Sophia Electric EL34 or KT88 ??

Well I think I will probably end up trying the Kt77 first before anything else. 

Yes, suddenly I'm interested in upgrading the capacitors in the PL. 
Yes, suddenly I've been considering swapping into an alternative higher priced amp after considering the cost of new tubes and new capacitors with the value of the amp.

Most likely i will go the route of the Kt77 and see how I like it.


Currently auditioning a pair of PS Audio M700 monoblocks and I have to say I am enjoying their sound, albeit not very tube like. 

@whacky

While I have not personally tried the Genelex Gold Lyon KT77 in any or my prior amps, I too would try them if my current KT150 based amps could support it. They will not. I first heard about the KT77s from Jim McShane years ago after sharing I was a big EL34 fan and wanted something between my EL34s and KT88s, thus KT77s. In the future, I may buy or commission a custom build for a 2nd amp down the road just to try KT77s too. Keep us posted on your progress if you go with them.Thanks.

All,
just a short note and update.

over the past 8-12 months have recommended the Shuguang WE KT88  plus to many.

thought I would provide a short update.

bought one quad set in Oct. 2019 bought a 2nd quad set in late Dec 2019 or early Jan 2020.

Lost one WEKT88 a few weeks ago from first quad.

Was playing some prestige jazz recordings last night and lost another red base KT88 while listening.

have to say; still best sounding KT88 have found, bar none.

But out of the 1st quad set, 2 have died, and now using the 2nd quad set as spares for the first quad. At 350 USD per quad, not a great result.

Shuguang and those sellers who market these WE tubes are selling at a super premium over their other Chinese tubes as well as the Russian competitors.

So they should last a bit longer than 9-12 months before giving up the ghost in an amp that is pretty easy on toobes.

Have to say, while still the best sounding KT88 I have heard, their quality and reliability reminds me of the chinese made crap tubes of 10 years ago, where you had to say a little prayer each time before hitting the power switch on the amp, otherwise the tubes would super nova on you, or in simpler words, garbage tubes.

Have had better luck with the Shuguang Nature sound treasure KT88-T. But also another pricey tube.....

May need to return to PSVANE or some of the Russian options....
Have had really good long term reliability with all the Russian made KT88s.

@johnss
Thanks for that update Johnss. It’s helpful, as we kinda know many of us are trying, using, and always on the lookout for a few of the good ones to buy and keep spares of. I’ve concluded these really do become throw-away tubes with no warranty or replacement option in most cases (at the lower prices). However, at a premium price, and unless of course you buy through some intermediary outfit in the US you pay an up-charge for to gain some added coverage in year-1, or maybe not. I’ve not found a great benefit there yet, but keep searching there too.

I did something similar as you are doing with the Shuguang WE tubes with my input and driver tubes on my 6SN7 preamp. While I’ve stashed away my vintage 6SN7s, I bought two overseas N7s, then a quad, and a second spare quad after I found something I liked a lot. Unfortunately this particular overseas boutique company’s founder/owner/designer passed on and the Co. has since changed their lineup some and its no longer clear what the future holds. He was a small mfg selling and relabeling to the big outfits overseas. Part of his tooling and lineup was partially bought up by PSVANE, were told. Like you, hoping the spares hold up for a while. Not so easy to go back the more generic well known tubes that last longer but just sound "okay".

Once I noted Peter of AudioNote was now sourcing tubes from PSVANE for his lineup, it became clear we are seeing another evolution stage of these new tubes out there. Hopefully it continues to evolve and maybe quality will improve better than cheap throwaway light bulbs. I’m trying all PSVANE in my amps now for input and drivers. They sound pretty nice so far, but how long will the last, hopefully longer than a year. We we will see. Thanks.

RAM Tube Workshas three or four choices of excellent graded EL-34... few people match the rigor and extensive screening Roger put in place ( RIP )...

I am running an octet of his along w super low noise 6922 in an RM-9 lovely :-))))