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Going straight for one of my favorite 'harmonic truth' CDs—Hector Zazou and Swara's In The House of Mirrors, specifically tracks 3 and 4—and subsequently through my newest batch of Turkish clarinet albums—Hüsnü Senlendirici's latest with the Greek Trio Chios, Bülent Kirpi Altınbaş' Buğu, Ömür Kücüker's Bir Ömür Klarnet and Turgay Özüfler's Made in Klarnet (thanks, Hakan Cezayirli!)—I recognized that my twin-class approach of vintage vs. modern 300Bs required a third segment if I meant to properly distinguish today's Shuguangs from my familiar Czech/Slovak contingent. I'd have to call these newcomers 'ultra resolution'. In that respect, they're actually more modern still than my other moderns. That's how cramming things into convenient little drawers gets you into trouble.
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Because I played clarinet for so many years, I'm tuned into the instrument to the bone. With the Treasure and Synergy valves, I knew more precisely what the artists were doing and how. Getting more specific won't be relevant to most except that anyone playing any instrument will appreciate this effect when hearing it played back over a hifi at a highly informative level. On the thin reeds necessary for the heavy vibrato, smears, glissandi, quarter-tone increments and occasionally high output Turkish and Greek clarinet playing requires, the Chinese bottles showed more of the control issues the performers applied to prevent their light reeds from getting screechy. Swapping in thicker reeds for cuts that would reach high G and above translated more succinctly into a reduction of upper harmonics. And so on.
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My triple 8"-woofered Tango speakers are so robust down low that the friskier upper end of these valves caused zero setbacks and really did translate into hearing more while inducing a quickening in the musical fabric. A maker of valve amps recently stopped by and crowned the Synergy valves his favorites. I'd concur but find the Treasures virtual stand-ins. When I call them 'ultra resolution', it's of course in the context of bandwidth-limiting output transformers and capacitor-coupled stages. My reference by contrast is the DC-coupled Nelson Pass F5 transistor amp. That shines a light on tone modulations and fine nuances of harmonic shifts which are generally beyond 300B amps. The Shuguangs bridge that gap. Calling them ultra resolution does not make them more resolved than a truly wide-bandwidth high-speed transistor amp. It simply makes them more resolved than the best of the Czech/Slovak 300Bs which themselves are more linear and dynamic than the softer vintage/classic 300Bs. On vocals, this effect was one of more deep-throatedness - sounding louder and more open without actually being any louder.
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What separates my ultra-resolution 300Bs from my standard moderns is half of what separates those from the vintage crowd. In other words, it's more appropriate to think of the Shuguangs as occupying a sub division within the modern class rather than creating a new class altogether. These Shuguangs will be the most appropriate for those who've always written off 300B SETs as too slow, soft and cuddly. Their sound is far more transistorized than Western Electrics yet still does that activated holography soundstaging at which the best SETs excel.
Conversely, today's bottles won't be ideal for the usual widebander speakers with their innate presence region lift or, nearly hardwired to your ears, for headphones that border on the strident, zippy and forward. Another variable is listener age and how it rolls off your HF perception. On that particular count, these Shuguangs could be—cough—the ultimate old goat weapon. Mahehe.
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Younger readers will smile condescendingly, those with bifocals appreciatively. There's a season for everything. Anyone with a full life will surely go through them all. It's simple smarts to acquire the right tools to properly assist our needs at the various stations. Think of this one as treble Viagra.
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Final conclusion: Expensive 300Bs from China - were it not for actual performance, the concept would have little traction. Happily sonics deliver against the best from the West. On perception cred, Emission Labs and EAT still win. Their glass is thicker, bigger and heavier, their tubes are less microphonic and the finish is superior. Their designer prices go hand in hand with designer quality. In the listening seat however, none of that matters. With the black treasures, you simply have to get over the brain freeze of £400+ (with VAT) for a pair of Sino valves. On actual manufacturing prowess and man-hour experience, Shuguang seems second to none. Upscale 300Bs are of course an extremely niche sector with very limited sales. No wonder the large-scale Shuguang operation never before bothered with valve designs that relied on even more specialized labor skills. Now that they have, concomitant stickers are to be expected. Luxury goods do rely on proper post-sale etiquette and support. Hence it was vital that Shuguang establish footholds in the West to service its Treasure Series customers. With one in the EU and one in Canada, that's in place. This should guarantee warranty issues, prompt order processing and fluent communications.
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As a valve fancier who has crossed over to the dark side of transistors, Shuguang's Treasure Series 300B-Z creates less difference or resolution loss without sacrificing the special holography virtues one expects from tubes. It's not a sound that will appeal to Shindo, Kondo or Leben lovers. If however you're into the general Nelson Pass FirstWatt transistor aesthetic and simply want a very focused helping of tube traits without trading too much on speed and transparency, then these 300Bs (in the right circuit) should have you covered. Incidentally, when I played the earlier mentioned visiting valve amp maker the FirstWatt J2 and challenged him afterwards with a "not bad for transistors, eh?", he very seriously retorted "those aren't transistors". Certain lines are blurring. From the other direction, Shuguang's 300B-Z acts as its own line eraser. To my ears that translates into really well done. |
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