Need Kt88s Genelex? or Shuguang?


I'm looking to upgrade my Winged-C KT88s in my McIntosh MC275 and keep them as back-up. I was tending toward the Genelex which some recommend highly but have also read several reliability problem reviews. The Shuguang sound competitive.
Any suggestions? Which are more reliable? Which sound best?

Thanks.
jgiacalo

Showing 2 responses by drubage

I purchased a Shuguang 502B integrated amplifier from Pacific Valve. It comes equipped with Shuguang KT88-98 power tubes. After upgrading the coupling caps and beefing up the power supply it really put out some good sound but, I noticed a loss of resolution at the high frequencies. At a friends suggestion I replaced the KT88-98 tubes with the Genelex Golden Lion Rebuilds. This cleared up the high frequency response beautifully. I recommend spending a few extra bucks and buying the tubes from a dealer who actually matches them. However, I don't recommend buying anything from Pacific Valve. They misrepresented the features of the amplifier.
Quant100, The pictures posted on their website showed the volume control knob had a blue led on it to indicate it's position. The amplifier I received from them had no led. Shuguang did about 90% of a good job. The amplifier was advertised as having high end audio components. It does, now that I have replaced the cheap coupling caps with polyproplene caps and beefed up the power supply resistors with wirewound non inductive resistors. I was disappointed with Pacific Valve but not with the amp. With the upgrades to the components and tubes the amp performance is well worth the costs.