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New KT150 tubes?

Has anyone any experience with these pretty new tubes. There are already one or 2 amps I know of, that use them. The review of one of these amps in a UK magazine suggested they were a little warmer and more natural sounding than the nearly new KT120's

The article also suggested they were a straight swap for KT120 based amps, with no adjustment necessary. They are more than twice the cost of KT120's, but still not too costly compared with NOS tubes. I know changing from KT88's or 90's to 120's. did require some amp modification. I have an ARC reference 75 and might want to try the new tubes at some point, ARC don't seem to have a customer E-mail service, to ask the question
david12
wolf_garcia
6,679 posts
 
The current best price for a quad is 300 bucks...that's where they should be I think. My 4 120s have been in heavy daily use for a year and a half with no signs of weakening...serious hours...they refuse to die...what the hell is wrong with them?
david12 OP
1,454 posts
 
They should be good for at least 2000 hours is'nt it? That in practice, is a long term and if not stressed to near maximum output, as they are'nt in the ARC, I suspect it's a lot longer than that. Standing in front of your amp, saying "die dam you", probably is'nt going to work.
naggots
115 posts
 
My amp manufacturer suggests 7000hrs for the KT120.....maybe the last power tubes you ever buy!!!!
wolf_garcia
6,679 posts
 
7000 hours is two years or so at 10 hours a day...or 30 years at one hour a day...300 years at a minute a day?
davide256's avatar
davide256
398 posts
 
will keep my fingers crossed that these will be better quality and can be used in place of KT-120's. Love the sound of the KT-120 but quality of manufacturing precision is erratic compared to the GL KT-88's they retired for my amp. Given what we saw with the KT-120's no doubt will have to wait a year before the various manufacturers render opinion on whether they are safe to use with the different models in their product lines. I suspect we could all get better results out of an improved QC version of KT-120 (or KT-150 if similar to 120 for tonal balance)
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