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Newproduction power tubes: Reliablity

There  isa topic going on  concerning power tube issues in his PL amp, 
Some of us have power amps with 4-12 power tubes,,  the higher number of the tubes in a amp means the more demand for  reliability.
The 2 countries making  the most power tubes are china and russsia, So basically we can say this is a Russia vs China shootout.

China has come out with incredible numbers of power tubes, varieties and styles. These are the SET tubes. Russia has a  far superior selection in the push pull category.
IMHO , as i do have a  push pull amp, I favor the russian labs as far as reliability. 
Here is where it counts, As we know, its no fun having a   multiple power tube amp, and hearing 1 or more tubes going bad. 
A  good tech is not cheap, nor so easy to locate.
So in terms of reliability/push pull, I have to side with the russian labs.
The one exception on russian power tube relaibility, is the russian KT150,, its a new tube and we have not yet had long term performance testing. It is  not a tube I am the least bit interested in. 
. 

mozartfan
jjss49's avatar
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jjss49
6,612 posts
 
@johnss

good post

what amp(s) are you running your kt88s on? curious to know... i have a number of kt88 amps - several audio research and a primaluna - hearing the different sound profiles of the various compatible tubes is fun to experience

as for mozartfan... you are being kind... i would think even mozart himself would reject some of the close minded and narrow thinking expressed  :(
mozartfan OP
2,143 posts
 
As for sonic qualities, the best sounding most organic output tube is the Shuguang Western electric Plus series (WEKT88; same series available in 6CA7. 300B, 845,. etc); This tube family blows everything else into the weeds sonically.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
One ebay buyer left a  comment on the Svet 6550's, * these Svet new production are equal to my previous WE6550/88's*
I believe him.
However,,, i will take  a  look at the WE88's Shuguang clones.
But lately my cash is spent in other places, new xovers, new tweets , caps, resistors, etc etc.
It will bea  very long time before i add new power tubes.
these Svet's are built like tanks and made to last, glitch free.

mozartfan OP
2,143 posts
 
From the Russian side, the GL KT8s are my favorite
^^^^^^^^^^


I had that tube, sent it back witha  generous restock fee, vivtubes says *thats the 2 nd matched 12 power tubes sent back in 1 month,,shop elsewhere please...*,,, anyway,, odd that my opinion was in line with another comment i read on a  forum (audio karma??)about the GL. Very popular, but he and I were in same opinion.


mozartfan OP
2,143 posts
 
PSVANE T-II 12A_7 series.

^^^^ 
I have 2 pairs of Psvane's 12AX7's in boxes, really nice boxes,,, I am willing to dump at any price,,, i'll take 50% of what i paid,,,, good riddance....
China, nor russia can make a  good(=read GREAT sounding)  pre tube. 
The best pre tubes were made by Telefunken. 
hilde45's avatar
hilde45
4,974 posts
 
I  just ditched my JJKT 88‘s for Genelex kt 77‘s and the difference is quite startling. The JJs didn’t sound very good in comparison. At all.
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