EL 34 vs. KT 88 ---- What's the difference?

My Granite monoblocks took both the KT88 and EL34. I could never get them to sound right with the EL34, and am pretty sure it was an issue of bias, though I didn't pursue it too much.

My Jadis DA30 and DA60 integrateds can also use either, and I strongly prefer the EL34 in both of them, provided the right driver tubes are used to address the loss in low frequencies that occurs otherwise. In a nutshell, the EL34 really walks away from the KT88 in the midrange, giving both amps a far more musical and natural presentation.

I agree with most of the above comments, having owned and used EL34, 300B push pull, 300B SET, and heard a lot of KT88.

I love the sound of EL34 in Ultralinear mode, which gives both sweetness and "pace" or "robustness" or whatever you want to call it. With just about any dynamic speaker, that's a heavenly combination. Note that 300B tubes, which are also glorious, are far more expensive, and ergo more difficult to experiment with.

Often the KT88 has been used in stacked configurations to provide high power tube amplification. How the tradeoff between power and tube "sweetness" comes off is very subjective. Well implemented, they can both be great.

I am curious if anyone has tried to use KT88 ultralinear amps with low sensitivity exotics, such as Soundlabs? Any user experiences?

EH6CA7s are the way to go with Manley Snappers!

Trelja:
in my experience, it is the openess and truth of tonality
that sets the midrange of the EL34 apart from anything else,
tube or solid state. The most concise way I can put it is
that when used in a sympathetic system, it sounds simply
"right". The EL34's midrange can, in the best of
circumstances, make me think that nothing else sounds as
real.
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Agreed. Couldn't have been said better!

I had McIntosh 2301 mono's with KT88 and now I have old Manley 240REf mono's with el34 aand like them better in my setup, more spark and musicality to my ears.