Quote:
Originally Posted by FloridaBoy
From the review, "I do not belong to the Church of the NOS Mind; in my experience two of the least satisfactory of my 6L6s and 5881s are ‘Holy Grail’ US-made NOS tube from the 1960s."
I agree. The amps he used were single ended. He liked the Tube Amp Doctor 6L6/5881 too. The Treasure 6CA7's can be had for less but I'll stick with their KT66z.
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Yes, but the KT-66z, which to me is fabulous, is not that good in the mid-range as the KT-77, and probably the 6CA7z (which is supposed to be equivalent). But, the tradeoff is in the evenly-distributed presentation of the KT-66z across frequencies and its better bass management. Choices ... choices! Once one nails a winner combination which raises SQ a notch or two, it becomes addictive, wondering what is out there than can improve things further ... Man o man.
Yet another comparison on the EL-34 tube family (this may be somewhat biased):
http://www.thetubestore.com/Resource...4-Review-Chart
Their conclusion (aside from their own "Preferred Series"), the Tung-Sol EL-34B is top dog, beating the GL KT-77 (which I question how can that be possible).
Another observation comes from
Upscale Audio on the
GL KT-77: "These tubes seem to take a bit longer to break in than some other power tubes,
so if they sound a little lightweight in the bass, you have to give them time. Some guys are reporting at least 100 hours before the fully come into their own."
Which means the only drawback I've found on the otherwise perfect (for me) GL KT-77 (less than ideally managed bass) may not even be a drawback, after all. I'm certainly in the initial stage of this tube's burnin process, so I have hopes for the bass to redeem itself. There's some magic going on in the Triode-strapped Inspire amp with the KT-77/EL-34/6CA7 midrange I don't want to miss due to a weak bass. Even now, in its initial burnin phase, the body of sound is not unlike the KT-66z and Kinkless Tetrodes in general, so if that bass comes alive, I'll be done searching, I swear!
Finally, this experience makes me wonder why Dennis swears by 6V6 and KT 88's. I think he's inclined to the Pentode design's dynamics more than the "old man's Triode approach". This may explain what otherwise (in the Triode-wired units) seems unbelievable. In my amp, the 6V6 does not even compete and the KT-88, which is very musical, rythmic and with a full body of sound, is too bold in Triode wiring for it to really provide high resolution of the nuances which make the presentation so much more 3D and real.