PSVANE Horizon Series 6SL7-AT Vacuum Tube Amplifier Matched Pair (2 PACK)

PSVANE Horizon Tube ReviewPSVANE provided a few sets of their new Horizon series vacuum tubes for review as I was looking for some new production tubes for two of my headphone tube amplifiers and thought these would be a great choice. My two amplifiers are a Woo Audio WA6 and a DIY Aegis. I'm more interested in new production tubes as they are typically more cost effective, readily available, and less likely to have technical issues. Though I do have a few NOS tubes and do love some of the characteristics of a nice vintage tube. In general, the Horizon tube build quality is fantastic with a metal base, the new HPC-T coating and clean screen printing. They ship in a standard light-bulb style cardboard box that feels more solid than the thin boxes you get with a lot of the other brands like JJ or Tung-sol. I had the screen printing rub off on one of my EL34's, but I think that's because I removed the tube while it was still quite warm and this likely caused the smearing of the print. I let all the tubes burn in for 2-3 days before I did any critical listening.PSVANE Horizon EL34-ATThese tubes are my absolute favorite power tubes for my Aegis. I was previously using a set of JJ EL34's, and they were fine but the Horizon EL34's immediately brought more power (loudness), speed, and impact without getting soft or boomy like some of the KT88's I've tried. You don't get as much space or bottom heft like a KT88, but I prefer the more solid-state like sound of the Horizon EL34's as they pair better with almost every input tube and rectifier I've tried with them. I find myself leaving the Horizon EL34's in more often than any other power tube I've owned. My favorite pairing with these EL34's are the Tung-Sol 6SL7 input tubes, and the JJ GZ34 rectifier and the RCA JAN 5R4GY rectifier. The Horizon EL34's have a very clear resolution, plenty of detail and a smoother presentation than the JJ EL34's. I feel they're also a great value at under $100 for a set of these. The only other power tubes I found that compete with these are the much more expensive NOS EL39's (w/ adapter), at more than double the price. I plan to continue using the Horizon EL34's for the foreseeable future and highly recommend them for any setup.PSVANE Horizon 6SL7-ATThe PSVANE Horizon 6SL7-AT input tubes are fantastic in my Aegis when paired with the right power tubes. I initially paired them with the Horizon EL34's, but I found the sound from the Horizon 6SL7 input tubes to be a bit lean and bright, though more resolving and detailed compared to the Tung-sol 6SL7's I was using previously. When I swapped out the EL34's for the KT88's, the Horizon 6SL7's more detailed and resolving nature paired great with the heftier and bigger sound of the KT88's. The Horizon 6SL7's also paired well with the softer and more forgiving JJ EL34's and the NOS EL39's as well. They were almost agnostic to whatever rectifier tube I was using and provided the same great sound with all rectifiers tested. So I would recommend a bigger, bottom-filled power tube pairing with the Horizon 6SL7's if you're looking to add that hyper-detailed, highly resolving sound to your tube amp. Reminds me of what a high-end ESS dac does to the overall presentation - crystal clear accuracy and transparent without adding any coloration.PSVANE Horizon KT88-ATThe PSVANE Horizon KT88-AT power tubes are incredible with the right setup and pairing. I immediately tested them with the Tung-sol 6SL7 and a JJ GZ34 rectifier and the KT88's gave the sound more weight, space and thump. The sound presentation felt like there was a little elevation in the mid-bass extending into the bass region by a few dB's and the sense of size in the staging sounded expansive. These KT88's gave the bass hits more impact, though there was a softness and slowness to the hits. I lost a bit of that EL34 speed but traded for more weight. I really enjoyed the KT88's when paired with the Horizon 6SL7's as these input tubes brought back some of the detail and resolution where the KT88's had a softness about them. The KT88's are picky when it comes to rectifier pairings. I found the KT88's paired best with the JJ GZ34, and the Mullard GZ34, but not so much with a 274B as that setup got a little too boomy, soft and slow for my music tastes. Highly recommend the Horizon KT88's when paired with detailed, and fast input and rectifier tubes.PSVANE Horizon 274B-ATI initially tested this with my WA6 headphone amp and the Horizon 274B was excellent with every tube pairing I tried. It was super resolving, big sounding, and plenty of space with the Pro/Comm 6FD7 tubes and had the exact same affect with the 6FW7 input tubes I tried as well. This rectifier was a massive upgrade from the Ruby 5AR4 tube I had, and on-par with the Sophia Mesh Plate 274B tube I had at more than double the price. I didn't like the Horizon 274B tube with my Aegis, but I think that has to do with the amp and not necessarily the tube. At less than $100 for this 274B, this is a crazy good value over things from Sophia Electric. I compared the Horizon 274B to the stock Electron 274B tube and the difference was insane. The Electron 274B tube sounded thin, muddy, lacked detail and sounded small compared to the Horizon. If you have this Electron tube, the Horizon would be a huge upgrade for not a lot of money. And if you're considering a more expensive Sophia, I would give this a try first as I think you're getting the same performance for much less.

When I first got them I wasn't sold on them but after about 50 hours of use they sound very good. They are replacing my Sylvania NOS.I use them with my Willsenton R8 and a Willsenton 800i 845.

The PSVane Horizon line seems to be plagued by inconsistencies and quality control issues. I tried several pairs of the Horizon tubes and returned some of them. The sound for some was OK, for others was mediocre, the micas were not aligned properly in some and once I received the wrong tubes in the right box and so on.The 6SL7 pair in this review looks great and that is the only good thing about it. After 5 minutes of use one of the tubes developed this loud hum that made me switch the amp on and off a few times and swap all the tubes. I thought initially that this is a problem with one of my amp sockets. The hum was traced quickly to one of the 6SL7s because it was following the tube.Probably the fact that Amazon ships these tubes with no protection in envelopes does not help the issue.I see that the tubes have otherwise good reviews. Unfortunately they did not work for me and because of my experience with the poor quality control of some of the other Horizon tubes, I cannot recommend. Too inconsistent.

These 6SL7 deliver what the stock tubes and the Tung Sols couldn’t. Smooth, rich, dynamic sound without the sibilance. These Horizon tubes sound great out of the box and pair well with the Psvane KT88-T MKII and CV181-T MKII 6SN7 I have in the R8.

Willsenton R8

Just got these to install in my Willenston R8. I replaced the stock Willenton provided 6SL7s and the difference was immediate. Tighter lows and a more articulate mid-range. Treble is not strident but gets close at times. I am pleased with this purchase and would recommend.