Genelex Gold Lion KT-88 reissued tubes

Have cary v-12r's vertically bi-amping alon IV Mk II speakers. am very happy with the gold lion kt88 tubes. only had two go bad in 2 years. sound and imaging is superb

I replaced Groove Tube KT88's with the Genalex's in my MFA M120 amps and the improvements were dramatic. The GL's are lovely-sounding tubes at all frequencies. They're probably not even burned in yet,either. :)

I have also had problems with Genelex Gold Lion KT-88 thermal runaway causing damage to Jadis JA30. While they worked they sounded great but would not try these again no matter what the sonic benefit.

I also lost a GL reissue KT88 the other night. Heard a humming sound and one of the quad was glowing orange. The quad is less than a year old with about 200 hours on them.

Any tube can go bad any time -- this is not hot news. However, vacuum tubes were once the ONLY electronic valve available -- and for the most part delivered service with the same reliability as transistors -- and, believe it or not, often the same longevity.

Of the modern manufacture power tubes, the reissue Gold Lions, Pentas (Shuguang) and S.E.D. (formerly Svetlana) KT88's all provide remarkable levels of sonic performance, though still short of the best vintage tubes. In terms of reliability, only the Electro Harmonix seemed to have continuing problems. McIntosh recently dropped them in favor of the S.E.D for their OEM KT88.

Of the current manufacture KT88's, only two have the air and sparkle of the vintage Genalex/GEC KT88's from the UK ($800 -- $1400/quad): the E.A.T.'s ($1600/quad) and the new Shuguang Treasure Series Premium Grade ($350/quad -- $650/quad depending who you buy them from). I've not heard the E.A.T.'s but I have the Shuguangs and they equal my NOS Gold Lions sonically. Now let's see how long they last ;--)
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