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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
whacky's avatar
whacky OP
53 posts
 
The gold lion Kt77 aren't terribly expensive at around $50. Definitely sparking my interest given how they are being described. 

The SE EL34 tubes are 3x as expensive for their top offering @ $150 a piece. Yikes. $1200 to roll some tubes is more than I can swallow presently.


Now I'm curious about the capacitor swap at this point. It seems like that could also be a method to unlock potential hidden in the already solid PL amp. 
jond's avatar
jond
5,946 posts
 
I love the KT77's too they've been my go to EL34 variant for years now. I may be misremembering but I feel like I suggested the KT77 in a PL thread once and someone said PL amps can't use the KT77? I may be misremembering I'll try and find that thread if I can.
jond's avatar
jond
5,946 posts
 
I looked and can't find the thread I was thinking of but did see a thread where Kevin Deal chimed in and said KT77's are fine so there you go. Give them a try I doubt you'll be disappointed!
johnss
592 posts
 
replacing the caps is pretty straight forward if you know how to solder. but dont use a 9 dollar iron, get something better.
whacky's avatar
whacky OP
53 posts
 
Funny you mention that. about a week ago I tried to used my older 15 dollar iron to resize a power strip for my cordless tool charging station...first time trying to solder something in the past year.

Absolute garbage piece of crap.

So I finally did what I’ve been meaning to do for awhile.

Spent some cash and got a nice Hakko FX-951 kit.

Going to practice up a little bit before attempting anything official on the PL.

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