2. amps-preamps
  3. 158963-98156

Sophia Electric EL34 or KT88 ??

Looking to upgrade my tubes on the Primaluna Dialogue HP Integrated amp. 
Curious what people’s preference would be between the two, and why. Aside from the SE rebranding, I’ve heard some pretty decent feedback about these tubes. 
They are expensive though, and frankly I’m
not sure why the different price classifications. 
Trying to sort out the sonic characteristics of each before dropping the dime on a matched set of 8 for the PL dialogue HP. 
Generally I like the factory EL34 musicality and tone. I love a holographic, real life feel and soundstage. I once tried a full battery of KT150 but sold them. Tried as I might to get acclimated to them, they didn’t have the Stock EL 34 magic. Seemed a little more dry. More powerful but also a tad more sterile. 

So would the SE KT88 be any different? 

Anyone with personal experience with these tubes?
128x128whacky
decooney
2,292 posts
 
@whacky,
re: "I once tried a full battery of KT150 but sold them", "...not EL34 magic."

A few things to note fwiw. If the PL DP does not have the appropriate plate voltage or transformers to drive KT150s properly, it won’t sound right nor will it have the EL34 magic. Truly takes the right amp(s) and transformers to get the most out of KT150s, IME. Found this to be the case with multiple KT88 based amps.

In addition to PSVANE CV181-T, Shuguang or WEKT88, TS 7581As, and others mentioned, have you also looked into Genelex Gold Lyon KT77s? As I recall Jim McShane of McShane Design is a big fan of them too.

Noted a few others who prefer the KT77s over many of the re-issue KT88s (excluding high $ EAT KT88s), IF you like the EL34 type of "tone" but want a bit more sparkle too between EL34 and generic KT88s, may be worth it to looking into KT77s too along with other great tubes mentioned earlier.
whacky's avatar
whacky OP
53 posts
 
Wow

these are all awesome recommendations and definitely something I will look into. 
I was hesitant to spent the money on the SE tubes. Definitely had a few people recommend them highly after personal experience. But I love these other ideas as well. 
@johnss 
how hard is to replace the coupling caps? I’ll look into they tonight.  What’s the theory behind doing they? What do the coupling caps really do? 
Otherwise I’ll be checking out all those other tubes. The KT77. Tone plus sparkle sounds pretty nice to me. 
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,507 posts
 
@decooney,

Prima Luna recommends the KT150 tubes and they are safe to use in all the Prima Luna amps. They do not come standard due to the $100.00 price per tube. 
tuberist
951 posts
 
Gold Lion KT77s are great tubes. Very detailed and dynamic top to bottom. Only shortcoming I experienced was in the mid bass department; a little lean for my taste. However they are really good tubes
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,507 posts
 
I had good luck with shuguang  EL34 tubes in a Rogue Cronus Mafgnum, much more refined than the KT120's that the amp came with.  I hear the Gold Lion power tubes are good too, I use 6 of their signal tubes in my preamp.
More to discover