First thoughts on the new Psvane Summit 300B's

[Synaxis]

I currently have the 6SN7's being warned up for some first impressions.

Here are my thoughts taken from my Facebook page posting from last week when I listened to their new 300B's in the Summit series. As a recap I recently heard their new Horizon 300B and felt it is the best sounding 300B in that very popular price range and a clear step forward from their previous series. I had posted this on Sunday morning while still a bit foggy from a late night listening session:

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Still shaking off the tube fog this morning…

Last night’s listening marathon left me a little slow, a little tired — and maybe a bit too well-acquainted with one too many adult beverages. But oh, was it worth it.

The showdown between the new @PSVANE Summit 300B and the legendary new production Western Electric 300B began in earnest — and what a journey it was.

I started with the Psvane Summit 300B’s loaded into the Finale Lab / Triode Lab 300B integrated. Coming off the intimate glow of the Aric Audio Systems 2A3, I had to let my ears recalibrate to the very different signature of the 300B.

But something didn’t feel right…

Swapped out my vintage Tung-Sol 6CG7’s for Westinghouse 6DT8’s — an improvement.

I traded the 1940's RCA 5T4 rectifier for a 1950's Italian Fivre 5V4 -that was a step backwards as the sound became a bit anemic. So back in went the RCA.

And still, the music felt… veiled. Emotionless.

Brought in the trusty Russian 6H30’s to replace the 6DT8's — NOW we’re talking.

After acclimating to that it was time for the next step - the big boys.

I switched in the Western Electrics — and suddenly it was a chess match of nuance.

The WE’s had that midrange magic, that intimate storytelling they’re known for. The Psvanes, though… offered more openness, reaching confidently into both ends of the frequency range. Not “less” midrange — but perhaps more balance across the board, creating a different kind of sound and emotion.

Next, I moved to the Brunoco 300B integrated — a $3,500 amp that could easily sell for double and still be worth it. No, it’s not at the level of the Finale Labs (which costs more than double), but make no mistake: this amp punches way, way, way above its weight.

I ran 1945 Raytheon 6SN7’s in it — tubes I know well — to stay focused on the 300B’s (I have Summit 6SN7's to try and I will but I wanted to focus on the 300B's last night). The comparisons mirrored what I heard earlier. The WE’s felt focused and intimate, while the Psvanes delivered a visceral, airy soundscape that was beautifully immersive and an engaging listen.

Takeaways?

- The Psvane Summit 300B’s are no joke. With only 6 hours on them, they’re already trading blows with Western Electrics — a Herculean feat.
- Give the Psvane's 24+ hours of burn-in and we may be looking at a new modern benchmark (I will be revisiting them soon after more burn in time on them).
- Tung-Sol 6CG7’s? You’re now for sale. Just not my cup of tonal tea.

And I still can’t get the magic of the Aric Audio 2A3 amp out of my head…and I'll go so far as to say I'm beginning to think I prefer 2A3's over 300B's.

Psvane - if you ever release Summit Series 2A3’s, I want to try them in the Aric Audio!

Amp manufacturers — consider offering the Summit as an upgrade. The bar just got raised.

More testing to come. But for now… my ears are full, my heart is happy, and the glow of last night lingers....and I have a lot of tubes I need to pick up and put back in their boxes.

(Taken from my FB post last week)

 

[Massimo66]

nice review, I hope you will continue to give us feedback as the tubes continue to burn in. From your description it seems like we are in front of some Takatsuki 300b that I love a lot

 

[Synaxis]

nice review, I hope you will continue to give us feedback as the tubes continue to burn in. From your description it seems like we are in front of some Takatsuki 300b that I love a lot

I certainly will. I'm burning in some cables through all week so the soonest I'd be able to listen is at least next weekend.

 

[Paul1960]

I haven't listened to them critically yet or compared them to my Kron Balloon 300B or EML Mesh 300B tubes in my Aric Audio Super 300B SET but so far I have been very pleased with these B-stock WE 300Bs that you can pick up for $400 a pair. https://www.tubedepot.com/products/western-electric-300b-b-stock. It would be very interesting to hear them compared to the A-stock WE tubes. When a friend lent me his pair I generally agreed with your characterization of them. The Kron Balloon 300Bs I compared them to shared that since of openness and extension that you heard in the Psvane tubes. Two very different sounds.

And for a while I owned a truly excellent 2A3 amp that was a one off from Apollo Audio https://apolloaudiosystems.squarespace.com/. That 2A3 had a wonderful sound that contrasted nicely with the thicker, richer quality of the 300B. If you have highly efficient speakers 2A3 amps can be truly excellent and the NOS tubes cost a fraction of what 300Bs do.

 

[Synaxis]

I haven't listened to them critically yet or compared them to my Kron Balloon 300B or EML Mesh 300B tubes in my Aric Audio Super 300B SET but so far I have been very pleased with these B-stock WE 300Bs that you can pick up for $400 a pair. https://www.tubedepot.com/products/western-electric-300b-b-stock. It would be very interesting to hear them compared to the A-stock WE tubes. When a friend lent me his pair I generally agreed with your characterization of them. The Kron Balloon 300Bs I compared them to shared that since of openness and extension that you heard in the Psvane tubes. Two very different sounds.

And for a while I owned a truly excellent 2A3 amp that was a one off from Apollo Audio https://apolloaudiosystems.squarespace.com/. That 2A3 had a wonderful sound that contrasted nicely with the thicker, richer quality of the 300B. If you have highly efficient speakers 2A3 amps can be truly excellent and the NOS tubes cost a fraction of what 300Bs do.

I'm fortunate enough to have Tobian 12FH speakers at 98db efficiency, so I routinely one a 2A3 amp and even a 45 amp. Then when I need high power I put on an 8 watt 300B or can go super-cray with a 15 watt 807! LOL.

 

[topside3]

Any update on the Summit 6sn7?

 

[dunkyboy]

Would also love an update on the Summit 300B now that they’ve burned in and you’ve had more time with them.

Duncan

 

[Synaxis]

Would also love an update on the Summit 300B now that they’ve burned in and you’ve had more time with them.

Duncan

I'll post an update post on both of them shortly. I usually post all the updates on my Facebook page and forget to come back here and share.

 

[adamaley]

Interested in impressions of the Psvane Summit 300bs from others as well. I'll need 4 pairs for my amps to replace EML XLS 300bs. Any specific comparisons to EML XLS will be very much appreciated.

 

[dunkyboy]

I’ve had the Summit 300Bs about a month now. In my system !they’re very good, and good value, though not as good as the top tier.

I have an Audio Note Meishu Tonmeister Sliver and have been using new production WE since I bought the amp 2 years ago. I had an epiphany a few months ago when I bought a pair of Horizon 300B out of sheer curiosity ($229 next-day delivery from Amazon!) I realized there was a mid-forwardness to the WEs that the Horizons cleared up nicely - they were nowhere near the WEs on technicalities, but I enjoyed the tonal balance more! They sound open and sweet and natural, closer to neutral than the WEs. So when the Summjts were announced I was pretty excited - Horizon tonal balance with WE technicalities??

Well, almost! Tonal balance is very similar to the Horizons and technicalities are… close but no cigar. The sound is open, natural, sweet, and very enjoyable. Resolution and precision of imaging are decent, but not quite there. There’s a softness, an indistinctness - the WEs by comparison are more detailed, more textured, and have more solidity of imaging.

To me, the tonal balance won me over - I’d take the slight sacrifice for that pleasing overall sound.

But then a pair of used Audio Note AN4300E showed up cheap and I couldn’t resist. By comparison, these are clearly better in every way than the Summits. Tonal balance is similar, but with more resolution, more heft and body in the lower mids, more sparkle up top, and more punch in the deep bass.

Of course the 4300Es are considerably more expensive (and currently hard to come by). So the Summits remain a great choice for the money.

Dunc

 

[Richard Austen]

I’ve had the Summit 300Bs about a month now. In my system !they’re very good, and good value, though not as good as the top tier.

I have an Audio Note Meishu Tonmeister Sliver and have been using new production WE since I bought the amp 2 years ago. I had an epiphany a few months ago when I bought a pair of Horizon 300B out of sheer curiosity ($229 next-day delivery from Amazon!) I realized there was a mid-forwardness to the WEs that the Horizons cleared up nicely - they were nowhere near the WEs on technicalities, but I enjoyed the tonal balance more! They sound open and sweet and natural, closer to neutral than the WEs. So when the Summjts were announced I was pretty excited - Horizon tonal balance with WE technicalities??

Well, almost! Tonal balance is very similar to the Horizons and technicalities are… close but no cigar. The sound is open, natural, sweet, and very enjoyable. Resolution and precision of imaging are decent, but not quite there. There’s a softness, an indistinctness - the WEs by comparison are more detailed, more textured, and have more solidity of imaging.

To me, the tonal balance won me over - I’d take the slight sacrifice for that pleasing overall sound.

But then a pair of used Audio Note AN4300E showed up cheap and I couldn’t resist. By comparison, these are clearly better in every way than the Summits. Tonal balance is similar, but with more resolution, more heft and body in the lower mids, more sparkle up top, and more punch in the deep bass.

Of course the 4300Es are considerably more expensive (and currently hard to come by). So the Summits remain a great choice for the money.

Dunc

I recently received my P3 Tonmeister and just installed a pair of Psvane Horizone 300Bs and replaced the rectifier with a NOS RCA 5U4G

So far, I like the boogie factor right out of the gate. I run an M6 Phono Balanced Preamp MKIII - essentially, roughly equal to a Konzertmeister. I was told that Peter recommends a rectifier that is bottle-shaped. What rectifier are you using? The RCA made a massive improvement with one of my other amplifiers (Kingko KA 101). I feel like the sound so far is more open, nimble and has better bass drive. However, I am also told that PSVANE requires a couple of hundred hours to become proficient. The Horizon is a relatively inexpensive tube, but I had heard great things about it, so I figured I needed a backup set anyway, so why not give it a try?

 

[dunkyboy]

I recently received my P3 Tonmeister and just installed a pair of Psvane Horizone 300Bs and replaced the rectifier with a NOS RCA 5U4G

So far, I like the boogie factor right out of the gate. I run an M6 Phono Balanced Preamp MKIII - essentially, roughly equal to a Konzertmeister. I was told that Peter recommends a rectifier that is bottle-shaped. What rectifier are you using? The RCA made a massive improvement with one of my other amplifiers (Kingko KA 101). I feel like the sound so far is more open, nimble and has better bass drive. However, I am also told that PSVANE requires a couple of hundred hours to become proficient. The Horizon is a relatively inexpensive tube, but I had heard great things about it, so I figured I needed a backup set anyway, so why not give it a try?

Yup, in the Tonmeister the rectifier makes a huge difference - to the point that I’ve found I sometimes have to re-roll the rectifier if I swap out the 300Bs, to re-tune the sound!

I’be found the best to be ST (bottle shaped) hanging filaments. Several companies made them, but the best I’ve found (with both the Psvanes and AN 4300s) are the 1950s RCA that have brown bases and sort of droopy-looking bottom elements - hard to describe! But I found the older 1940s ones with flat elements not as good.

These guys:

 

[dunkyboy]

I recently received my P3 Tonmeister and just installed a pair of Psvane Horizone 300Bs and replaced the rectifier with a NOS RCA 5U4G

So far, I like the boogie factor right out of the gate. I run an M6 Phono Balanced Preamp MKIII - essentially, roughly equal to a Konzertmeister. I was told that Peter recommends a rectifier that is bottle-shaped. What rectifier are you using? The RCA made a massive improvement with one of my other amplifiers (Kingko KA 101). I feel like the sound so far is more open, nimble and has better bass drive. However, I am also told that PSVANE requires a couple of hundred hours to become proficient. The Horizon is a relatively inexpensive tube, but I had heard great things about it, so I figured I needed a backup set anyway, so why not give it a try?

Oh, and if boogie factor is your thing, you have to get your hands on a pair of AN 4300Es! Boogie factor off the charts.

Dunc