Shuguang 50CA10 tubes - any good?

[smurfer77]

Hi everyone. I've got a Luxman MQ60 amplifier with rare 50CA10 outputs. There are a couple of other Luxman amps using these tubes, but not many. Luxman had the tubes made by NEC especially for their amps. What makes them slightly unusual is their 50V heaters (pairs are wired in series over the 100V power supply transformer primary). Here is a bit of info on the tube

The NEC tubes are quite hard to find, and when they are available they command quite a price is they test well (or even if they don't)

Their is a reissue by Shuguang and several have suggested using this tube but I've yet to hear from someone who has actually used it themselves and would like to hear opinions comments from someone who has actually tried a set. Of course, it would also be good to hear general opinions/comments on Shuguang tube quality/reliability also.

 

[Kegger]

Well not much help here, I've never known about that tube till now, does look pretty cool!

But I have had good results with many Shuguang tubes for what it is worth..

 

[smurfer77]

Well not much help here, I've never known about that tube till now, does look pretty cool!

But I have had good results with many Shuguang tubes for what it is worth..

Thanks. Good to know how people feel about Shugaung in general. We should hopefully hear from someone using the 50CA10, if not from the Luxman community I hear there is also a good number of people using these in DIY amps...

 

[vinylkid58]

Thanks. Good to know how people feel about Shugaung in general. We should hopefully hear from someone using the 50CA10, if not from the Luxman community I hear there is also a good number of people using these in DIY amps...

I looked around the net for quite a while, and found two amps, neither of which had the Shuguang 50AC10's in them AFAICT. Of course, it's possible that all these diyer's don't post on line?

jeff

 

[jazbo8]

If you do a seach at Yahoo Japan and use Google Translate to read the texts, you will see that nearly all the Japanese users shy away from the Chinese-made 50CA10's due to poor quality control, then again, the Japanese audiophiles are an extremely picky bunch...

 

[Tubologic]

I'm afraid you'll never know if you don't try them yourself. This is a seldom used tube and statistical data's on the web are insufficient to be meaningful. Shuguang and most chinese tubes don't usually have good ratings on the web due to poor reliability and (lack of) quality control but they have improved since a few years. Also, you don't really have much choice as N.O.S 50CA10's of unknow origin may be troublesome too, if you ever find them. (and be prepared to pay high $$'s) Buy the Shuguang's from a reputable dealer with a good return policy and let us know your experience.