Valve question - brands

[rsand]

I need some new KT88's and don't know which to buy.

I think the curent ones are Svets, how do they differ to EH, sovtek or JJ's

Sovtek are the cheapest
Svets and EH very similar
JJ's most expensive

I was under the impression that the svets were about the best?
These are for Quad II40's BTW

Thanks

 

[la toilette]

My KT88 experience is limited to two brands only, but for what it's worth I found that switching from Svetlana's to Electro Harmonix to be a positive move. The EH's seemed a lot smoother in the top end whilst being at least as detailed as the Svet's. In all other areas the EH's at least matched the Svet's.

 

[T-bone Sanchez]

Ive no direct experience with KT88's but JJ's seem to command the most respect. Dont know about the Svets but you could always try the Winged 'C' variety. Try the US stores on ebay for good prices.

 

[T-bone Sanchez]

Do a search on the WAD forum, there should be plenty of opinions on the KT88

 

[rsand]

The difference in price is £5 between the svets and the EH btw (svets dearer)

 

[la toilette]

I think I paid about £45 + £5 postage for a 'platinum' matched quad of EH from the States, much cheaper than any I found in the UK. My Svets weren't the winged C, they were the ones with the big S on, as supplied by AVC with the amp. Go for the EH's, my own research led me to believe that a lot of people have found these to be a good choice.....

 

[T-bone Sanchez]

Thats a dam good price for KT88's!! might get some myself.

 

[rsand]

Cheapest I've seen is £65 inc postage for the EH's from the states

 

[T-bone Sanchez]

These seem to be very popular:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/6550-TUNG-SOL...371276879QQcategoryZ43375QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[rsand]

Yeh looked at those but generaly speaking kt88's sound better than 6550's

 

[la toilette]

I think the seller I got mine from was bnb_tubes on ebay. He is still selling but doesn't have any KT88's listed at the mo' (might be worth contacting him though - they arrived OK. I did buy mine about a year ago so maybe prices have gone up a little, but I found these on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Matched-Quad-...837838474QQcategoryZ14973QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Dunno what postage is though.....

Actually, just remembered something - although the transaction only cost me approx £50 inc p&p on ebay, I may have had to pay something to the PO - customs duty or similar....?

 

[Neil]

I have a modded WAD Kit88 - I really like the Svetlana 6550Cs - I've tried a few KT 88s and didn't like the Tung Sols - they sounded pretty "thin". If you'd like to try some Valve Art KT88s (which I quite liked) I've a matched quad with only a couple of hours on them which I'll happily send you to audition & if you like them you can buy?