Just a FYI - another pair of Visseaux 6V6GT have shown up on that auction site.

Correct. They were so drab I have not considered a kt-88 since. The current chitchat has me thinking though. Genalex aren't to pricey as I recall.

The Psvanes need a lot of hours. The 300 they suggest is correct.

I believe a good KT88 is better than an ordinary 6V6 GT (my own experience), even in this amp. Of course, when a really good 6V6 GT is popped-in (RCA's in my case), it would take the best KT88 to get close. That special KT88 would bring the best of both types in my book, as I really appreciate the fullness of the KT88 sound.

Finding out which KT88 (or KT66, KT77) would do the job is my quest. As these are likely to be relatively expensive, though, it does not allow for trial-and-error, so searching for personal experiences may narrow the gap and improve the odds to nail this.

Now, as FB said, three hundred hours is a lot of burn-in time, which complicates matters even further (these represent about 25 weekends of listening in my case, requiring much patience!).

Musica Amantem, Where are you located?

Panama Province, Panama (Central America) ... No chance of swapping tubes, as the only feasible way to return them is through the local mail system (takes forever and it is not too reliable).

Just for sh*ts & giggles I hooked up my ML ESL's to the Inspire w/KT88's and Mullard 5AR4. They're rated @ 4ohms/91db. The amp is happily driving them with ease. Impressive. Granted, I have a 100hz/18db high pass sending the bass to a sub, but it sounds really, really good... and it's pretty darn loud!

Hello, I am new in this hobby. I am in the market for Cary SLI-80. Is Dennis Had is the designer of this one too? If anyone here have SLI-80 and Inspire can compare the sound for both. Does Dennis(Inspire) doing integrated amp too?

I have my Inspire 6L6 Fire-Bottle running with Northern Electric KT88's with 5AR4 rectifier and Dynaco A25's. Sounds awesome to me.

dumb question but how do the 6v6 offerings differ from the kt88 as far as hardware goes?