KT 88's....what's the story????

I have the McIntosh MC2000 running 8 KT88s. The sound of this gear is just fantastic. One of the 8 tubes "blew" a while ago which resulted in a hard distortion of the channel in question. Unfortunately subsequently one resistor got bad. That meant to take a drive of 800 kilometers in all to see the MAC-doctor and to have the resistor (and the tube) replaced. The price McIntosh charged for the blewn tube was ridiculous. Since then I am running KT88s from a guy offering here on AudiogoN: a matched quad for around $120. The amp is running at least 8 hours a day and everything is just fine! Good luck with this truely wonderful tube......

I think that all power tubes can die of sudden unexpected death (you hear a pop - then no sound - you replace the fuse and the tube, sometimes you find you have also blown a grid resistor and need to get it replaced) as opposed to normal death which is quiet and fixed by simply replacing the tube. Some tubes are more rugged and less subject to the sudden death syndrome. That is one of the main reasons tube amp manufacturers require that you use the tubes they supply to keep they warranty in effect - because they are less prone to sudden failure, not that they necesarily sound better.

Thanks all....Audioman4.......can you substitute a KT90 for a KT88?? Doesn't that void the warranty?

You might want to check out the review of the Hurricane in the latest issue (Feb/Mar) of TAS before trying different tubes -- even though they "lost" a few tubes, they had high praise for the "sound" of the stock Chinese KT-88s (see p93)