Best current production KT66's?

Hi,

I have EI 6L6GC's in my Quad II's at the mo' and they sound pretty sweet, but I want to try KT66's as these are what the amps were designed to use.

I can't afford NOS GEC or Marconi KT66's so wondered if anyone could give guidance on the best currently available alternatives.......??

Ta,

Dave

Setup: Quad II's, Croft pre, Arcam CD, LP12, Tannoy Cheviots

 

valve art.

got some kt88s going cheap if you are interested, great valves.

 

Valve Art are Chinese aren't they? From what I've read the Chinese valves used to have a bad reputation for build quality, are they over this now? I have read one good review of the VA KT66, but it was from a site that sold them so I wasn't completely convinced. Saying that, they're quite cheap aren't they?!

Most people default to the Sovtek KT66's as far as I can see, but I can't find much positive feedback on them anywhere.....?

No use for KT88's I'm afraid, only have the Quad II's now........

 

hi The chinese used to be cheap rubbish, they are not now, some of the stuff coming from there is world class, amps and valves.
you still get some rubbish, but valve art are excellent, tbh, I think the russians and east europeans if pushed are better, based on the build quality, ( limited xp of a few valves, jjtesla and svetlana have thicker glass and are heavier+ some 5670s and ecc83s seemed better to me) but the modern chinese are great.for small valves the military ones from china and russia are good.
This is going to be heresy, but in my amp I preferred el34 to kt66. It is an el34 amp though. not a lot in it.

try these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=67816&item=5771441574&rd=1

or these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=14973&item=5771149761&rd=1

or these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=7275&item=6529053868&rd=1

Anyone know more about the saratovs?

and are shuguang the same as valve art? it gets confusing.

 

I've been looking at those very valves on ebay for a while, there are sellers who sell regularly there but I haven't bought any yet as I didn't know which sounded best!


This is the gist of what I've read about Sovteks:
The Saratov is made by Sovtek in their Saratov factory, but is not the same as the other Sovtek model and is known by the factory name to distinguish them. They look different and use different heater currents - the Saratov drawing more than the Sovtek. Groove Tubes re-badge the Saratov I'm told.

Shuguang makes the Valve Art and Sino Kt66's.

Not many other manufacturers do the KT66 as far as I see; I really liked my Electro Harmonix KT88's that I had in a AVC amp, much nicer than the more expensive Svetlana's I replaced them with, but they don't do KT66's.

I'll probably plump for those Valve Art ones, or maybe the Sovteks that are for sale from the UK seller 'Jibbles08'.............the UK auctions obviously get me the goods more quickly, although I have bought valves from the states before......

 

The best current production valves are considered to be the Golden Dragon version, with the Sovtek (Saratov) being a close 2nd.

Haven't seen anything re the extra current, but I wouldn't worry too much as a single Quad II was designed to run a Quadd 22 and FM1 which have 8 (I think) triode type valves drawing current. I've also seen recommendation to change the 180ohm cathode resistor to 220ohm for a better operation point