Best current production KT-88 ?

[Raw Power]

for a'1975 DR-201 .

What's good ?

Thanks !

[mhuss]

There's so many available now and we haven't ever tried a lot of them. EH is even making a "Mullard" KT88, lol.

I got a set of JJ KT88s a while back that worked well for a while until one lost vacuum. No failures since, but I don't use that amp very often.

The Russian tubes (EH, Tung-Sol, Mullard) are generally rugged. The Tung-Sol KT120 is a higher-spec member of the family that works within the same parameters, and would be even sturdier. A lot of the HiFi manufacturers are using these now.

--mark

[Raw Power]

Thanks, Mark .. I wonder if I should maybe give the KT-120s a shot .

You haven't tried those, I guess ?

[mhuss]

I haven't tried the 120s (a little pricey for idle curiosity! ) - if you do end up trying them please give us some feedback.

[Dr.HI-TONE]

I tried the 120s about 4-5 years ago and they failed quickly.
The most rugged new production Kt88s in my experience are burned in and matched JJ's from Amplified parts or Eurotubes or the TAD chinese made tubes. I have used several quads of each.

I used to use the new gold lion (EH-russian) KT88, and while they sounded great they were too delicate to be considered reliable enough for HI-TONE use.