Tube rolling in Cayin A-88T

Audiolverb..Thanks for your insight.

Soniqmike... Sorry that you may have to sell it..though I understand your point here. Another read of a thread somewhere mentioned that the EH tubes were not as good as stock.. and I always found the EH tubes very good in any amp I used.

Now,the New Tung Sol 6550 is said to be a better tube in the mids. Does it match the bass in the Cayins stock Kt-88?

Im assuming your speaking of the Svet =C= winged C tube. that you liked. I think Id rather have the mids of the Tung Sol as long as it doesnt suffer on the bass....Many thanks.

Thanks Mike! Yes indeed. Been around many amps over the years and always seem to find that well designed modest power tube integrateds offer the nicest sound. My other favorite was the Manley Stingray, which does well by the music with a punchy mid bass and smooth highs. The A-88T is much better in resolution and has better image and soundstage abilities, as well as deeper bass with the Kt-88's. The level of refinement of the sound is amazing, especially concidering its sub 2K price.. Seamless and coherent driving my Usher 6371's.

I took your advice and scored both quads of the Tung-Sol and Svet Winged "C" Kt-88's..It should keep me tuned in for awhile. The Cayin 17A CD is also another nice piece. Highly resolving and dynamic without glare or artificial edge, which I distain about digital. Only the Rega Apollo did this as good, but doesn't have quite the Dynamics of the 17A. Im trying some 1972 vintage orig. Tesla Mil. Spec. E88CC in the player which should out do the stock Russian 6922 EH.

Overall, Cayin is highly musical and complete in its portrayal of the music, which suits me very well!....Ken

Kag,

I got the biasing info from Steve at Vas Audio in NJ. Seems relatively simple. Bias point of 0.4V (40mV) per tube. Clark at Acoustic Sounds was nice enough to have Vas Audio send the info to me. I will definately check bias and make sure the Tung Sols are set properly.

Ive had new tubes show 0 readings too. I have had more trouble with Ei tubes than others. The KT-90 TypeIII are notoriously bad for QC issues.

From what Clark says..he hears that the new re-issue Tung-Sols are wondeful in this amp, but take a bit of time to open up. Ill get back to this thread after they are in for awhile//Ken

Kag,

Haven't rolled the input tubes as yet. I have experience with the RCA grey glass VT-231 GT tube from the 50's. I thought it was definately a smoothie, but I actually liked the linearity of the stock EH tubes in my former Cary amp. The Cary definately needed the EH to sound alive. The RCA in the Cayin may be indeed a nice sound as you mentioned.

Ive yet to hear harshness from the Cayin with anything Ive played, except those discs/LP's known to be so.I recently played some trumpet from Rick Braun(Full Stride) and Chris Botti( A Thousand Kiss...) and man they sounded excellent!

Perhaps the RCA/Tung Sol combo would be very good together.

One thing to keep in mind is that the amp/speaker interface is all telling as well as you know.. It's likely the reason why you may have NOT heard the harshness with the Primare.

On my Ushers, if anything, I have a sound presentation that is more relaxed, yet very dynamic with the Cayin. I found that the 4 ohm tap didnt work as well as the 8 ohm tap and by a big margin. The 4 ohm limiting the dynamics and bass. And the Ushers are 4 ohm nominal

maybe try the 8 ohm tap if not being used would also be a suggestion. You shouldn't need the 16 ohm tap unless your speakers are rated as such or very high ohm/hi-sens types.

Just a thought.

Hoping the Tung-Sols arrive here soon!

As a aside note: When I ordered my 88T from AS's..I spoke with Clarke who recommended going with the KT-88 version. He thought it sounded better amp for amp and the 6550 version comes with EH 6550's.FWIW.

Great sound with VH Audio Flavor 4 cord. I think this cord works well with many components. Im very impressed with it on both this amp and my Cayin 17A CD.

I've tried all the taps and definately prefer the 8 Ohm. In my system the 4 Ohm limits the dynamics, bass..everything is flat sounding. The 16 Ohm is a bit bright..8 Ohm perfect! I listen exclusively in UL mode. The Triode less coherent and < dynamic overall.

Just biased some Re-Issue Tung Sol 6550's and they sound very good indeed. Bass is not quite as prodigious as the stock tube.. being somewhat less focused, but the mids are more lush with a nicer top end IMO.. A Very listenable tube/ Im sure they need to break-in for a time.