Quote:
Originally Posted by Bombadil
I have a pair of JJ KT77, which DH was recommending once upon a time. Don't know if that is still true. In my system they have a bit more "bite" through the midrange and highs than EL34s and my vintage Sylvania fat boy 6CA7s. Even a bit more than my re-issue Gold Lion KT88s.
Not so much that I would label them as being aggressive or forward. Just a touch more midrange detail, and perhaps a bit less deep bass definition than a KT88/KT120.
Vs EL34, the KT77 is more open with better imaging. The KT77 isn't as "lush" or warm-sounding as the EL34. I've read on guitar amp forums that people have switched from EL34 to KT77 to get a more dynamic, slightly more aggressive sound. I hear that same quality through my system when I'm playing songs with strong lead guitar riffs when using KT77s.
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Replying to my own thread, am I going insane?
Before writing the above, I searched my tube cache for Golden Lion KT77s, as I thought I had some. But couldn't find them. I moved recently and packed up all of my tubes and tube gear about 3 months ago. Shortly after writing the above, I found my GL KT77s. At least I wasn't imaging that I had some.
So today I slapped them into the Inspire and compared them to the JJs. I don't fully trust such comparisons, as they are sighted comparisons with several minutes between listening sessions. Historically I have found such comparisons to be untrustworthy. I am a fan of double blind testing. But I would need two Inspire amps to pull that off.
In today's listening evaluations, it was my perception that the GL tubes brought out a bit more subtle detail and had a bit more definition in the lower bass region. That is, I think I could perceive a little more air on percussives, a little more "fingering" on background guitar, a little longer decay on piano. I noticed all of these things more in multiple songs than I did when playing the JJs. Whether I could pick out the differences in a double blind test, who knows? I've failed those before when I was confidant I would pass.
I found myself getting more into the music when using the GL. Ultimately that's how I decide what to use.
So the GL moved ahead of the JJ KT77 on my list of preferred tubes.