Got my Psavane 12AX7s today

[Puma Cat]

Grant Fidelity was having a special on the Psvane 12AX7s at the CA Audio Show. I remembered that Jeff gave them a great little review on the Tone Audio blog, so I ordered (what I thought was) a pair at $85 per tube.

Got them today. Pix and impressions to follow tonight when I get home and have a chance to listen to them.

What I didn't realize was that the 485 price was for a pair of tubes, not an individual price, so as it turns out, TWO boxes of two showed up.

Not sure I need a quad of these, so if anyone is interested in a brand-new pair of Psvane 12AX7s (never out of the box), drop me a PM. I'll sell them for what I paid for 'em ($85) plus the cost of shipping.

[dhizzle]

I bought some pavane 12ax7/at7's and Shuguang Treasure KT88's for my MC275 at the CA audio show also. Just installed them a couple of days ago. So far they are sounding really good to me. I heard they should get even better after a couple hundred hours. I might try them in my C2300 phono stage and see how the Concept sounds with them.
Did you hear those MBL's? WOW!

[Puma Cat]

Yeah, the MBL room was pretty amazing.

Listened to my 12AX7s last night...even though barely broken in, they sounded great.

[jwhite613]

Puma Cat... How do you think they compare to Gold Lions, if you have compared. I have given some thought about trying some other tubes.

[Puma Cat]

Jeff,
Don't know....these are for my EAR 834P phono stage, and I've never compared them to the Gold Lion !2AX7s; I've been using the stock 12AX7 tubes that come in the EAR. I would imagine the Gold Lions are excellent, too, with my experience with their KT88s. Thought about trying the Gold Lion 6922s in my Premier 17LS.

The Psvanes are sounding mighty good; I am listening to them right now.

[miner]

I prefer my Psvane 12AX7s over the GL I had in the Line and MC stages. The GLs are a very good tube, too.

[Audio 1]

Originally Posted by miner

I prefer my Psvane 12AX7s over the GL I had in the Line and MC stages. The GLs are a very good tube, too.

Miner what are some of the Psvane characteristics that you prefer in your system vs. the Gold Lions?

[rnrmf1971]

It took two tries, but I came around to the Psvanes in a big way. I was using Gold Lion tubes in the line stage of my Mc C500. I liked the Gold Lion tubes quite a bit at first, because they brought about an airy, resolute quality that was engaging. My speakers (PMC Fact 8's) are kind of lean in my room, and I felt I was missing some low end extension that should be there with these speakers, so I tried the Psvane tubes.
The first time I tried them, I was a bit turned off by what I felt was a narrowing of the soundstage and lessening of the 3D, airy quality of the Gold Lion tubes. But other than a relatively rushed comparison with the Gold Lion's, I didn't really let them play them for a decent amount of hours. After reading more good feedback on them, I decided to give them a second try. I let them play for at least 24 hours total, before I did another comparison between the Psvanes, Gold Lion, and Tung Sol gold pin tubes.
I love the Tung Sol mid range, but the tube is better suited to my guitar amps. It isn't in the same class as the other two brands, as far as resolution is concerned, although it's fantastic for guitar amps.
The Gold Lion tubes had the same qualities I originally noticed, but after A-B'ing for almost 2 hours, the Psvane tubes stood out by allowing significant extension in the bass over what Gold Lion's produced. I'd say it had about the same extension and resolution on the top end, but not quite as much of the 3D, airy quality of the Gold Lion's, which, in retrospect, I came to view as a bit artificial. But the extension on the bass side was what was most welcome. The Psvanes add bass without any artificial fattening of other frequencies. They sound very, very, natural to me, in my system.
The Psvanes are now my default tube for the line stage in the C500. I didn't try them in the phono stage yet. I have Gold Lion's there, and will eventually check them out in that spot.

[miner]

I mirror rnrmf1971 sentiments mentioned above. My GL did stay in my C2300 for 3 months before I gave the Psvanes a try. In my MC stage the Psvanes are a bit quieter (background) than the GL. Both tubes are exceptional but my 54 yo ears prefer the Psvanes. I bought my Psvanes during Grant Fidelity's promotion - a bit cheaper then.