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kt77 vrs kt120 in Rogue M180s

I recently was a able to compare gold lion kt 77s verses tung sol kt120s in my Rogue audio M180 mono-blocks, and wanted to share my experiences with you. I did these comparisons over a period of weeks, so I think I now have a pretty good understanding of their sound in my amps. The kt77s have a little bit more air and extension in the treble, nice midrange, and very good depth, and slightly looser on the bass. The kt 120s, were clear and very open sounding, with better projection into the room with the sound stage, with less depth than the kt77, but have better width and separation. The kt120s also had better Bass extension and control over my Revel f32s woofers, They seemed to wake up the speaker, everything sounded dynamic and full. Besides the little bit of roll off in the highs, I much preferred the kt 120s in my system. Hope this helps some of you, Christopher
chrissain
mulveling's avatar
mulveling
1,951 posts
 
That's a very helpful comparison; thanks. I've been using KT120 in my Apollos for a while, and your description of their strengths closely reflects my own observations in replacing the EH KT90. I've been surprised and pleased at how all Rogue gear showcases the voice of each tube, rather than imposing a voicing of its own.

Running KT120s, I occasionally wish for a touch more air and sparkle up top, without tipping over into brightness or shout-iness. Sounds like the KT77 provides that, but not without compromise in other areas. Someday I'll just have to try them for myself. It would be interesting to see whether I observe bass control issues w/ KT77; my Apollos are already way-overkill running into 96dB/Watt 8 ohm speakers.

Mike
jafant's avatar
jafant
19,883 posts
 
One cannot go wrong w/ those KT 120 tubes!
chrissain OP
470 posts
 
The kt 77s bettered the kt120s in just two areas, upper end extension, and depth. The kt120s were better in every other way in my system. I am running Revel speakers, which are known to be power hogs, and that very well could account for what I am hearing, and why I like the kt120s better.
wolf_garcia
6,723 posts
 
I've been using KT120s in a Jolida and found that they're a powerful and clear sounding tube, at least compared to the 6550s and KT88s I have around, but the amp really woke up when I swapped the input/driver tubes...done for no particular reason other than curiosity. Hard to say which tubes make the most difference, output or input, or if there is some synergy going on that is infinitely variable and potentially confounding. Not much negative about 120s anywhere it seems.
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