Hello
I'm trading for a KT88 power amp ASL hurricane, it uses 4 KT88 tubes.
Which new KT88 tubes are the most popular?

Thanks

Oooh, lucky you, those are supposed to be great amps. congrats.

Electroharmonix KT88 are popular with those looking for a decent KT88 at a reasonable price. I have not yet tried them myself.

New Sensor's reissued Genalex Gold Lion KT88 are highly regarded by most. They are expensive at over $200 a quad. There is a small percentage of people that like to bash them for reliability issues, but those people seem to be the minority. I'd suggest buying from a dealer with a known reputation, and you can insist on a replacement in the unlikely event of an early failure. I have a set of these Genalex reissues in my Dynaco Mk3. I've had no problems, and feel they are excellent tubes.

I've heard very good things about the Genelex re-issue, including that they are superior to the originals (from some). I never pay too much attention to tube bashers in general. Most of the time, they have a different/better tube for sale.:D

The Penta Labs KT88 SC is a very nice sounding tube with good reliablity.

Nice pickup on the amp!

This is a case of "You get what you pay for". The market prices for KT88/6550 are set at what they are for good reason.

The best current production sounding tube is the Gold Lion re-issue. I had two of them short out internally, but the vendor (Jim McShane-A trustworthy gent indeed!) reckons they both came from a early production batch. I (and some others) also have had trouble with runaway (cherry plates), BUT, as long as the pin sockets are tight ensuring a proper connection, that should not be a problem. I have a working quad that sounds excellent.

However, having said that, NOS Tung-Sol 6550 are probably the best overall sounding. They exhibit a overall balance and smoothness that approaches a "you are there" sound that none of the other tubes can quite achieve.

NOS GE-6550A is also a good choice (if you can find it at a reasonable price).

I (and some others) also have had trouble with runaway (cherry plates), BUT, as long as the pin sockets are tight ensuring a proper connection, that should not be a problem.

Let me reiterate - this was not a tube problem, it was a tube to socket contact problem. It can happen with ANY tube.

The KT-88 Genalex reissues are outstanding!

Let me reiterate - this was not a tube problem, it was a tube to socket contact problem. It can happen with ANY tube.

The KT-88 Genalex reissues are outstanding!

Hi Jim,

I agree with you (to a point).

The reason I pointed out the runaway issue is that there have been reports/issues with this, and while it CAN happen to any tube, the averages of runaway with NOS US made tubes is less than with the current production tubes.


The main reason (I think) is that the NOS tubes were made to tighter tolerances. The probability of undersized/oversized pins with the new tubes is higher than with NOS. Heck, some of these tubes do not even have published specs to start with.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

The new Sensor Genalex Gold Lion KT88 have already been mentioned. Stop right there!

Second the Gold Lion KT88, but been hearing very good things about the Chinese Shuguang KT88-98, and they are around $35.00 less (matced pair) than the Gold Lion. According to Shuguang owners it is very musical with an open soundstage. Another good one in the same price range s the Shuguang is the SED KT88, aka "Winged C".

If you really want a tube that will blow your mind, then go for EAT's KT88-Diamond, at $1,395.00 per matched quarted you cannot go wrong.

http://www.euroaudioteam.com/pdfs/eat_kt88_hfn_0705_4web.pdf

http://www.euroaudioteam.com/pdfs/hifi+34_audio_smorgasbord.pdf

After personally hearing amps with EH's EL34, and EL84 I would stay away from them. They are an inexpensive tube, that sounds inexpensive, present sonic issues, and are not consistent; one set may sound very good, another set might sound awful.

If you really want a tube that will blow your mind, then go for EAT's KT88-Diamond, at $1,395.00 per matched quarted you cannot go wrong.

Have you tried them? To date, I haven't heard any first hand reports from owners of these fantastically expensive tubes.

Second the Gold Lion KT88, but been hearing very good things about the Chinese Shuguang KT88-98, and they are around $35.00 less (matced pair) than the Gold Lion. According to Shuguang owners it is very musical with an open soundstage. Another good one in the same price range s the Shuguang is the SED KT88, aka "Winged C".

If you really want a tube that will blow your mind, then go for EAT's KT88-Diamond, at $1,395.00 per matched quarted you cannot go wrong.

http://www.euroaudioteam.com/pdfs/eat_kt88_hfn_0705_4web.pdf

http://www.euroaudioteam.com/pdfs/hifi+34_audio_smorgasbord.pdf

After personally hearing amps with EH's EL34, and EL84 I would stay away from them. They are an inexpensive tube, that sounds inexpensive, present sonic issues, and are not consistent; one set may sound very good, another set might sound awful.


Interesting observation. Just a couple of points:

1) For what the EAT tubes cost, one could obtain NOS Tung Sols cheaper, and I would think that would be a better investment. I think the EAT tubes need to come down in price to around 100.00 per tube to be taken seriously.

2) THe EH tubes are made at the same factory as the Gold Lion re-issues. The EH KT88 has a similar plate structure to the gold Lion. Perhaps the QA on the Gold Lion is better?

Personally, I wouldn't be willing to stick any EAT tubes into my amplifiers. After seeing their heat-sinked ECC88s, sold in a box filled with easter bunny nest grass, I feel they may lack credibility ;)

How many quads of metal based GE 6550's can you get for $1400?

2) THe EH tubes are made at the same factory as the Gold Lion re-issues. The EH KT88 has a similar plate structure to the gold Lion. Perhaps the QA on the Gold Lion is better?

I believe most will agree that "binning" is common practice in many industries. However, I'd think it would be tough for them to cull out the highest performers and label them "Gold Lion", while the rest go on to be mere KT88EH. For one thing the KT88EH lack the side getters and have black bases instead of brown. I don't know how you could test the performance of the tube until it was fully assembled, and by that time it would be too late to add or remove getters. It'd probably be tough to change out the base, too. I think the KT88EH also has the third mica spaced slightly higher than the Gold Lion.

All that said, I'm sure they share a lot of whatever "technology" the manufacturing plant has available.

Interesting observation. Just a couple of points:

1) For what the EAT tubes cost, one could obtain NOS Tung Sols cheaper, and I would think that would be a better investment. I think the EAT tubes need to come down in price to around 100.00 per tube to be taken seriously.

2) THe EH tubes are made at the same factory as the Gold Lion re-issues. The EH KT88 has a similar plate structure to the gold Lion. Perhaps the QA on the Gold Lion is better?

From everything I've read and seen, the EAT KT88s are selected and rebranded Tesla-Vrsvoice (sp) KT88s. The EATs look identical to the Teslas I've had in my hands. Last I heard, Tesla was no longer producing the KT88 due to difficulity in maintaining quality control (and maybe business issues). If so, EAT is now working off what amounts to NOS inventory. I doubt they'll be coming down in price any time soon and may even increase as stock dwindles.

Since EAT has demonstrated they can get a premium price for something like this, I'll bet they're looking hard for a suitable replacement from current producers.

The ones I use are the reissue Gold Lion KT-88s. They will last a long time and sound wonderful. The man to go to is Jim McShane. He fully tests what he sells and more importantly stands behind them.

Another power tube would be the SED 6550C's.

Have you tried them? To date, I haven't heard any first hand reports from owners of these fantastically expensive tubes.

Being sarcastic...Apparently they are the real stuff, but again at that price they better be. You will not catch me buying tubes that expensive.

2) THe EH tubes are made at the same factory as the Gold Lion re-issues. The EH KT88 has a similar plate structure to the gold Lion. Perhaps the QA on the Gold Lion is better?

As has been mentioned, the base and the gettering are different between the two tubes.

And the grid and screen windings are different as are the winding materials, and the cathode chemistry is different. And there may be extra steps taken to improve the build process as well.

I've said this a million times before - JUST BECAUSE A TUBE LOOKS ALIKE DOESN'T MEAN IT'S THE SAME TUBE!! RCA 12AX7, 5751s, and 12AU7s look alike - are they the same tubes? GE 5965 and large plate 12AX7s looks alike - are they the same tube? Westinghouse 6V6GTs and 7591As look alike, are they the same tubes? Many EL84s and 6GK6s look alike, are they the same tubes? I could go on, but I hope I made my point.

Did you know in the old days tube plates, internal supports, cathode sleeves, etc. were often bought from an outside, third-party vendor? The same plate maker "X" bought for the 12AX7 worked just fine with the 12AU7, so they used one for both. Use of a single part in multiple tube lines was perfectly fine as long as the tubes performed well. So Saratov/New Sensor uses a common plate structure for both KT-88s. It's happened many times before!

The EH and Genalex are not the same tube - even though they use some common parts - and no amount of speculating will change that fact.

I've said this a million times before - JUST BECAUSE A TUBE LOOKS ALIKE DOESN'T MEAN IT'S THE SAME TUBE!! RCA 12AX7, 5751s, and 12AU7s look alike - are they the same tubes? GE 5965 and large plate 12AX7s looks alike - are they the same tube? Westinghouse 6V6GTs and 7591As look alike, are they the same tubes? Many EL84s and 6GK6s look alike, are they the same tubes? I could go on , but I hope I made my point.

To add to this comment, the EL84-M and EL84-STR are almost identical. Actually TAD advertises the STR as having the same durable construction as the M with some internal upgrades. But, sonically they are not the same. This is TAD's description:

"The all new TAD EL84-STR tube combines the best of both worlds. We chose the thickest glass option and heaviest construction like the Russian EL84M tube and sonically most promising cathode and plate option to meet and exceed the tonal quality of the JJ/Tesla EL84 tube. Finally we added the gold grid wire to limit stray characteristics and to improve overall reliability. The result is the best EL84 tube currently produced. No compromise!"

My guess is that once my JoLida burns in, I'll be getting a set of Gold Lion Genelex KT88's. Everything i heard about them is they are outstanding. The store where I bought my JoLida sings their praises at every opportunity.

Being sarcastic...Apparently they are the real stuff, but again at that price they better be.
Maybe so. At that price, I should be able to afford a little sarcasm. :D

Just by chance, looking for info to mod my Jolida JD802a CDP, I found a company called Bella Music, or something like that, based in NYC. They are dealers for various tube amps manufacturers, among the Jolida, Shanling, etc.

Reading their website they have a part where they recommend tubes based on their experience. They highly recommend the Chinese tubes I mentioned in my first post.

I saw that site, too...sounds like they know what they are doing from a lot of experience with JoLida products.