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The combination of Kaivalyas with the slightly more conventional vented 3-way Vaessen Aquarius worked out fine. In this setup the amplifiers had to work far harder but handled themselves very well. The 30cm carbon woofers have proven to be cranky things for some amps. For the Kaivalyas this was no problem and they beautifully showed who was boss and in control of the woofers’ movements. At higher SPLs we had to give in way before the hardware ran out of steam and there still was plenty of untapped headroom.
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If this were all, we would say that the Kaivalya is one of the most non-tubey tube amplifiers that provides great sound, excellent speaker control and good looks for a very sharp price. But now we opened the four red Psvane boxes. Each contained a measurement card bearing the name of Grant Fidelity which is not only a distributor for high-quality Chi-Fi in North America but also ships to Europe. The matched pairs of EL84-T looked high quality with their gilded pins and felt reassuringly solid but how would they sound compared to the Russians? We had to be patient because the tubes had thus far endured only a few hours of playing time. Psvane suggests 75 to 100 hours to really get them going. We followed that advice and had the Kaivalya play at a very low volume for a few days. When show time was at hand, the difference to the ‘Russian sound’ was very clear. There was the same slam, quick impulse response to musical cues and solid soundscape but all with an extra. The impulse behavior was tighter and with a slightly fuller body as though now there was more mass behind the attack and the volts delivered had a higher charge. Compared to the Russians, tone was more polished around the edges and went down with a smoother finish. It is very likely that these Chinese tubes are less microphonic in character.
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Rolling valves in the Kaivalyas did not change their overall sound. The already strong points simply got better still. Individual voices in large ensembles were easier to distinguish. With the Cantate Domino CD—after all these years that gets a bit boring but most people know it well—the choir grew a more profound notion of a group of individuals who each give away their presence by being ever so slightly out of pace with the others. With the Russian tubes the choir was more solidly glued together as one monolithic whole.
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What we had noticed with the combination of Kaivalya and Avantgarde Duo—the presence of an edge now and then—had completely vanished with these Chinese tubes. Brass now was as clean as can be all the way up into Cuban trumpet turf, crashing cymbals faded endlessly into oblivion and female flamenco voices kept a clear throat.
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Other types of music led to the same conclusion. The Psvane tubes were an extremely fortuitous match for the Kaivalyas and raised these amplifiers to an even higher level. If you are looking for a valve amp that doesn’t go on advertising itself with the usual "hey, hear me out, I’m a tube amplifier"; that is true to the musical signal at its input; and won’t break the bank initially or later when tubes need to be replaced... then the Kaivalya is your first choice. If you are using highly sensitive loudspeakers that demand the utmost silence from their amplifiers... again the Kaivalya is your first choice. And if the looks weren’t sharp already, the new black only makes the choice that much easier. |
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Publisher's comment: Marja & Henk's finding on the Psvane tubes mirrors my experience with their 6SN7 aka CV181T described here. If to that we add David Kan's enthusiasm over Psvane's 12AX7 in his Tri kit amp review, it appears this upscale Chinese brand might offer consistently high performance across their various tube types to rewrite expectations for Sino valves. - Ed.
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Quality of packing: Excellent and reusable many times
Condition of component received: Primo.
Quality of owner's manual: N/A.
Website comments: Place that order
Pricing: Relative to build quality, innovative transformer design, parts and sound quality, this is a shining example in a world of overpriced amps which aren't as good.
Human interactions: Unique cooperation between Serbia, Norway and Holland just for the love of it.
Final remark: It is more than worthwhile to invest in a set of Psvane tubes to replace the stock Russian tubes.
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