KT 88s - Gold Lion re-issue vs others


Can anyone comment on the Genelux Gold Lion KT88 (re-issues) vs the "Winged C" (SED) KT88s. They cost about the same, and I use the Gold Lions now. Any thoughts on whether I should bother trying the Winged C version? I don't feel like I'm missing anything, so really its just curiosity. I will say that I like control, nothing over-accentuated or artificially warm. Also see the EAT KT88 Diamond - that cost 5x as much... are there any who think they are in a different world of performance?

Cheers and thanks
hatari
Ditto the Gold Lions.They tightened up the bottom end on my amp a great deal.IME,changing the signal tubes netted a bigger change in the sound.
I have them both and have tried a few others as well. I like the Gold Lion reissues for robustness and warmth, relatively speaking. I like the SED KT88s for extension, treble clarity, and reliability.

I used the Gold Lions in a pair of deHavilland KE50A monoblocks, 2 per. I used the SED KT88s in an Air Tight ATM-2 and Cary SLI-80.

Currently, I'm using old stock Tung Sol 6550s in the KE50As, which sort of split the sonic difference between the new Gold Lions and SED KT88s.

JJ KT88s can be very clean-sounding and extended as well, but some find them hard on top. I didn't, but they weren't as reliable in my Air Tight as the SEDs. But neither were the Gold Lions, which blew up at an alarming rate in the Air Tight ATM-2. SED KT88s I found the toughest. The Air Tight threw huge voltages at start-up, and thus stressed tubes to an extraordinary degree.

The KE50As are very soft-starting, so the Gold Lions do very well in them.