KT 88 and EL 34 lovers ?

Paul

Paul

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I've been listening to tube amp's lately and I've been really enjoying them over SS.

Since we've been discussed the 300B's by Steve I wonder if there are any KT88 and EL34 lovers out there.

Would you share your thoughts ?

Yes , I'm still in love with my MC275's and these babies able drive anything so far without any failure. ( No problem with even low as 83db speakers)

b0185744_1819566.jpg


I'm very interest in the VAC Sigma 160i- Any opinion on sound and power ? I heard they can drive the Magico S1 and Tannoy with ease.

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and EL34....I love the romantic sound the EL34 amps produce....What is your favorite ? I would love to pair them with my BBC monitor.

i-manley-snapper.jpg
 
paul your making me sad as i just sold, packed up and shipped out my snappers on thursday. i already miss them. but i can tell you the manley sound is very untube like for tube amps. first off 100 tube watts is very big and can drive anything. the el34's it runs ,which in other amps i heard are very sweet and pretty sounding. but in he snappers they are a little powerful and lean towards a solid state sound i always felt. it was the first el34 amps i ever owned. they are great amps and i thoroughly enjoyed my time with them but i never felt they were permanent.
all my experience before that, was with kt88 amps, as the Jas integrated i had was a 55w kt88 amp, and i had 2 bat vk60's and a vk75. all ran kt88's and 6sn7's and were also very powerful amps. a single vk60 ran several pairs of different speakers(10 or12 pairs) from the very inefficient 85db platinum solos to the very efficient coincident super eclipses.
anyway i bought 300b's but i love all tube amps. and both types that ive owned had their strenghts and weaknesses. as im sure the 300b's will. i think very important to the right tube amp is complimenting them with the right preamp. maybe even more important than the speaker as long as you have enough power to run them.
and remember TUBES RULE!!!!
 
Paul,
I am a fan of both EL34 and KT88's. But I prefer the tone richness of the EL34.
I would not say no to an other pair of 275's in my system though. :D
I have had 275's, 2301's, Snappers.
I am now left with the CCQ, also using EL34's.
 
Paul - I prefer EL34's. In my opinion, 845, 211, 300b and EL34 represent the four most tube like sounding tubes....if that makes any sense. Kt120's are on the opposite end, along with KT90's and KT88's somewhere in the middle. Check out the CARY CAD 211 FE's. They have three of the four tubes representing the most tube like sound IMO and have plenty of power (which is impressive for this type of tube amp). They are very special amps.

I just sold my VAC phi200 amps (same sound as the i160) and to give you an idea, the McIntosh 601's sounded much more tube like. I liked the VAC's, but they needed super clean AC lines and lots of tube rolling to nudge them only one notch more toward traditional tube like sound. They did have great bass though. But were very neutral in sound....not romantic if you will.
 
Of course each particular type of tube has it's own sonic signature, but I think what's most important is how each amp is made to work with whatever tube it has been assigned. I'm partial to EL34's because of the rich midrange they bring forth but now that I'm using 845's as my power tubes I'm very happy with them. They give me the liquid mids of the EL34 with the punch of a heartier tube. I can use EL34's, 6V6's, KT88's etc... in the driver slot of my amp and so far like the 6V6 the best. I get all that the EL34 delivers with a bit more bottom end which in my case is helpful. I should be be getting some KT88's shortly to try out though.
 
dlb2 said:
Of course each particular type of tube has it's own sonic signature, but I think what's most important is how each amp is made to work with whatever tube it has been assigned. I'm partial to EL34's because of the rich midrange they bring forth but now that I'm using 845's as my power tubes I'm very happy with them. They give me the liquid mids of the EL34 with the punch of a heartier tube. I can use EL34's, 6V6's, KT88's etc... in the driver slot of my amp and so far like the 6V6 the best. I get all that the EL34 delivers with a bit more bottom end which in my case is helpful. I should be be getting some KT88's shortly to try out though.
Click to expand...
will kt88's change the wattage your amp puts out? if so then it would be great for you until you upgrade to those bad bears in your avatar. :woot:
 
Petro85 said:
will kt88's change the wattage your amp puts out? if so then it would be great for you until you upgrade to those bad bears in your avatar. :woot:
Click to expand...

The power tubes, 845's, still dictate the output power so I still get 22w no matter what is in the driver tube section. The driver tubes can be swapped to change the flavor a bit.

And those are monkeys, not bears!:peace:
 
Petro85 said:
paul your making me sad as i just sold, packed up and shipped out my snappers on thursday. i already miss them. but i can tell you the manley sound is very untube like for tube amps. first off 100 tube watts is very big and can drive anything. the el34's it runs ,which in other amps i heard are very sweet and pretty sounding. but in he snappers they are a little powerful and lean towards a solid state sound i always felt. it was the first el34 amps i ever owned. they are great amps and i thoroughly enjoyed my time with them but i never felt they were permanent.
all my experience before that, was with kt88 amps, as the Jas integrated i had was a 55w kt88 amp, and i had 2 bat vk60's and a vk75. all ran kt88's and 6sn7's and were also very powerful amps. a single vk60 ran several pairs of different speakers(10 or12 pairs) from the very inefficient 85db platinum solos to the very efficient coincident super eclipses.
anyway i bought 300b's but i love all tube amps. and both types that ive owned had their strenghts and weaknesses. as im sure the 300b's will. i think very important to the right tube amp is complimenting them with the right preamp. maybe even more important than the speaker as long as you have enough power to run them.
and remember TUBES RULE!!!!
Click to expand...

Steve. You are a Tube Master ~!
 
Jerome W said:
Paul,
I am a fan of both EL34 and KT88's. But I prefer the tone richness of the EL34.
I would not say no to an other pair of 275's in my system though. :D
I have had 275's, 2301's, Snappers.
I am now left with the CCQ, also using EL34's.
Click to expand...

Jerome. Is it easy to convert the 240V to 120 V? There are one in audiogon from Asia. :)
 
Mike said:
Paul - I prefer EL34's. In my opinion, 845, 211, 300b and EL34 represent the four most tube like sounding tubes....if that makes any sense. Kt120's are on the opposite end, along with KT90's and KT88's somewhere in the middle. Check out the CARY CAD 211 FE's. They have three of the four tubes representing the most tube like sound IMO and have plenty of power (which is impressive for this type of tube amp). They are very special amps.

I just sold my VAC phi200 amps (same sound as the i160) and to give you an idea, the McIntosh 601's sounded much more tube like. I liked the VAC's, but they needed super clean AC lines and lots of tube rolling to nudge them only one notch more toward traditional tube like sound. They did have great bass though. But were very neutral in sound....not romantic if you will.
Click to expand...

Ok. Captain. the VAC 160i is out. However I agree with you on most of them but I didn't find the 845 is tube sound to my ears. Well only 845 I had was Mastersound products. I should check some other brands.
 
dlb2 said:
The power tubes, 845's, still dictate the output power so I still get 22w no matter what is in the driver tube section. The driver tubes can be swapped to change the flavor a bit.

And those are monkeys, not bears!:peace:
Click to expand...

Did he call our precious to BEARS ????? :mad:
 
BlueMcIntosh said:
Did he call our precious to BEARS ????? :mad:
Click to expand...

of course meant it in a loving way.lol. you see my avatar, 97db zu audio , best of all they come in BLUE!!!! and only $1500. im thinking hard on trying a pair for the 300b's.
doug loves a nice blue speaker if i recall.lol.
 
Petro85 said:
of course meant it in a loving way.lol. you see my avatar, 97db zu audio , best of all they come in BLUE!!!! and only $1500. im thinking hard on trying a pair for the 300b's.
doug loves a nice blue speaker if i recall.lol.
Click to expand...

603784-one_off_pair_of_custom_airbrushed_zu_audio_soul_superfly_speakers_300000_obo.jpg


603780-one_off_pair_of_custom_airbrushed_zu_audio_soul_superfly_speakers_300000_obo.jpg


603786-one_off_pair_of_custom_airbrushed_zu_audio_soul_superfly_speakers_300000_obo.jpg


Some custom air brushed ?
 
ok i know this is a tube amp thread but just one more.lmao!!!!
soul superfly
100db sensitivity
16 ohm impedance
2-300w amp range
great color choice. lol
$3199
SoulSuperfly-1b_-2.jpg
 
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