KT88 recom. for quicksilver mini mono's

Did you have something specific in mind?

Yes, my experience rolling one type against the other was in a Mesa Baron (tri-tube) amp. There I found the KT88's to be a bit too hard and clean for my tastes, giving the Baron an almost SS sond to it. I longed for something a bit more warm in comparison. At the suggestion of a few folks (Jon at the Tube Store, and the tech guy at Mesa among them), I tried 6550's instead...I think they were Svets, but it's been a while...maybe in a previous post of mine...anyway, sure enough, in that amp and system, and to my ears, the 6550's sounded warmer and had a wonderful midrange, with a bit of sacrafice to the bass. On that amp the bass compromise was no problem as it is a prodigious performer there. The tubes were Svet's in both cases as I recall. This is over five years ago I think, so details are open to correction, but the overall impression is quite accurate, I'm sure.

Marco

Marco, Mesa Baron Tri Tube mod was 6L6, EL 34, and ?. I was under the impression that it limited to KT types, not 6550's.

I thought the tri tube mod in the Mesa Baron was 6l6's, EL34's and KT88's. I was not aware that it would also take 6550's. I never made the conversion on my Baron (I just stuffed it into a box into my attic where its gathering dust) to the tri-tube - a little birdy at Mesa talked me out of it - so I can't be absolutely sure. I googled this out of curiosity and found no authoritive comments contrary to my belief's.

Could you perhaps have been given a demo of the difference between the KT88 and EL34's? That would be my WAG based on your description of the sound.

No, you are absolutely right Newbee. I was confusing the 6L6 with 6550's. My bad, and thanks for pointing that out. Strike my comments on the 6550's and give me a good swift boot in the ass. It sucks getting old. I don't think I ever tried the EL34's in the Baron because I was steered to the 6L6's from my complaints about the KT88's. I got mine as a Tri-tube.

Marco

In my case, I liked the KT90's in the mini's. They had more depth that the small transformers seemed to lack. In the Cary amp I owned, I switched between the Winged C and the EH KT88's, but the mini mono's just needed more for my setup. The mini mono's were very good and a steal for the money. The mid mono's are a whole different level with the large transformers and seem to tube roll much better for me. The KT 90's were just too much or fat in the mid mono's. Besides the sound, tube amps are fantastic to fine tune your sound to your particular tastes and the reason I love tubes.
Enjoy!

From what people here and elsewhere have said, it seems there is a strong following in the el34 crowd. I have a set of older brown base el34 tesla's, some svetlana el34's, and some sovtek 6l6, and I tried the chinese kt88 (didn't care for). Of these I have tried to truly figure out the differences, not just what my expectations may have been. Instead of just kt88 responces, what have you guys heard that you liked in mini's?? I have a guy offering a set of Ei kt90's, any thoughts on them?