El34 vs. KT88

I agree with Czbbcl on the Genelex Gold Lion KT-77. I have a Music Reference RM-9 MKII. I started with Shuguang EL34 for about 6 years, then went to Shuguang KT88’s for almost a decade and recently re-tubed with the Golden Lion KT-77. I always liked the EL34 midrange and treble, but when I went to the KT88’s I was immediately seduced by the tighter bass and slam. I stayed with them, trying to convince myself that I liked the KT88’s better. One of my KT88’s recently shorted so I pulled the old and tired original Shuguang EL34’s out and re-tubed. With the EL34’s, I remembered what I was missing with the KT88s. Time to re-tube so I gave a call to RamLabs and after some discussion they recommended the Genelex Gold Lion KT-77, it has the magic of the EL34, with the tighter bass and slam of the KT88s. They were correct, in my system, the KT-77 is the best of both worlds. Caveat, my comparison is with Shuguang EL-34 and KT99, compared to Genelex KT77. I have not heard the Genelex Gold Lion EL-34 or KT88 in my system. Who knows, I might be equally blown away by those

"I have only heard the EL34's in action so far."

"I know for a fact that there are many good tube amps out there that work great with the 2C's."

Oh really?

I have used both types in my Quicksilver amps. The KT88 has a bigger brighter sound. The EL34 has a more laid back sound. With Vandersteens (a laid back sounding speaker)I would go with a KT88 tube amp.

I'm not clear if you're asking the question so that you can narrow your choice of amps but it isn't necessary to make the decision between EL34 and KT88 power tubes in advance. Quite a few excellent integrateds will let you use both those tubes, and many others. The Primaluna Dialogue is one, as is the Cary Sli-80.

If you're fairly new to tubes that's a really nice feature. Being able to change tube types lets you more easily match the sound to your other equipment and discover the sound you prefer. And tube rolling is fun.

The first tube amp I bought came with KT88, EL34 and KT66 tubes. Ultimately I listened primarily to 5881s and KT77s but someone else, with a different source, speakers and taste in music, would likely have had a different preference.

I am a big fan of the EL-34 tube, I find it combines a lot of the warmth of SET tubes with more power levels and in the right implementation can sound fantastic. I have a pp 17 watt EL-34 amp and I could not be happier. This was after running through 300B's, and 6550's in various amps. I have not checked out KT-77's but may have to soon. Another bonus of EL-34's is they can be super cheap to replace, one of the reasons I opted out of 300B's was high tube replacement costs.