Before purchasing I also checked the reviews etc and also on this forum/site I saw the unreliable tubes, glowing, noises, burned resistor, capacitor shorted etc. For any product this is a curve you will go through but I wondered if every issue is solved in a preventive way, Eg. every unit sold now does have the right quality tubes, the mentioned resistor failure is understood and corrected in a redesign (or part change) same for the capacitor. All this would rebuild the confidence for potential new buyers like me…
Hi Arno,
Welcome and thanks for the difficult question.
When you buy a PS-100 you are buying a well engineered product. Built in to the question is an assumption that there are designs flaws, I don’t think this is the case. And I am a test equipment nerd that agonises over all tiny details for a design. As does Steve and all at Fryette. On the forum you will find people posting issues. But what you are not seeing is the much larger number of people that have no problems at all.
I have a PS-100 it is not noisy at all.
You are right about the tubes. But even then it affected a small fraction of units. We have worked with the tube manufacturer to improve their QA process and also updated our QA process too. The quality of tubes now shipping meets our expectations.
We offer 90 day tube warranty and 5 year warranty on the hardware and will always assist you if you have problems. We are all players too after all and want you to forget about gear and just enjoy making music.
Hi Dan,
Perfect explanation. Expected that background with respect to the tubes but the resistor/cap kept buzzing in my head. Not knowing where these are in the schematic I can only assume these are in the tube path and when a not so good tube is on the edge or beyond it could drag a component with it.
Anyhow thanks for the answer and big compliments for the concept, the product and the level of experience and mastering the knowledge that I grabbed from multiple youtube interviews.
Received my PS100 including footswitch…tried it…and this is amazing…it drives you with the vibe when you normally turn up your amp to the sweet spot…but without ear damage…Thanks!!!
Hey Arno!
It’s great when people come back with this kind of news! Normally we get a happy silence
Hi Dan, it does confirm the many raving reviews on Youtube. The sound quality should have that certain “Mojo” that convinces the subconscious and that you grab the “Vibe” to play with inspiration (instead of faking it is the same as the real deal but one actually knows it’s the “plastic” replica ). What is the brand of tube that you recommend as the best to have as spare part?
Hi Arno,
Great to hear all this
See here about the tubes,
From years building (hifi/guitar) tube amps I recognise the solid JJs and usually Sovteks were the next runners up whereas Psvane I would only use in HiFi amps (too delicate and high selected quality. I can imagine that if a super high voltage (but still within spec) voltage is applied, certain brands struggle with internal sparks occassionally…but they could also get less over time
Hey Arno
I’m not actually sure of the reasons, but I’m pressed with you knowledge. You should post some of your creations some time
Hi Dan, can share some photo’s for the flavour of it, mainly hifi stuff. Guitar amps were a lot of modifications and some builds from scratch in the past
Good grief Aron, are you broadcasting AM?! What is valve is this?
300B…good linearity about 7W output…so one needs a (horn)loudspeaker to make it work
Hi Dan, a thing I wondered about, how is the bias done in the PS100? Fixed or with an adaptive active circuit? Just for my understanding what it means to deal with different brands and/or tubes
Hi Arno,
Yes, it’s fixed bias. There is a pot to tweak bias settings if needed. We usually recommend replacing tubes based on the anode current rating.
Is the user allowed to adjust the bias and are there instructions?
Hey Arno,
No we don’t support that, that’s why we specify the plate current, but actually any matched pair will work. I was just mentioning the bias pot to explain how it works at the factory.
Makes total sense! Does the unit have something like a slow ramp for the filaments? I don’t expect there is a delay in switching on the high voltage like an (automatic) standby, correct? So at least it is wise to wait minute after switchin on before blowing a high signal through it I expect
For the Power Station, Steve’s recommendation is exactly that. Let the tubes warm up a bit before going to Operate. The same way you would treat your guitar amp.
I believe this feature is planned for future products that have microcontrollers inside