dlb2
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"$800.00 dollars for two lightbulbs? What's wrong with us."
That's what my friend Paul aka, BlueMcIntosh, said when I talked to him about these new tubes I was trying. I still get a chuckle from it and when I think about all the crazy and expensive, and sometimes crazy-expensive, products we audiophiles try.
Psvane WE845 Western Electric replica tubes. I have a couple in my amp right now thanks to Mike's Tube Store. At first the title seems strange to me since Western Electric never made an 845 tube but from what I understand this tube was voiced after another similar WE tube and has the internal structure of an RCA845. That's the holy grail 845 that I've heard about but are basically non-existent. Psvane has other WE replica tubes as well so it was probably easier for them to categorize them together instead of having this one in a place all by itself.
My LM218 came stock with regular Shuguang 845's which I upgraded to their 845B version. It was a while ago but I do remember a definite improvement with the "B's." I figured there would again be an improvement with the WE845's but really wasn't expecting anything too drastic. Mike told me the tubes had roughly 100 hours on them and should be broken it nicely. I put them in my amp, and powered it up with my finger on the on/off switch. Turning on my amp after putting in different 845's always makes me a bit anxious. Could it be the 1000 volts surging through? Yeah, something like that! There was an immediate difference in sound quality. The soundstage was bigger, the bass seemed deeper, there was more body and texture to everything. As I continued to listen and allowed the amp to warm up it was very apparent that these were some great tubes.
Over the past year or so I've been a vinyl convert but most of the music I use to gauge differences in sound quality are in the digital format. Even digital sounded good! I was listening to Radiohead's "The King of Limbs" and it had some great bass coming out, bass that I'm not used to hearing from my little two-way speakers. The songs also quietly run into one another but with the WE's I noticed it more easily. Later I figured out that the new tubes produce more volume than the old ones. Radiohead is known for producing songs with lots of layers and the more you listen the more you hear. With the WE tubes I could hear things in there that I've heard before but it was more detailed. I then put on the Bill Evans Trio "Waltz for Debby" and again, I could hear people talking and the glasses clanking in the background but instead of it sounding like a live recording it sounded like I was right there in the nightclub.
Overall I found these tubes produce great textures with the music. They are rich and smooth, produce nice depth and are so musical. I would recommend this line of tubes for anyone willing to pay the price. Now I have to find a way to tell Mike that they got lost in transit.
That's what my friend Paul aka, BlueMcIntosh, said when I talked to him about these new tubes I was trying. I still get a chuckle from it and when I think about all the crazy and expensive, and sometimes crazy-expensive, products we audiophiles try.
Psvane WE845 Western Electric replica tubes. I have a couple in my amp right now thanks to Mike's Tube Store. At first the title seems strange to me since Western Electric never made an 845 tube but from what I understand this tube was voiced after another similar WE tube and has the internal structure of an RCA845. That's the holy grail 845 that I've heard about but are basically non-existent. Psvane has other WE replica tubes as well so it was probably easier for them to categorize them together instead of having this one in a place all by itself.
My LM218 came stock with regular Shuguang 845's which I upgraded to their 845B version. It was a while ago but I do remember a definite improvement with the "B's." I figured there would again be an improvement with the WE845's but really wasn't expecting anything too drastic. Mike told me the tubes had roughly 100 hours on them and should be broken it nicely. I put them in my amp, and powered it up with my finger on the on/off switch. Turning on my amp after putting in different 845's always makes me a bit anxious. Could it be the 1000 volts surging through? Yeah, something like that! There was an immediate difference in sound quality. The soundstage was bigger, the bass seemed deeper, there was more body and texture to everything. As I continued to listen and allowed the amp to warm up it was very apparent that these were some great tubes.
Over the past year or so I've been a vinyl convert but most of the music I use to gauge differences in sound quality are in the digital format. Even digital sounded good! I was listening to Radiohead's "The King of Limbs" and it had some great bass coming out, bass that I'm not used to hearing from my little two-way speakers. The songs also quietly run into one another but with the WE's I noticed it more easily. Later I figured out that the new tubes produce more volume than the old ones. Radiohead is known for producing songs with lots of layers and the more you listen the more you hear. With the WE tubes I could hear things in there that I've heard before but it was more detailed. I then put on the Bill Evans Trio "Waltz for Debby" and again, I could hear people talking and the glasses clanking in the background but instead of it sounding like a live recording it sounded like I was right there in the nightclub.
Overall I found these tubes produce great textures with the music. They are rich and smooth, produce nice depth and are so musical. I would recommend this line of tubes for anyone willing to pay the price. Now I have to find a way to tell Mike that they got lost in transit.
did you roll any of your other tubes while the WE's were in there?? just curious.
