2. amps-preamps
  3. 1381392517

New KT150 tubes?

Has anyone any experience with these pretty new tubes. There are already one or 2 amps I know of, that use them. The review of one of these amps in a UK magazine suggested they were a little warmer and more natural sounding than the nearly new KT120's

The article also suggested they were a straight swap for KT120 based amps, with no adjustment necessary. They are more than twice the cost of KT120's, but still not too costly compared with NOS tubes. I know changing from KT88's or 90's to 120's. did require some amp modification. I have an ARC reference 75 and might want to try the new tubes at some point, ARC don't seem to have a customer E-mail service, to ask the question
david12
joeinid's avatar
joeinid
658 posts
 
Dakingat55,

Please keep us updated on how your amps are doing with the KT-150's. I'm too chicken to try them right now.

Thanks!
wolf_garcia
6,708 posts
 
The current heap of hot glass in my simple Jolida has been amazing me lately...the 150s seem to have settled in and sound so damn good I'm STOKED with them.
dakingat55
5 posts
 
Joeinid just want you to know that I'm having no issues at all.yesterday I had a lot of my audio friends and audio business contacts over to here the magic thats going on in my system.The amps were running for 5 hours,and pushed them to their limits a lot off that time,again no problems at all.everyone who was there had the same comments ,ie,best dynamics I ever heard ,totally grain free,the instruments,sound so full and rich,imaging and stage depth huge.I can honestly say going from kt120's to kt150's is the single biggest improvement i ever made in my system.ill try keep you up to speed thanks David
joeinid's avatar
joeinid
658 posts
 
David,

Thank you again. I appreciate your input very much and I am so happy you are enjoying the new sound. I have the ART monos and an ARTsa. I was also told no on the KT-150. I can't imagine them blowing up the amps but may affect ultimate longevity going forward. I have a small integrated that will accept KT-150's and plan on hearing them in that one first. Thanks again!
bifwynne
2,206 posts
 
FYI: ARC owners. I spoke with Chris Ossana from ARC on Monday about an issue involving the white Teflon caps in my Ref 5 SE and Ref 150.

During the course of the call, I asked Chris about the KT-150s ... again. Chris continues to tow the company line. Chris said that ARC engineering has NOT approved the KT-150s for use in the current Ref amps; only the "new" GS-150 amp.

No one could say they are a bigger ARC fan than me, but I am getting big time irritated by the approval lag. ARC has been life testing the KT-150s for well over a year. I admit that I am not a techie, but from what I can glean from the web, aside from a little more current draw, the "120s" and the "150s" spec almost identically.

Further, ARC's published GS-150 specs look almost identical to the published Ref 150 specs. I smell a marketing rat here.

Even still, I will not chance risking my amp until ARC sprinkles holy water on the KT-150s. But I am getting annoyed big time.

My KT-120s are ready for replacement. I already blew 2 bias resisters because an old tube arced. I would like to buy 2 quads of KT-150s from Upscale Audio but am waiting on ARC. As I said above, I smell a marketing trick to sell the "new and improved" GS-150 that specs identically to the Ref 150, but for the KT-150s.

Sorry for the cynicism.

Happy New Year.

Bruce
More to discover