Anyone have experience with the Tung Sol 7581a vs. EL34, KT66, KT88, 6L6


I broke down and added another power tube (Tung Sol 7581a) to my collection.  That can get expensive as my Primaluna Dialogue HP Premium integrated has 8 power tubes.   

Why has this tube escaped me thus far?  Why is it not more popular?   Many folks don't sell this reissue tube.  

I think this is a great deal.  I was torn between the lush, thick midrange of the EL34 and the more evenly spread out sound of the KT88.  But the KT88, for all its more correct behavior didn't romance me like an EL34.  

The 7581a from Tung Sol can be had cheap and I really like them.  [I'll spare you all the audiophile terms].  They check the boxes that I was looking for. 

Does anyone have experience, information or knowledge about this splendid tube?  

PS  The next experiment is KT150s but I can't see doing it if I'm gonna lose any of that great EL34 midrange. 
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Showing 1 response by gpdavis1

Ran GL KT88s in my Cary Rocket 88 but missed the wonderful mid's of  EL34s. Rolled in a set of the Tung-Sol reissue EL34s and the magic is back. However, I purchased as my 'back-up' tube set and they are 'on-the-shelf' as I've rolled in a quad of GL KT77s, which, as stated above, are the creme-de-la-creme of EL34s. They were the 'keepers' in my previous CJ amp and same in the Cary. But, based on the theory (never disproven) that one cannot have too many tubes, I want to try a set of the reissue Tung-Sol 7581As. Failing that, I'll go with their 6L6GC-STR.