No longer able to reliably secure Russian 5U4G tubes, we are now having our own made custom for Decware.



These 5U4G tubes were custom made to match the specifications of RCA 5U4G - ST bottle rectifier tube with the ribbed plates. We prefer getters on the bottom so that the top of the tube remains clear allowing you to easily see the heaters glow. We also specified black bases and thicker glass. These are custom manufactured for Decware by a Chinese factory called LINLAI.

Some background on LINLAI...

Psvane is derived from Shuguang. LINLAI™ is derived from Psvane. It is no surprise to see some similarities across their tube offerings, since the engineers are hopping from one employer to another. However, each brand has its own core offering.

Shuguang is dominant in the entry level tube segment serving the Hi-Fi tube amp manufacturing wholesale market and guitar amp wholesale market. However, Shuguang has been in shutdown mode since 2019 with the sale of its urban land to real estate developer, and new factory relocation / re-opening in Jan 2021 hasn't been confirmed. Will Shuguang return to tube production? This is a question to be answered and no one knows answer, since Shuguang is Chinese state owned.

Psvane has been active in Hi-Fi tube market and now is moving into producing small signal tubes (12AX7, 12AU7 etc) that fills the demand from the wholesale guitar amp market that left open by Shuguang. This diversification is likely to distract some of Psvane’s focus from the upgrade Hi-Fi tube market.

LINLAI™ – As a young and upcoming brand, but not new to high end tube design and production, is exclusively focusing on Hi-Fi market. It has introduced two innovative series – Elite E-series with “Moly plate” for ultra high end, and the other DG-series with “Overhung filament” structure for the affordable yet high performance segment. Sonic feedback from early adopters has been very positive, let alone its competitive pricing compared to other Chinese tube brands. LINLAI™ has successfully cannibalized into Psvane and Shuguang’s market share in domestic China. LINLAI™ also produce a range of black bottle tubes, and WE replica tubes.

-Steve Deckert

It looks good! It ‘s great to see that Decware is carefully selecting / designing or building every part of their products with so much attention.
Will this tube be sent with all Decware amps?

CCP, nuff said. Thanks for being forth coming with the origin.

Really looking forward to having some Decware brand tubes in my Torii! Fun to see Decware evolving.

Mine arrived today. The first hour has it adding a bit of warmth compared to the oem CSP3 rectifier; time burning in will give a better perspective. Physically it’s a very nice bottle shape and the gold logo adds a wee dash of panache.
Material played: tracks 2-4 Joshua Tree (30th anniversary release)

Cryotone offers a 5u4gb tube (https://www.wathenspeakers.com/store/p18/5U4GB-WC.html) for $156. That's 3 x Steve's price ... hardly a little bit more.

Lon, if a government messes with a company's business, which in turn messes with quality, that is audio related. Brad stayed within the lines. I think we can show a little, very little in this case, resilience.

Steve, thank you for obtaining a reasonable source for quality tubes.

it snowed yesterday. If I can get my gd hands on my order before I die...I'll be all set! For real.  :) Now on for a great Thanksgiving!.  [smiley=icqlite20.png]

Hey Mike,

What part of Montana are you living? I spent a fair amount of time in and around Missoula while my son went to college there.

It seems that DECWARE laid down the specifications for these, including thicker glass, copying the RCA 5U4G. I am sure that he required them to be designed to have a decent life span and sonics as well. Otherwise why put the DECWARE name on them?

Paul, what rectifier tube did you have previously?

What do you like about these better than the others?

Wow, good move! Though those two rectifiers are probably very similar, possibly made in the same factory, new rectifiers can make a profound difference in sound, and the sound should be more balanced as well.

Paul, with that DAC and those amps and good tubes you are not in "mid-fi" land! You have some very good gear, enjoy the sound!

Many might consider my set up mid-fi too, if this is based on entry price. If your system sounds good to you and makes you happy, who cares what some "expert" declares to be hi-fi?

I am sure there are things I could do to make my room sound better, but I am very pleased with my sound overall. I enjoy listening to music on it and think it sounds pleasing. Glad your system sounds good to you!

Personally I think those red-tipped tubes from Steve are the best of the type, and if partnered with a brighter rectifier can sound very good in the Zen amps. I find the 5R4 type a good match. To me it's all about the whole complement.

I thank everyone for their encouragement and help.

I feel very fortunate to have the items here.  Most is preowned by others but it is all loved in this house.

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That's what got me excited about this thread. Have been extremely happy and thankful with all of Deware's cables and power cords! Also with Steve's vendors. Enjoying all the Lii audio speakers and Cryotone tubes.

safebelayer, To answer your question the picture of tubes I posted are Shuguang Treasures they were in my preamp for months when one day they sound really bad. Replaced them and put them away. Next time I took them out noticed a big crack in the glass. That's why this thread caught my attention. If I knew back when I bought them that Shuguang was state owned would have passed on buying them.

Long story short my friend bought some F15s and a cheap amp from Amazon. Was letting him try out rectifiers he's into my RCA 5U4G. So I shared this thread with him. Trying to get a group to order some Decware amps and get on the waiting list. That let into a discussion that gave me a headache the other night.

Fast forward to today big game, friends over and the topic of this thread came up. Boy what a mess. Not going to share what I think. All I will say is my framed Decware T-shirt was removed from the wall and turned around. Not by me. Man what a headache and a little embarrassing. This was all fueled by outsiders not understanding the  "politics" and history of this forum. Going to stop there sorry. My opinions don't mean much. I'm on the live and learn program.

Personal note: To my friends. If you get into Decware great and if you join this forum please don't get political. Veiws, the definition of words and their intent were all posted by other members who are not official spokesmen of the company.

Proudly ordered two of Decwares 5U4G. What's the point of being a greedy capitalist if you can't spend money.

Okay Paul2, as I offered I have just packed some tubes up for you that will go in the mail today or tomorrow.

You will have new input tubes you can roll in your amps and preamps, and new output tubes that you can use in both amps (two pairs of the output tubes, same ones that Steve sends with the amps, though not ones that came from him, they were eBay buys).

You will have three  European NOS 7DJ8 tubes, two  GE "Smokey" 6DJ8, and two 5670 tubes with adaptors. This way you can experiment with different pairs in different positions.

Paul, that's a great opportunity.

Lon, 👍👍.

So would this be considered an upgrade over the psvane that come with my UFO 25? Should I be looking for nos or just buy one of these? I would like to have a spare on hand anyway, an upgrade would be a bonus.

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IMO you are better off with NOS vs current production. Others might disagree.

If you are unsure about how to buy a NOS rectifier here is a helpful thread:

https://www.decware.com/cgi-bin/yabb22/YaBB.pl?num=1605822949

If you want an excellent rectifier, with rock solid bass, delicate and extended highs and likely to last many years, go with the Cryotone 5U4GB-WC. It is that good.

https://www.wathenspeakers.com/store/p18/5U4GB-WC.html