouver”

6SN7SE: “stunning life -live -like music. HUGE soundstage”

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

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)

Which 6SN7SE should I get?

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

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-Select 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-Select Special Edition) tubes 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.

Happy Listening.

Grant Fidelity

Another tube factory is born…LIINLAI with many new tubes!

Posted adminPosted in Recent News

Check out our new additions: Tubes by LINLAI – a new tube factory from China!

Who is LINLAI? (click on link to read more)

What tube they make?

  • Flagship: Elite E-series
  • Replica – WE Series
  • Innovation & Budgetable – DG Series

845, 805, 300B, 101D now in stock! Others coming soon.

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.

What you should know about high voltage tubes such as 845, 211 and 805

Posted adminPosted in Purchase Guide, Tube FAQ & Must Read

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 to be cautious when starting with a 845 /805/211 tube amps and get yourself comfortable with maintaining such high voltage tube 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, shorten tube life significantly and even burn out other parts inside your amp.

High voltage tube has maximum rating of plate heat dissipation. Do not run your amp at a plate current that could cause the tube plate turn red hot (it is a cherry-ish deep red glow in a dark room. Normal tube glow is more towards orange-ish). 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 tubes. 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 if 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 near its peak rating so ideally you should set your plate current bias at about 10-15% 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 may 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. Be very cautious when buying ‘cheap’ dual voltage tube amps from overseas.

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.

We usually do not recommend people to chase so-called ‘high wattage output’ 845/211/805 amps. Some of these amps were designed to run output tubes at its marginal peak rating in order to squeeze a few extra watts – those watts you as a consumer may never actually need because most tube amps only sound excellent in their ‘sweet spot’ output ranges, that is – not too low and not too high. Allocating your funds to a pair of properly matched higher efficiency speakers to your 845/211/805 amps is a much much better bang for the buck, and it’s a much enjoyable musical experience too. Do NOT waste your money on chasing the last few watts by driving your tubes hard, instead focusing on get the BEST first few watts!

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 properly matched to your local power voltage, using tubes in an amp not suitable for the specific 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.