Same here, KT88 PA max is 42 Watts. I know of course Tubelab likes to crank it up.. Personally I wouldn't do it..
I wasn't even born when Hendrix and the Doors played. But I can make my friends green with envy when I tell them I saw Kyuss.. That's enough for me.
I wasn't even born when Hendrix and the Doors played. But I can make my friends green with envy when I tell them I saw Kyuss.. That's enough for me.
Cheap Chinese tubes might get upset, but the EH KT88's with the extra heat radiating fins welded to the plates don't seem to mind. While visiting my favorite tube seller several years ago he mentioned that he had some Russian output tubes that were "previously auditioned" for $10 each. All had Tube Store stickers on them and we speculated that they were returns that tested good. So I grabbed about 8 KT88's and a few other tubes for $10 each. At this price I can afford to crank 'em up. The first pair that I stuck in the amp is still in there, but I usually run them at about 80 mA unless I plan on blasting some rock or feeding the big speakers, then I break out the big resistors with alligator clips on the end and boost the current to 100mA. I am using a tube rectifier so my B+ is about 460 volts.
I was at the concert where Morrison was arrested for allegedly masturbating on stage. Unfortunately I have nearly zero memories of this concert, since as Jimi used to say "purple haze was in my brain".
The Hendrix concert was a different story. Up until about 8th grade my mom and I listened to the same music (60's surf music). As that era died I got interested in rock while my mom liked "bubble gum" music. She grew increasingly critical of my music while my home made stereo equipment grew more and more powerful. There was a TV show featuring "The Monkees" which I thought really sucked. My mom kept asking why I didn't like it. I played guitar and some friends from school brought over a Hendrix album and we were in awe. One of the guys mentioned that Hendrix was going to be the opening act for the upcomming Monkees concert (yeah really) in the Orange Bowl football stadium. The kicker....I talked my mom into buying my ticket!
Yes, me and my buddies were in an altered state at that show, but the images of Jimi playing the guitar are permanately etched into my brain. I thought I was a decent guitar player until that show. The bar had been raised....way beyond reach!
When I have the EH KT90s in there they also sound the best at the hottest bias setting (about 100mA). I think they could take more, but I haven't tried. I've run them for many hours like this. The PT (Edcor) gets warm, but nothing like what a typical 200 series Hammond is like. It is rated at 200mA.
Think about what a 150 mA Allied (a 200 series in disguize) running 220 mA is like. You can't touch it after an hour, and it smells funny after a whole day of continuous use. Hasn't fried yet though.
Yeah, I think I know the smell. Sort of a mix of that "fresh" transformer smell (varnish) and that unpleasant burning electronics smell. I have a pair of 700 series Hammond transformers that were similar while in service.
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