I have heard thd DA-60 with both tubes the EL-34 and the KT 88s but not for very long with the KT-88s. I can tell you we did a tube shoout out of EL 34s and then stuck in a very good brand of KT-88 (not genelex), And the amp sounded terrible but they needed to be broken in, to be fair in every way. It was all high end or low end and the high end wasn't even as good as the El-34s. In fact I have even heard it with 6650s but the amp hadn't been tuned up yet.
Springbok, trust me get some blue glass JJ- -34Ls or even the new JJ kt-77, Quest for Sound carries both he is an A'Gon dealer and nice guy. and you will be even more delighted with this monumemental beautiful amp, good luck and congratulations on getting the DA-88.
I wish I could afford the price of entry and roll your input tubes as well. E-mail Trelja privately for the best inputs tube that amp. I know which ones to use, but don't want to start a frenzy for them in fact I got Trelja some of them indirectly thru my source and he gave me some most precious tubes you can possibly get, he is a really great guy.
I completely agree the amp seems nore powerful than the modest claim of 60 watts. Virtually every 4 tube amp claims at least 30-40 watts but this amp claims its a pentode like most of the 40 watt,4 tube amps, but this amp has a total of 8 tubes, 4 per channel.
Both yours and Trelja's have those impressively massive transformers. In fact they the biggest I have ever seen. It should typically produce 80- watts in pentode with EL-34s and easily 100wpc with the 6550s or KT-88s. I think it is choked literally and technically. I bet you bench testing would show a much higher output than it claims.
The clean power seems endless. It never bloats the bass and I can tell you this. Trelja and I like our music at faily high volumes not rididiculous but 90Db+ would not be unusual. Get both the EL 34s which make beautiful music or the guttier and bassier KT-77s they make that amp sound even more powerfull than the KT-88s. Good luck.
