KT88s...the final chapter

Audiophobe, how much higher ma setting did you go to make them sound good? Thank you.....Frank

At Upscale Audio we have sold them all...and it depends on the amp. You have tobe careful when talking to dealers about "whats best". I had a customer tell me that suddenly the Svetlana KT88 was "not as good as it was" according to another dealer. I asked this customer if that dealer had them available. Guess what.He didn't.

There is no doubt the GEC KT88 was king of that type. And the same for the Tung-Sol 6550. And we have nice stocks of them. But I cannot tell a guy that they are worth the money. The guy that has to think twice about laying down that kind of jack may want to spend his hard earned bucks elsewhere.

As to the Slovak KT88...I will not sell them anymore. They are trouble. Anyone who knows anything and is honest will tell you that. I was one of the first people in the U.S to get my hands on some...and have tried three "revisions" and still don't trust them. They have blown up tha amps of customers that I care about. It's not worth it.

If you have an ARC or Sonic Frontiers or any amp with no plate fuse,the safest bet and most predicatable tube is Svetlana 6550C and KT88. There were disruptions that caused shortages...and in the meantime folks tried to sell off the brand regardless of if it was in the customers best interest.

Have you considered the JJ KT-88?

I HAVE HEARD SOME NASTY THINGS ABOUT THESE TUBES.

Well here is what Ive found, for my amps at least the SF Power 3's SF now is not recommending the Svetlana Kt88's due a high failure rate. They run the tube at a plate voltage of approx 540volts. They like the Sovtek Kt88's...I myself have purchased a set of EIKt90s. 2 sets of Sovtek kt88's and 2 sets of Valve Art Kt88's. I just recd the Sovteks and the Kt90s and rolled in the kt90s....so far so good, but its only been 3 hours. I am most intrigued at hearing the Valve Art, as SF has high priases for their 300B tube and one other they are using. The person I bought the Valve Arts from said there is a newer rugged Kt88 (3rd generation) which was designed for Jadis which have a thicker anode and thicker glass. Many people ive talked to have said nice things sonically about this tube with the only drawback being reliability..with this new Generation, lets hope that variable has been eliminated.