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treasure kt 88 vs vintage tung Sol 6550

Well, I have been trying to give these treasure kt88 a fair shake for a while.  I have read many that say they cannot hear a difference in these grant fidelity choice tubes and vintage nos.  All I can say is do not take any wooden nickels.  There really is no comparison, the vintage tung Sol 6550 just blew away the treasure kt 88.  Not even close, in bass, texture, clarity, well, everything.  One thing I will say about the treasure kt 88 is I did find them forgiving.  As far as CDs are concerned, the tung sols are not.  If you have a CD in with the tung sols, you will know it.  If you have vinyl on, same thing.  If is a quality recording, you will hear it regardless if it is digital or analog. The treasures are not as clean sounding, but considering what is available today, they may be the closest to nos.  However, any claim that they are as good or better than nos really is not very honest.  IMHO.
tzh21y
rodman99999
6,158 posts
 
"The treasures are not as clean sounding, but considering what is available today, they may be the closest to NOS."  No- regarding what's being manufactured today, the closest to the original Tung-Sol, is the EAT KT-88.  Nothing else comes close, but- you're going to pay for the presentation.
tzh21y OP
1,654 posts
 
I agree.  I was duped but at least I still have my tung sols.  They do not give you a money back like synergistic research does.   Everyone was saying that I just did not have enough hours on them.  I have had them since last October.   
tzh21y OP
1,654 posts
 
That is the thing, other audiogoners are enamored with the treasures.  Maybe they just have not heard how good many vintage tubes really are.
xti16
1,525 posts
 
@rodman99999 I disagree to a point. I have EAT's and TS solid black and grey plates. The reason I disagree is to me both of those tubes are extremely different sounding. EAT's have the best clarity and detail from top to bottom I ever heard. Original Marconi/GEC/Gold Lions are pretty close to the EAT's with a hair less clarity. Almost SS sounding where the TS is a much warmer/tubey sound. The TS IMO have more emotion with music.

Now that said it really depends on the speaker. When I had Dyn C1's the TS were the best sounding. But when I upgraded to Raidho D1's the TS didn't sound good at all and the EAT was much better.

Where I do agree with rodman99999 since EAT's are still being produced nothing comes close in sound quality by today's standards. I never heard the black treasures or Psvane.
rodman99999
6,158 posts
 
@xti16 -  The clarity and lack of unnatural coloration are exactly why I prefer and have all NOS tubes such as Siemens, Telefunken, Sylvania, and Tung-Sol in my system.  presently- I have(what were NOS) 1970's GE 6550A's, performing the output duties, with EATs up to bat next.   The, "warmer/tubey sound"  doesn't appeal to me, as I listen to way too much live music to appreciate it.   That's just my personal preference and in no way an attempt to denigrate anyone else's taste in musical presentation.   I did previously let that get in the way of an unbiased reply though, didn't I?
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