Hello,
I do repair work for numerous audio companies including JoLida. I have owned JoLida equipment for the last fourteen years. Avoid any Electro-Harmonix tubes or any of their rebadged labels (Genalex, Tung-Sol, Mullard, Svetlana). All these labels were purchased by New Sensor and are nothing more than EH or Sovtek tubes. That in itself wouldn't be so bad if these tubes were reliable. But in the last couple of years I have seen an epidemic of failures in numerous brands of tube gear that use these tubes. Even JoLida is dropping their line of tubes except for the Tung-Sols. I am waiting to hear from Mike Allen if they are having any luck with these tubes. The ones I have used for the last dozen years are the SED Winged C power tubes. Whether you go with the EL34, KT88, or 6550C, I don't think you can find a better sounding and more reliable tube. For preamp tubes, I like the JJ brand. Their power tubes also sound good, but I have always had issues with their reliability. Forget the crap you hear about EH tubes. They have plenty of stooges that have been bought and paid for who swear by their tubes. They all fall in line and knock the competition, especially the original Chinese tubes that used to be supplied in the JoLidas but are far superior to the EH line. Well, that's my two cents on the subject. At least I can thank EH for keeping me busy with repairs.
Mitch
I do repair work for numerous audio companies including JoLida. I have owned JoLida equipment for the last fourteen years. Avoid any Electro-Harmonix tubes or any of their rebadged labels (Genalex, Tung-Sol, Mullard, Svetlana). All these labels were purchased by New Sensor and are nothing more than EH or Sovtek tubes. That in itself wouldn't be so bad if these tubes were reliable. But in the last couple of years I have seen an epidemic of failures in numerous brands of tube gear that use these tubes. Even JoLida is dropping their line of tubes except for the Tung-Sols. I am waiting to hear from Mike Allen if they are having any luck with these tubes. The ones I have used for the last dozen years are the SED Winged C power tubes. Whether you go with the EL34, KT88, or 6550C, I don't think you can find a better sounding and more reliable tube. For preamp tubes, I like the JJ brand. Their power tubes also sound good, but I have always had issues with their reliability. Forget the crap you hear about EH tubes. They have plenty of stooges that have been bought and paid for who swear by their tubes. They all fall in line and knock the competition, especially the original Chinese tubes that used to be supplied in the JoLidas but are far superior to the EH line. Well, that's my two cents on the subject. At least I can thank EH for keeping me busy with repairs.
Mitch