I am creating this thread in an effort to both collect information as well as advices regarding the KT88 power tube. Its not intended to be a general vacuum tube thread but instead focus solely on the KT88 in terms of manufacturers, variations and quality. Information about this tube can be found spread out, but collecting info can be somewhat tedious and time consuming. One of the reasons I am creating this thread is because I am in the planing stages of my own KT88 power amplifier and this meant that I needed information in order to know what to consider.
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With virtually no prior experience (never built a tube amplifier before), using what is available online is a very good idea, so to anyone who either recognize their own review or contribute in to thread, thank you.
To put it simple. Locate or establish a high quality budget friendly KT88 (B) or a premium KT88 (P) which is in production (very important). The former focuses more on keeping the cost relatively low yet maintain a "representative" sound profile and build quality, while the later focuses more on absolute premium in both aspects, also here, the cost is of less value. NOS tubes of yesteryear (besides reference) has to be left on the sideline. Using older brands as a reference is fine since does older tubes is what started it all. I have collected source links at the bottom of the page.
The main reason for looking at new production is that generally speaking it should be the same or even better than NOS, but mostly, I/we can collect them for use in the future. As you know, tubes are consumable and need to be replaced from time to time, NOS tubes run out and at that stage you are left with what is being produced today, so one might as well look at what is considered good in 2020 >
Beam tetrode. Upgrade of KT66, designed by M-OV (GEC, UK). KT stands for 'Kinkless Tetrode.' KT88 and 6550 are very similar tubes. GEC was active between 1886 and 1999. The KT88 was introduced by GEC in 1956 as a larger variant of the KT66. It was manufactured in the U.K. by the MOV (Marconi-Osram Valve) subsidiary of G.E.C, also labelled as IEC/Mullard, and, in the U.S., Genelex Gold Lion.
The GEC KT88 is the reference, this is the tube most drool over. A single GEC KT88 can demand £300 or close to $390 - for a single tube. Fake or used tubes appear to be relatively common.
The M-OV or MOV Valve company does not existing anymore. NEW SENSOR in New York today owns the brand rights of the 'GOLD LION' brand. That is all they own. They do not use the original tools, neither are their new tools copies of the original tools. The GOLDEN LION tubes, sold by NEW SENSOR, are made in the Reflektor factory in Saratov Russia, and inside I see the plain old Electro Harmonix construction, as they used always, which resembles their 6L6 optically. Which for me is not a real KT88. Sorry. You can think of this what you want, and you should. The Golden Lion tubes made by new Sensor have nothing to do with the originals, made by the MO Valve company. Also, the quality of New Sensor doesn't even close.
So I do not recommend the expensive GOLDEN LION tubes, sold by NEW SENSOR. For the half the price you have Electro Harmonix by NEW SENSOR, and to me they seem identical. Quality is the same (medium) level. Problem with NEW SENSOR tubes, was for me, they develop gas on stock. They were fine when I received them, but sometimes tubes can be on stock for a few years, and I had several that developed gas.
What follows is only my personal opinion, from selling tubes since the last 25 years. I would prefer them in this order. Please excuse me for being a bit direct, but I do not want to contribute to any fairy tales and other kind of obscure stories. So what is good is good, and what is bad is bad, I just say it here.
Number1: GENALEX/GEC. Made in England. NOS with good test data, which is all you need. As you can blindly trust most other data, such as leakage etc. The holy grail of course, not available, and no realistic solution for that reason. Be careful with used tubes of this kind, because prices are still very high, but a great brand will not protect you from being sold tubes at the end of life. I would say, this is something to buy only from reliable professionals. And typically not buy it on Ebay without return option.
Number2: Svetlana C-Logo KT88. Hard to get, but possible. Looking for NOS.... your hunt may be successful.Keep apart the Winged-C Svetlana which are the ones made by Svetlana, and the S-LOGO not made by Svetlana at all, by made by REFLEKTOR and sold by NEW SENSOR. In fact Svetlana Petersburg sued New Sensor for this, and the result was some kind of arrangement. Just the C-logo, new Sensor did not get under their control. Also the words 'St. Petersburg' may only be used if made there indeed. So the C-Logo is the proof for genuine tubes from St. Petersburg. So my number #2 choice here is the original WINGED-C Svetlana.
Number3: The most realistic good choice: Chinese KT88. These seem to have the best price / performance ratio, but the Chinese mix a few bad tubes under the good, always. They get away with that, and they know it. So what leaves the factory, is a strange mix of mainly good tubes, and a few bad ones amongst them. Unclear matching, and not enough burn in. This makes them very suited for professional sellers that have really good equipment. (Meaning not just a Hickok tester). In industry this is called 'uptesting'. So a good dealer separates the bad from the good, and offer the good ones to his loyal customers, with fine matching data. From a lot of 100, you can get a good selection of such quads. For the less good ones there is a nice market on Ebay, where good product feedback is for low price and fast shipment anyway.
VALVE ART KT88, which is a Shuguang Factory Tube. Shuguang is the largest tube factory in China, and they brand the tubes for everybody who wants it, with any brand whatsoever. So the black beauty, golden treasure, green dragon, Valve Art, and very many more fantasy names, they all come from the same factory outlet, called SHUGUANG. Since many Chinese tubes are now better than there reputation, they are here under preferred brands.
Number4: Electro Harmonix - Sovtek - Svetlana S-logo. All the same tubes, just another jacket. You can take the lowest priced, Electro Harmonix. That is because the more expensive brands, are not better specified, no longer life, and no longer guarantee. Electro Harmonix is a reasonable tube for a reasonable price.
Number5: New Sensor owns the GOLDEN LION brand now, and like all tubes from them, they come from the same factory, called REFLEKTOR.
All recent production Reflektor tubes show random vacuum problems, more than any other tube brand I know. NOS Reflektor is generally good quality, but not as perfect as Svetlana. However new production Reflektor, I find disappointing. Vacuum can get lost, just by stocking unused tubes, grid to cathode shorts develop after shipment, and parameters are quite variable in general. I even had tubes which were mounted in the socket with one pin rotated. Which indicates they are tested before socketing but not after.
GOLDEN LION seem identical construction as ELECTRO HARMONIX, and from selling them, I quickly learned, they show the same random problems as any other brand from REFLEKTOR. Since the extreme price difference is not justified by the brand name only, they seem too expensive to me. So they are ranked quite low at this list, because of bad price-performance ratio.
The rest - I do not number it from here.
- JJ tubes. I do not want to be the big complainer, but I am no fan from JJ tubes, because O once bought some variation of JJ tubes. They began to drift already on the tube tester. I don't know what caused that, and I sold the lot quickly on Ebay. Even mentioning the problem, but it seemed not to be a problem for selling them.
- Fullmusic. I had many tubes from Fullmusic, which was actually quite a while ago. They seemed not adequately burned in. Test data on the boxes was not accurate at all, and I had quite gas problems.
- Tesla KT88. I can not speak here for older production, NOS tubes. I had many new production KT88 when the factory in Vrusovic still existed, but defect rate was terrible. What worried me even more, they used the old tubes to recycle the pins. (so the 'pearls' which are piece parts they buy from vendors - that looks like a glass pearl with the tube pin coming out).
- EAT KT88. I have to say I know little about them. What I do know, the production tools from Tesla (above) are now in use by KR, who builds the EAT tubes. The price of those is unusual high. So given their performance is good, they still have a poor price / quality ratio to my opinion.
THE NEVER ENDING KT88 RE-BRANDING LIST- (THIS IS WHAT YOU CAN GET, BUT MAY NOT NEED IT)
Don't let anyone mislead you. If there is one tube that a whole crowd of fakers have jumped on, a long time ago, it is the KT88. Every self-respecting faker has "finest" KT88 for sale, and his own brand. Of course, some respectable companies also make finest KT88, but how to keep the those apart? Apart from the Tesla re-brands and re-makes, these are probably all China tubes and.... ALL come from the same factory in China.
When I first ordered tubes from CEIEC China in 1997, there was the sales engineer, who some of yo perhaps still remember, his name was Mr. Li. He told me: Sir, what brand do you want on them?... I said: Well, your factory brand of course! They said: yes sir, we have that too. I was so shocked by this. This shows how easy it is to get "your own" great brand of Chinese tubes. However, when you know the Chinese better you will learn that the way to get quality from them is hard, very very hard, and impossible for most. For them, something that "works" good is a fine product. They sure can make quality but they prefer to sense very delicately what your minimum acceptance level is, and simply send you that. So you won't complain, and they can send you the lower quality, that they know some other company will reject. (or has rejected, and send back). A lot depends on how having a long history with your purchasing channel, and how they have learned about you, and what you find out and not find out.
This problem comes from one particular and actually quite normal Chinese trade method. That is, you are supposed to pay the price they ask, when it is a reasonable price for you personally, like they know it, and like you know it. If you THEN bargain on the price, they regard you no future business partner anymore. You lost your face. Speak in our words, they regards you dishonest. Next thing is, they send you lower quality, that they feel better suits your dishonest price. This they do with an oriental smile on their face, and you get screwed of course. For them this is not screwing, it is giving you what you deserve. The other way around doesn't work, like giving them a real good price and expect real good stuff. They think you must be pretty stupid. So you see, how hard this is, and why so many bad Chinese tube stuff is around. There just is no good way to talk straight with them.
Audio Classic. Sorry folks just REBRANDED Chinese tube
Golden Dragon, England. Sorry folks just REBRANDED Chinese tube.
KR Audio of very old production are re branded Tesla tubes. Some years ago, they got control over old Tesla tools, and now build their own KT88. So this here about re branding, is about very early KR KT88.
RUBY TUBES. I don't see many of them any more, but it was just a re branding name.
IET. Sorry folks just a REBRANDED Chinese tube - gets a bit boring
PHILIPS Miniwatt. Probably Tung-Sol
TAD. Just a brand name, they buy where they like.
Mullard never made KT88
PSVANE is no tube factory, just a brand name. Probably these are made by SHUGUANG. PSVANE KT88 TII has a gray shielding. The shield looks nice, but I have no idea what the practical purpose of this is. I wonder if they put a side getter on the inside of this shield? Probably not. But... where has the side getter gone then? I hope they did not leave it away? Since with KT88 a side getter is a must have. This place of the tube gets very hot, and that's what a getter needs. (Psvane update will follow)
Shuguang KT88-T. (Tressure series) With black coating, purpose of the coating unknown. RSD.
FullMusic KT88/c with carbon plates. Definitely the use of carbon is not recommended by me. This will lead to low lifetime if combined with Barium cathodes, and is only advised for thoriated tungsten tubes, ever since the history of tubes. And no... this engineering law has not changed recently. Well, not that I heard of. Against all knowledge, it has been tried with 300B some years ago, and it these were the lowest lifetime 300B ever, called 4300B. Also the Carbon tubes from Alesa Vaic were a disaster. But.. who cares. We all want to learn from our own mistakes. It has not been tried with KT88, so here is the next experiment, but I have seen enough of it. Do you believe in this? Well good luck.
Northern Electric KT88 is most likely a Fullmusic KT88/c rebranded.
TRONAL. Just marketing Name / brand name.
WESTERN ELECTRIC. Now, Western Electric stopped making tube a long time ago. There is however Charles Whitener who build fully legal replicas in a small factory of himself. I heard some story, they want to build they announced quads of Golden Lion for 1700$. - More info is needed.
- Why TESLA KT88 is NOT JJ KT88!
In the socialistic Czech Republic, it was believed the government was the most suited to lead a tube factory. After 40 years this appeared to be a mistake, and the factory was privatized, and during this process split in several companies. Strangely, also the act of privatization, was carried out under socialistic view. To say it more clear, it was not sold to the highest bidder, but sold for 'good' reasons to 'good' people. Here are some details as I can reconstruct. Some parts manufactured those yellow color street lamps, and mercury light bulbs, etc. I don't know what happened to this part.
The Czech Republic State TESLA electron tubes factory was split in several companies, during privatization. Here is as far as I can reconstruct what happened. Some parts manufactured those yellow color street lamps, and mercury light bulbs, etc. I don't know what happened to this part.
The part that made the Audio tubes, like EL34, ECC83 etc, was sold to Jan Jorgo, who owns now the JJ company.
The part that made the transmitter tubes, and some magnetron tubes was sold to Mr. Malinivic, a very friendly cigar smoking gentleman. His office looked like a cafe because of the smoke. He called the factory TESLA VRUSOVIC. He bought this plant including the buildings. They made some pretty interesting transmitter tubes, some had laser cut grids from a solid block of graphite. I was there and I saw it myself, it was an amazing small machine, but worked beautiful. So they just blast away all graphite, until a solid part is left that is actually is as fine as a tube grid, with very fine 'wires' of graphite. These are miracles of manufacturing. Just touch this grid, and it breaks. Once in the tube they are indestructible.
There was at that time great dissatisfaction about the profit on the transmitter tubes, and some klystrons and magnetrons they made. These tubes have to be evacuated in ovens for four or more days, using lots of energy, and using up the lifetime of the manufacturing equipment. Comes to that a declining market for transmitter tubes, that could not be compensated with higher prices. TESLA VRUSOVIC thought they would like to build a KT88 also, because profits were better than with transmitter tubes. However, all tools were in the hands of JJ, so he had to remake them all, which he actually did.
HOWEVER.... it is not only tools that make a tube. They found that out the hard way. They lost most of the knowledge, lost unreplaceable machines, and happily fired what they thought were useless old workers. Modern times were coming. Good-bye Lenin. They later learned these old men, were senior tube experts that can't be found and they couldn't make (good) KT88 without them. When they realized what they had done, they couldn't get them back. I have visited that production line myself in 2003, but that was after the loss of expertise, and it was in a dying condition. They were building the KT88 line up from scratch, even recycling glass parts from broken tubes. What I saw was a big mess.
Getting back 25 years of experience, but from whom, and how? Questions.... questions... Many bad tubes were the result of these attempts. I was looking and the production line, it looked a bit sad.
There was from 2001--2003 some retro production of the TESLA KT88, with the blue logo. I had three charges of them, and the overall failure rate was 10% within the first six months use. From this the statistic calculations say you have 35% chances on ONE bad tube in a QUAD. As you can understand, this made this business not very pleasant to do.
APRIL 2006. TESLA FACTORY PERMANENTLY CLOSED. This moves TESLA KT88 permanently to the Hall of NOS Tubes - END OF PRODUCTION. Perhaps somebody will take their old tools and re start from scratch again. Well, good luck with it.
KT88 Current Production List.
Electro Harmonix. Made for them by Reflektor Saratov, Russia.
Pro: Matching is done good. No issues with the specifications. When I verify them on the Russian L3-3 tester, using special KT88 cards, all parameters are as they should.
Contra: As with all new production tubes from Reflektor, vacuum can sometimes get lost just in storage, or cathode to grid short or lost vacuum appears directly or short after shipment sometimes.
Overall: Best value for the money.
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Svetlana Winged C. Also called C Logo, written: =C=. Made by Svetlana Petersburg. It is still under current production here, though this factory as said to be closed now. So after 5 years or so, I move them to NOS. This is the Telefunken from Russia. The crowd never honoured this factory as they still could, and per definition wants to wait until it is too late. Added this, they choose totally wrong sales partners, no good distributer, and tried to pick private orders at the same time. Moreover, to my opinion it was a serious mistake to supply New Sensor with their tubes, and allowing them to use the brand Svetlana.
New Sensor started to sell Reflektor KT88 under the Svetlana S-logo brand, and it ended with legal trouble, which ended with a solution which was not very favorable to Svetlana Petersburg.
When the factory was still running, I tried to contact the Russian Svetlana. Their website was totally fuzzy to begin with, about who was in charge. Very quickly I was in contact with several people, in different countries, who all claimed to be a manager and in charge for collecting the money. I did not trust this, and I let go of it.
S-logo Svetlana. Made by Reflektor in Saratov, sold by New Sensor USA.
Pro: This tube is identical to Electro Harmonix KT88. Look for the pro's and con's there.
Con: Some like it some don't, but myself I do not like playing with brand names. IF Svetlana, then from the Svetlana factory.
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JJ Czech Republic has bought the complete equipment for making Audio tubes, from Tesla, in the 1990's, when TESLA thought the market for audio tubes was not interesting anymore. Tesla wanted to focus on Transmitter tubes only. What a BIG mistake that was from Tesla. In the years after the sell off, the audio market soared, and transmitter tubes are sold less and less. The people at JJ are clever, and focussed very hard on making a good KT88, and they succeeded.
Pro: JJ KT88 is a plug & play tube, easy to buy everywhere, price is low, and competition is high. Made on original old TESLA Machines. Not using the superb TESLA Cathode materials though.
Contra:Tesla to my personal opinion is the lowest quality tube there is, I had new tubes here, which seemed not burned in at all. Already after 24 hours, they had totally changed, and not for the better. Only short form data sheets seem tot exist. Like when they little, they can not say something wrong. If you want to check for specifics in a JJ data sheet, you won't find it there. Like they build something like an ECC803S, but add a short from of the ECC83 data sheet with it. So by their own data sheet, their ECC803S is only an ECC83. The JJ KT88 data sheet is made similar. Just what you need always, in in there, and the rest not.
Conclusion: Given they are the lowest price tubes also, we should not complain about this. Not without reason, they are often used by manufacturers as first supply tubes.
SOVTEK KT88. Made by Reflektor in Saratov, sold by New Sensor USA.
Pro: This tube is identical to Electro Harmonix KT88. Look for the pro's and con's there. What I like about this tube, is the coke bottle glass shape.
Con: Some like it some don't, but myself I do not like playing with brand names.
WOW... that was a lot to digest, quite a bit of information there. Ofc, we aren't done yet but we are, essentially, with the information from Jacmusic. Jacmusic is a company and like any company they want to do business, perhaps not at any cost, but it is still a business... maybe to an extent its more of a service than anything else. After all, reading through Jack Vandewalle's material and compare to many other comments found online, they seems to match fairly well.
Russian vacuum tubes. Like most stuff made in Russia, it all depends who you talk to. If you are lucky, you get premium quality and if not... then bad luck. But lets assume everything is in order, then this order would dictate that:
Electro-Harmonix is selected Sovtek tubes, so EH is better than Sovtek. Gold Lion and Tungsol are selected EH, so better than Electro-Harmonix. Tungsol does not have KT88 in their lineup, instead they have the 6550.
Ascending order of quality (high to low).
1) Genalex Gold Lion KT88.
2) Svetlana & Mullard KT88 ... ?
3) Electro-Harmonix KT88
Looking at the price as offered over at: Amplifier Tubes & Valves | Electro-Harmonix, EH Gold, Tung-Sol, Mullard, Genelex, Svetlana, Sovtek, JJ Electronic | Electro-Harmonix - we can arrange the Russian KT88 as:
1) Genalex Gold Lion KT88 - $107 each
2) Svetlana & Mullard KT88 - $85 each
3) Electro-Harmonix KT88 = $82 each
Lower prices exist on other sites.
Reviews and comment on the differences between the Russian tubes will be added later.
(B) JJ KT88's are definitely a budget tube, this is a good choice for when you are building an amp and is fairly inexpensive at $47 each.
(B) EH KT88 is a decent budget tube and better than the JJ tube. Cost is the same as for the JJ tube via www.thetubestore.com
(P) Genalex Golden Lion KT88 must be considered a premium tube, at least when it comes to sound. Lots of people compare the GL to the original GEC KT88. The Golden Lions cost $63 over at www.thetubestore.com.
The endurance or longevity of the Russian tubes is a mixed bag, some claim that their Golden Lions have lasted for many thousand hours while others only got hours out of them before they showed severe problems. But lets assume the GL's are of descent quality and you get 2000-3000 hours from them.
Company Profile.
KR Audio Electronics sro located in Prauge, Czech Republic is a manufacturer of hand-crafted, high quality tubes (all glass is hand blown) and audio equipment. Our company began the research to make improved triodes in 1992 and started its life as a tube manufacturer, first with the historic Marconi valve reproduction and then tubes for audio as an OEM up-grade option in hi-end audio amplifiers in 1994.
The success we found with our products is a direct result of the comparison between the hand-made KR tube and the mass produced tube made on 60+ year old tube machinery. Given the unique technology we have developed, KR was able to satisfy the marketing demand for a better 2 channel stereo for home listening. It has been said that nothing comes closer to live music than our sound reproduction. A KR amplifier in the existing sound system or the application of a KR tube gives the listener increased dynamics, greater detail from the recording, be it vinyl or CD, and an almost tangible imaging.
At present, we design and build 17 different tube amplifier models for all tastes in Hi-Fi including two completely solid state sets. KR continues to manufacture tubes and is the inventor of the Kronzilla, the KR T-1610 tube the largest and most powerful audio tube ever made, but also as industrial designers can make any audio output device. The tube division currently makes 12 models to cover most audio requirements for imporved sound be it a normal up-grade or an innovative design. Please feel free to contact us if you require further information about our company and products.
- EDIT-
There might be something to the statements of some issues with KR Audio tubes and the older Tesla equipment. Here is a thread highlighting some issues. Having guarantee issues with KR Audio? | Audiogon Discussion Forum
That's it for the Czech KR Audio tubes, next part is the Chinese tubes.
(P) Shuguang is perhaps the most influential vacuum tube manufacturer when it comes to delivering KT88's to the world. It is among the most re-branded brand on the market today. They themselves offer 4 different types of KT88.
Teana or Natural Sound series.
Shuguang Teana series KT88-T tube is used for amplifier audio amplification. Teana KT88 adopts high-purity shielding and heat dissipation coating, which effectively reduces the working temperature in the tube, and the whole tube is stable reliable. The anode material imported from Germany can improve its dissipation power, and the ultra-high vacuum pumping device.
The vacuum in the tube is increased by more than two orders of magnitude compared with products of similar manufacturers. Factory exclusive, the cathode emission material is made to have excellent activity, which is beyond the reach of other similar products. The pure gold tube bottom and tube needle not only reflect the nobleness of the whole tube, but also ensure good contact performance with the tube base. Dawn Sound of Nature KT88-T has a good sound balance, good sound bounce, great dynamics, and tone perfect. It can directly replace any model of KT88.
Update.
- Tianlaizhiyin tubes Shuguang Group factory celebrate the 50th anniversary of 2008 after the launch of Treasures series, another great masterpiece!
- This series is the dawn of the R & D team in the version on the basis of the the existing treasures Imperial possession, absorbing domestic and foreign the various gall advantage of, which lasted three years constantly upgrading temper made??.
- The product is very particular about the use of materials, including imports Du tungsten wire, high purity high density vacuum smelting graphite, West German high-density spring carbon plate, the platinum gate, the purity of 99.99% gold pin tube needles, high transparent lead-free glass, the best significantly the luxury of air!
KT88-T characteristics
The KT88-Z tube's construction features gold grid wires and a new internally coated black glass bottle. This unique HPCC coating is known as High Polymer Carbon Compound glass coating and is unique for its ability to reduce stray electron emission that can otherwise reflect off the glass. Shuguang also uses their new "Super Alloy" technology. Originally applied to aviation, aerospace, and military applications, this technology has been successfully used by Shuguang to accomplish directional solidification and single crystallization. This greatly improves the ability of electron emission and electron current stability. This new Shuguang Treasure series required additional parts selection quality control processes, improved vacuum techniques and additional burn-in time and testing. This Shuguang Treasure KT88-Z tube is their premium export grade and purchased direct from Shuguang in China.
Regular series.
Shuguang KT88-98
Based on our customer responses this KT88 tube definitely has the best bang for the buck of all the KT88 Tube Types. The Chinese (Sino) made Shuguang KT88-98 tube features exceptionally balanced sound at a bargain price. From our KT88 tube type listening tests: "The Shuguang KT88-98 tube has perfect clarity from the very bottom to the very top of the frequency spectrum. The separation and clarity really bring out voices and acoustic instruments nicely." The Shuguang KT88-98 has a very open soundstage.
Shuguang GEKT88
The GEKT88 - also sold as a Penta KT88SC, Preferred Series KT88 and TAD KT88-STR and/or STR-Blackplate - is rumored to be Shuguangs direct copy of the now incredibly expensive GEC original. So lets see what the re-branders have to say.
The TubeStore Preferred Series KT88. $69 / €58 each
Our Preferred Series KT88 tube is a versatile high quality tube. It is very musical and with a frequency range balanced from top to bottom. It has a strong detailed bass and smooth highs, with the mids slightly warm yet still detailed. The soundstage is wide and deep. The Preferred Series KT88 construction features a solid plate design and triple getters.
We have been working at sourcing a good quality KT88 tube for the past couple years. This KT88 has excellent quality and for the price is one of the best KT88 in production today. They are custom made for us in China by the Shuguang factory. Our years of experience in testing, rating and listening, combined with customer feedback and knowledge were used to give you the best tube value we can provide. These are tubes that consistently provide us with positive customer feedback.
This tube is also sold as or known as Penta KT88SC or KT88-SC tube.
TAD KT88-STR and KT88-STR-Blackplate - €58 and €78 respectively.
The latest version of our TAD KT88-STR is built in the style of the early British MOV KT88. It has the same big and heavy glass envelope and beautifully polished metal base. Its wonderful tone and great appearance make this tube the most attractive choice for high-end audio applications and powerful bass guitar amps.
It offers a vivid and three-dimensional tone, pleasingly warm, detailed and with subtle highs. A very musical reaction, with great sound and finest details in mids and top-end; a linear and harmonious overall response with a very natural tone, make the TAD KT88-STR our favorite tube in the KT88 and 6550A class.
The TAD KT88-STR BLACKPLATE is a high-end KT88. A timeless classic desgin.
Premium Selected & Matched by TAD in Germany.
TAD BLACKPLATE
characteristics:
⦁ very detailed and defined tone
⦁ natural and relaxed sound characteristics
⦁ lively portrayal of voices
⦁ perfect for complex and three-dimensional sounds
⦁ consistent thermal operation
⦁ long tube-life because of stable heat dissipation
Shuguang Black Treasure KT88-Z and TAD KT88-STR BLACKPLATE cost nearly the same at €73 and €78 each. The Shuguang KT88-T which is their finest tube comes in at roughly $80 or €67 each.
Valve Art KT88
Jacmusic: This KT88 is said to be made on original old machines from the M.O. Valve company, UK. The tube base is kitted to the glass, so you won't have any vacuum defects due by mechanical stress from pulling out the tube often. (Note: This is a weakness of some KT88, like TESLA) . We offer a version with a nice polished nickel plated tube base.
cost of tube is circa $40 each. Possibly a Shuguang GEKT88 ?
(P) And finally we have the Psvane vacuum tubes KT88-TII.
Q: What is new with Psvane TII series vacuum tubes?
A: The improvement and modification of TII series compared to the previous T-series include:
Crystallized carbon grey coating inside the tube: This makes the TII series tubes to be a ‘grey bottle’, not a ‘black bottle’. The Crystallized carbon coating technology used in vacuum tubes have been patented by Psvane Audio in China and pending abroad. The benefit of the Crystallized Carbon coating will improve on absorbing random electrons inside the vacuum tube and dissipating heat more efficiently under extreme temperature, which will further enhance the stability of the vacuum tubes.
Teflon Base with Oxidized Aluminum Collar: instead of using fragile ceramic base, the TII series tubes use low conductance and highly durable Teflon materials for the base (no including the guide pin in the middle) to improve on anti-corrosion and anti-breakage. The brass-color sandy Oxidized aluminum collar around the Teflon base is anti-corrosion as well – no more finger prints and oxidization on the tube base with time of use, and your tubes will maintain a prestige condition for a long time.
Product logo engraved on the base, not printed on the glass enclosure: As many tube amps have tube sockets installed in various directions based on circuit layout, previously the printed logo on the black bottle tubes may face inconsistent directions. TII series have logo only engraved on the base so your amp will maintain a consistent and highly desirable appearance for all TII series tubes.
Higher quality glass enclosure: Higher quality glass is used for the new TII series to offer a better hand feel of the tubes, plus slightly heavier weight (approx 10% among all models) than previous series.
Last but not least – Sound Quality not a tiny bit less: TII series offers not a tiny bit less sound quality than the previous T-series. The new coating materials offer an even better music presentation in terms of minor 3D imaging improvement, layering and clarity. You will not lose anything in terms of sound by going for the latest and newest TII series if T-series are phased out and will gain all the greatly improved workmanship mentioned above.
$225 / €190 for a pair
Source or Reference:
1) The KT88 / KT66 /6550 Directory
2) General Electric Company - Wikipedia
3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KT88
4) https://www.europeanaudioteam.com/en/e.a.t.-kt88-diamond-valve-wp000023.html
5) https://www.thetubestore.com/shuguang-treasure-kt88-z
6) http://www.shuguangdianziguan.com/product/
7) https://www.thetubestore.com/shuguang-kt88-98
8) https://www.thetubestore.com/preferred-series-kt88
9) https://www.tubeampdoctor.com/en/tad-kt88-str-blackplate-premium-matched
10) https://jacmusic.com/valveart/intro.htm
11) https://psvanetube.com/wordpress/product/kt88-tii-quad/
12) http://www.kraudio.com/
13) https://sgdz.world.taobao.com/shop/....14.17.60c94cc2oZjhKX&user_number_id=90563453
14) https://www.hifi-amplifiers.com/en/...e-quad4-kt88t-vacuum-tube-matched-p-5246.html
***
What is the goal ?
To put it simple. Locate or establish a high quality budget friendly KT88 (B) or a premium KT88 (P) which is in production (very important). The former focuses more on keeping the cost relatively low yet maintain a "representative" sound profile and build quality, while the later focuses more on absolute premium in both aspects, also here, the cost is of less value. NOS tubes of yesteryear (besides reference) has to be left on the sideline. Using older brands as a reference is fine since does older tubes is what started it all. I have collected source links at the bottom of the page.
The main reason for looking at new production is that generally speaking it should be the same or even better than NOS, but mostly, I/we can collect them for use in the future. As you know, tubes are consumable and need to be replaced from time to time, NOS tubes run out and at that stage you are left with what is being produced today, so one might as well look at what is considered good in 2020 >
Some KT88 history.
Beam tetrode. Upgrade of KT66, designed by M-OV (GEC, UK). KT stands for 'Kinkless Tetrode.' KT88 and 6550 are very similar tubes. GEC was active between 1886 and 1999. The KT88 was introduced by GEC in 1956 as a larger variant of the KT66. It was manufactured in the U.K. by the MOV (Marconi-Osram Valve) subsidiary of G.E.C, also labelled as IEC/Mullard, and, in the U.S., Genelex Gold Lion.
The GEC KT88 is the reference, this is the tube most drool over. A single GEC KT88 can demand £300 or close to $390 - for a single tube. Fake or used tubes appear to be relatively common.
Jacmusic (honor section)
The M-OV or MOV Valve company does not existing anymore. NEW SENSOR in New York today owns the brand rights of the 'GOLD LION' brand. That is all they own. They do not use the original tools, neither are their new tools copies of the original tools. The GOLDEN LION tubes, sold by NEW SENSOR, are made in the Reflektor factory in Saratov Russia, and inside I see the plain old Electro Harmonix construction, as they used always, which resembles their 6L6 optically. Which for me is not a real KT88. Sorry. You can think of this what you want, and you should. The Golden Lion tubes made by new Sensor have nothing to do with the originals, made by the MO Valve company. Also, the quality of New Sensor doesn't even close.
So I do not recommend the expensive GOLDEN LION tubes, sold by NEW SENSOR. For the half the price you have Electro Harmonix by NEW SENSOR, and to me they seem identical. Quality is the same (medium) level. Problem with NEW SENSOR tubes, was for me, they develop gas on stock. They were fine when I received them, but sometimes tubes can be on stock for a few years, and I had several that developed gas.
What follows is only my personal opinion, from selling tubes since the last 25 years. I would prefer them in this order. Please excuse me for being a bit direct, but I do not want to contribute to any fairy tales and other kind of obscure stories. So what is good is good, and what is bad is bad, I just say it here.
Number1: GENALEX/GEC. Made in England. NOS with good test data, which is all you need. As you can blindly trust most other data, such as leakage etc. The holy grail of course, not available, and no realistic solution for that reason. Be careful with used tubes of this kind, because prices are still very high, but a great brand will not protect you from being sold tubes at the end of life. I would say, this is something to buy only from reliable professionals. And typically not buy it on Ebay without return option.
Number2: Svetlana C-Logo KT88. Hard to get, but possible. Looking for NOS.... your hunt may be successful.Keep apart the Winged-C Svetlana which are the ones made by Svetlana, and the S-LOGO not made by Svetlana at all, by made by REFLEKTOR and sold by NEW SENSOR. In fact Svetlana Petersburg sued New Sensor for this, and the result was some kind of arrangement. Just the C-logo, new Sensor did not get under their control. Also the words 'St. Petersburg' may only be used if made there indeed. So the C-Logo is the proof for genuine tubes from St. Petersburg. So my number #2 choice here is the original WINGED-C Svetlana.
Number3: The most realistic good choice: Chinese KT88. These seem to have the best price / performance ratio, but the Chinese mix a few bad tubes under the good, always. They get away with that, and they know it. So what leaves the factory, is a strange mix of mainly good tubes, and a few bad ones amongst them. Unclear matching, and not enough burn in. This makes them very suited for professional sellers that have really good equipment. (Meaning not just a Hickok tester). In industry this is called 'uptesting'. So a good dealer separates the bad from the good, and offer the good ones to his loyal customers, with fine matching data. From a lot of 100, you can get a good selection of such quads. For the less good ones there is a nice market on Ebay, where good product feedback is for low price and fast shipment anyway.
VALVE ART KT88, which is a Shuguang Factory Tube. Shuguang is the largest tube factory in China, and they brand the tubes for everybody who wants it, with any brand whatsoever. So the black beauty, golden treasure, green dragon, Valve Art, and very many more fantasy names, they all come from the same factory outlet, called SHUGUANG. Since many Chinese tubes are now better than there reputation, they are here under preferred brands.
Number4: Electro Harmonix - Sovtek - Svetlana S-logo. All the same tubes, just another jacket. You can take the lowest priced, Electro Harmonix. That is because the more expensive brands, are not better specified, no longer life, and no longer guarantee. Electro Harmonix is a reasonable tube for a reasonable price.
Number5: New Sensor owns the GOLDEN LION brand now, and like all tubes from them, they come from the same factory, called REFLEKTOR.
All recent production Reflektor tubes show random vacuum problems, more than any other tube brand I know. NOS Reflektor is generally good quality, but not as perfect as Svetlana. However new production Reflektor, I find disappointing. Vacuum can get lost, just by stocking unused tubes, grid to cathode shorts develop after shipment, and parameters are quite variable in general. I even had tubes which were mounted in the socket with one pin rotated. Which indicates they are tested before socketing but not after.
GOLDEN LION seem identical construction as ELECTRO HARMONIX, and from selling them, I quickly learned, they show the same random problems as any other brand from REFLEKTOR. Since the extreme price difference is not justified by the brand name only, they seem too expensive to me. So they are ranked quite low at this list, because of bad price-performance ratio.
The rest - I do not number it from here.
- JJ tubes. I do not want to be the big complainer, but I am no fan from JJ tubes, because O once bought some variation of JJ tubes. They began to drift already on the tube tester. I don't know what caused that, and I sold the lot quickly on Ebay. Even mentioning the problem, but it seemed not to be a problem for selling them.
- Fullmusic. I had many tubes from Fullmusic, which was actually quite a while ago. They seemed not adequately burned in. Test data on the boxes was not accurate at all, and I had quite gas problems.
- Tesla KT88. I can not speak here for older production, NOS tubes. I had many new production KT88 when the factory in Vrusovic still existed, but defect rate was terrible. What worried me even more, they used the old tubes to recycle the pins. (so the 'pearls' which are piece parts they buy from vendors - that looks like a glass pearl with the tube pin coming out).
- EAT KT88. I have to say I know little about them. What I do know, the production tools from Tesla (above) are now in use by KR, who builds the EAT tubes. The price of those is unusual high. So given their performance is good, they still have a poor price / quality ratio to my opinion.
THE NEVER ENDING KT88 RE-BRANDING LIST- (THIS IS WHAT YOU CAN GET, BUT MAY NOT NEED IT)
Don't let anyone mislead you. If there is one tube that a whole crowd of fakers have jumped on, a long time ago, it is the KT88. Every self-respecting faker has "finest" KT88 for sale, and his own brand. Of course, some respectable companies also make finest KT88, but how to keep the those apart? Apart from the Tesla re-brands and re-makes, these are probably all China tubes and.... ALL come from the same factory in China.
When I first ordered tubes from CEIEC China in 1997, there was the sales engineer, who some of yo perhaps still remember, his name was Mr. Li. He told me: Sir, what brand do you want on them?... I said: Well, your factory brand of course! They said: yes sir, we have that too. I was so shocked by this. This shows how easy it is to get "your own" great brand of Chinese tubes. However, when you know the Chinese better you will learn that the way to get quality from them is hard, very very hard, and impossible for most. For them, something that "works" good is a fine product. They sure can make quality but they prefer to sense very delicately what your minimum acceptance level is, and simply send you that. So you won't complain, and they can send you the lower quality, that they know some other company will reject. (or has rejected, and send back). A lot depends on how having a long history with your purchasing channel, and how they have learned about you, and what you find out and not find out.
This problem comes from one particular and actually quite normal Chinese trade method. That is, you are supposed to pay the price they ask, when it is a reasonable price for you personally, like they know it, and like you know it. If you THEN bargain on the price, they regard you no future business partner anymore. You lost your face. Speak in our words, they regards you dishonest. Next thing is, they send you lower quality, that they feel better suits your dishonest price. This they do with an oriental smile on their face, and you get screwed of course. For them this is not screwing, it is giving you what you deserve. The other way around doesn't work, like giving them a real good price and expect real good stuff. They think you must be pretty stupid. So you see, how hard this is, and why so many bad Chinese tube stuff is around. There just is no good way to talk straight with them.
Audio Classic. Sorry folks just REBRANDED Chinese tube
Golden Dragon, England. Sorry folks just REBRANDED Chinese tube.
KR Audio of very old production are re branded Tesla tubes. Some years ago, they got control over old Tesla tools, and now build their own KT88. So this here about re branding, is about very early KR KT88.
RUBY TUBES. I don't see many of them any more, but it was just a re branding name.
IET. Sorry folks just a REBRANDED Chinese tube - gets a bit boring
PHILIPS Miniwatt. Probably Tung-Sol
TAD. Just a brand name, they buy where they like.
Mullard never made KT88
PSVANE is no tube factory, just a brand name. Probably these are made by SHUGUANG. PSVANE KT88 TII has a gray shielding. The shield looks nice, but I have no idea what the practical purpose of this is. I wonder if they put a side getter on the inside of this shield? Probably not. But... where has the side getter gone then? I hope they did not leave it away? Since with KT88 a side getter is a must have. This place of the tube gets very hot, and that's what a getter needs. (Psvane update will follow)
Shuguang KT88-T. (Tressure series) With black coating, purpose of the coating unknown. RSD.
FullMusic KT88/c with carbon plates. Definitely the use of carbon is not recommended by me. This will lead to low lifetime if combined with Barium cathodes, and is only advised for thoriated tungsten tubes, ever since the history of tubes. And no... this engineering law has not changed recently. Well, not that I heard of. Against all knowledge, it has been tried with 300B some years ago, and it these were the lowest lifetime 300B ever, called 4300B. Also the Carbon tubes from Alesa Vaic were a disaster. But.. who cares. We all want to learn from our own mistakes. It has not been tried with KT88, so here is the next experiment, but I have seen enough of it. Do you believe in this? Well good luck.
Northern Electric KT88 is most likely a Fullmusic KT88/c rebranded.
TRONAL. Just marketing Name / brand name.
WESTERN ELECTRIC. Now, Western Electric stopped making tube a long time ago. There is however Charles Whitener who build fully legal replicas in a small factory of himself. I heard some story, they want to build they announced quads of Golden Lion for 1700$. - More info is needed.
- Why TESLA KT88 is NOT JJ KT88!
In the socialistic Czech Republic, it was believed the government was the most suited to lead a tube factory. After 40 years this appeared to be a mistake, and the factory was privatized, and during this process split in several companies. Strangely, also the act of privatization, was carried out under socialistic view. To say it more clear, it was not sold to the highest bidder, but sold for 'good' reasons to 'good' people. Here are some details as I can reconstruct. Some parts manufactured those yellow color street lamps, and mercury light bulbs, etc. I don't know what happened to this part.
The Czech Republic State TESLA electron tubes factory was split in several companies, during privatization. Here is as far as I can reconstruct what happened. Some parts manufactured those yellow color street lamps, and mercury light bulbs, etc. I don't know what happened to this part.
The part that made the Audio tubes, like EL34, ECC83 etc, was sold to Jan Jorgo, who owns now the JJ company.
The part that made the transmitter tubes, and some magnetron tubes was sold to Mr. Malinivic, a very friendly cigar smoking gentleman. His office looked like a cafe because of the smoke. He called the factory TESLA VRUSOVIC. He bought this plant including the buildings. They made some pretty interesting transmitter tubes, some had laser cut grids from a solid block of graphite. I was there and I saw it myself, it was an amazing small machine, but worked beautiful. So they just blast away all graphite, until a solid part is left that is actually is as fine as a tube grid, with very fine 'wires' of graphite. These are miracles of manufacturing. Just touch this grid, and it breaks. Once in the tube they are indestructible.
There was at that time great dissatisfaction about the profit on the transmitter tubes, and some klystrons and magnetrons they made. These tubes have to be evacuated in ovens for four or more days, using lots of energy, and using up the lifetime of the manufacturing equipment. Comes to that a declining market for transmitter tubes, that could not be compensated with higher prices. TESLA VRUSOVIC thought they would like to build a KT88 also, because profits were better than with transmitter tubes. However, all tools were in the hands of JJ, so he had to remake them all, which he actually did.
HOWEVER.... it is not only tools that make a tube. They found that out the hard way. They lost most of the knowledge, lost unreplaceable machines, and happily fired what they thought were useless old workers. Modern times were coming. Good-bye Lenin. They later learned these old men, were senior tube experts that can't be found and they couldn't make (good) KT88 without them. When they realized what they had done, they couldn't get them back. I have visited that production line myself in 2003, but that was after the loss of expertise, and it was in a dying condition. They were building the KT88 line up from scratch, even recycling glass parts from broken tubes. What I saw was a big mess.
Getting back 25 years of experience, but from whom, and how? Questions.... questions... Many bad tubes were the result of these attempts. I was looking and the production line, it looked a bit sad.
There was from 2001--2003 some retro production of the TESLA KT88, with the blue logo. I had three charges of them, and the overall failure rate was 10% within the first six months use. From this the statistic calculations say you have 35% chances on ONE bad tube in a QUAD. As you can understand, this made this business not very pleasant to do.
APRIL 2006. TESLA FACTORY PERMANENTLY CLOSED. This moves TESLA KT88 permanently to the Hall of NOS Tubes - END OF PRODUCTION. Perhaps somebody will take their old tools and re start from scratch again. Well, good luck with it.
KT88 Current Production List.
Electro Harmonix. Made for them by Reflektor Saratov, Russia.
Pro: Matching is done good. No issues with the specifications. When I verify them on the Russian L3-3 tester, using special KT88 cards, all parameters are as they should.
Contra: As with all new production tubes from Reflektor, vacuum can sometimes get lost just in storage, or cathode to grid short or lost vacuum appears directly or short after shipment sometimes.
Overall: Best value for the money.
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Svetlana Winged C. Also called C Logo, written: =C=. Made by Svetlana Petersburg. It is still under current production here, though this factory as said to be closed now. So after 5 years or so, I move them to NOS. This is the Telefunken from Russia. The crowd never honoured this factory as they still could, and per definition wants to wait until it is too late. Added this, they choose totally wrong sales partners, no good distributer, and tried to pick private orders at the same time. Moreover, to my opinion it was a serious mistake to supply New Sensor with their tubes, and allowing them to use the brand Svetlana.
New Sensor started to sell Reflektor KT88 under the Svetlana S-logo brand, and it ended with legal trouble, which ended with a solution which was not very favorable to Svetlana Petersburg.
When the factory was still running, I tried to contact the Russian Svetlana. Their website was totally fuzzy to begin with, about who was in charge. Very quickly I was in contact with several people, in different countries, who all claimed to be a manager and in charge for collecting the money. I did not trust this, and I let go of it.
S-logo Svetlana. Made by Reflektor in Saratov, sold by New Sensor USA.
Pro: This tube is identical to Electro Harmonix KT88. Look for the pro's and con's there.
Con: Some like it some don't, but myself I do not like playing with brand names. IF Svetlana, then from the Svetlana factory.
-
JJ Czech Republic has bought the complete equipment for making Audio tubes, from Tesla, in the 1990's, when TESLA thought the market for audio tubes was not interesting anymore. Tesla wanted to focus on Transmitter tubes only. What a BIG mistake that was from Tesla. In the years after the sell off, the audio market soared, and transmitter tubes are sold less and less. The people at JJ are clever, and focussed very hard on making a good KT88, and they succeeded.
Pro: JJ KT88 is a plug & play tube, easy to buy everywhere, price is low, and competition is high. Made on original old TESLA Machines. Not using the superb TESLA Cathode materials though.
Contra:Tesla to my personal opinion is the lowest quality tube there is, I had new tubes here, which seemed not burned in at all. Already after 24 hours, they had totally changed, and not for the better. Only short form data sheets seem tot exist. Like when they little, they can not say something wrong. If you want to check for specifics in a JJ data sheet, you won't find it there. Like they build something like an ECC803S, but add a short from of the ECC83 data sheet with it. So by their own data sheet, their ECC803S is only an ECC83. The JJ KT88 data sheet is made similar. Just what you need always, in in there, and the rest not.
Conclusion: Given they are the lowest price tubes also, we should not complain about this. Not without reason, they are often used by manufacturers as first supply tubes.
SOVTEK KT88. Made by Reflektor in Saratov, sold by New Sensor USA.
Pro: This tube is identical to Electro Harmonix KT88. Look for the pro's and con's there. What I like about this tube, is the coke bottle glass shape.
Con: Some like it some don't, but myself I do not like playing with brand names.
- End of Jacmusic honor section -
WOW... that was a lot to digest, quite a bit of information there. Ofc, we aren't done yet but we are, essentially, with the information from Jacmusic. Jacmusic is a company and like any company they want to do business, perhaps not at any cost, but it is still a business... maybe to an extent its more of a service than anything else. After all, reading through Jack Vandewalle's material and compare to many other comments found online, they seems to match fairly well.
Russian vacuum tubes. Like most stuff made in Russia, it all depends who you talk to. If you are lucky, you get premium quality and if not... then bad luck. But lets assume everything is in order, then this order would dictate that:
Electro-Harmonix is selected Sovtek tubes, so EH is better than Sovtek. Gold Lion and Tungsol are selected EH, so better than Electro-Harmonix. Tungsol does not have KT88 in their lineup, instead they have the 6550.
Ascending order of quality (high to low).
1) Genalex Gold Lion KT88.
2) Svetlana & Mullard KT88 ... ?
3) Electro-Harmonix KT88
Looking at the price as offered over at: Amplifier Tubes & Valves | Electro-Harmonix, EH Gold, Tung-Sol, Mullard, Genelex, Svetlana, Sovtek, JJ Electronic | Electro-Harmonix - we can arrange the Russian KT88 as:
1) Genalex Gold Lion KT88 - $107 each
2) Svetlana & Mullard KT88 - $85 each
3) Electro-Harmonix KT88 = $82 each
Lower prices exist on other sites.
Reviews and comment on the differences between the Russian tubes will be added later.
(B) JJ KT88's are definitely a budget tube, this is a good choice for when you are building an amp and is fairly inexpensive at $47 each.
(B) EH KT88 is a decent budget tube and better than the JJ tube. Cost is the same as for the JJ tube via www.thetubestore.com
(P) Genalex Golden Lion KT88 must be considered a premium tube, at least when it comes to sound. Lots of people compare the GL to the original GEC KT88. The Golden Lions cost $63 over at www.thetubestore.com.
The endurance or longevity of the Russian tubes is a mixed bag, some claim that their Golden Lions have lasted for many thousand hours while others only got hours out of them before they showed severe problems. But lets assume the GL's are of descent quality and you get 2000-3000 hours from them.
Leaving the Russian tubes behind us, we can now take a trip to Czech Republic where KT Audio exist.
Company Profile.
KR Audio Electronics sro located in Prauge, Czech Republic is a manufacturer of hand-crafted, high quality tubes (all glass is hand blown) and audio equipment. Our company began the research to make improved triodes in 1992 and started its life as a tube manufacturer, first with the historic Marconi valve reproduction and then tubes for audio as an OEM up-grade option in hi-end audio amplifiers in 1994.
The success we found with our products is a direct result of the comparison between the hand-made KR tube and the mass produced tube made on 60+ year old tube machinery. Given the unique technology we have developed, KR was able to satisfy the marketing demand for a better 2 channel stereo for home listening. It has been said that nothing comes closer to live music than our sound reproduction. A KR amplifier in the existing sound system or the application of a KR tube gives the listener increased dynamics, greater detail from the recording, be it vinyl or CD, and an almost tangible imaging.
At present, we design and build 17 different tube amplifier models for all tastes in Hi-Fi including two completely solid state sets. KR continues to manufacture tubes and is the inventor of the Kronzilla, the KR T-1610 tube the largest and most powerful audio tube ever made, but also as industrial designers can make any audio output device. The tube division currently makes 12 models to cover most audio requirements for imporved sound be it a normal up-grade or an innovative design. Please feel free to contact us if you require further information about our company and products.
KRON Audio KT88 factory matched PAIR - €350 / $412
A select KR Audio KT88 is the EAT KT88 Diamond (European Audio Team), roughly twice the price of your normal KR Audio KT88. Coming in at €1.599 or $1800 for a matched quartet (4) - Making each tube valued at €399 / $470. Best of the best ???
A select KR Audio KT88 is the EAT KT88 Diamond (European Audio Team), roughly twice the price of your normal KR Audio KT88. Coming in at €1.599 or $1800 for a matched quartet (4) - Making each tube valued at €399 / $470. Best of the best ???
- EDIT-
There might be something to the statements of some issues with KR Audio tubes and the older Tesla equipment. Here is a thread highlighting some issues. Having guarantee issues with KR Audio? | Audiogon Discussion Forum
That's it for the Czech KR Audio tubes, next part is the Chinese tubes.
(P) Shuguang is perhaps the most influential vacuum tube manufacturer when it comes to delivering KT88's to the world. It is among the most re-branded brand on the market today. They themselves offer 4 different types of KT88.
Teana or Natural Sound series.
Shuguang Teana series KT88-T tube is used for amplifier audio amplification. Teana KT88 adopts high-purity shielding and heat dissipation coating, which effectively reduces the working temperature in the tube, and the whole tube is stable reliable. The anode material imported from Germany can improve its dissipation power, and the ultra-high vacuum pumping device.
The vacuum in the tube is increased by more than two orders of magnitude compared with products of similar manufacturers. Factory exclusive, the cathode emission material is made to have excellent activity, which is beyond the reach of other similar products. The pure gold tube bottom and tube needle not only reflect the nobleness of the whole tube, but also ensure good contact performance with the tube base. Dawn Sound of Nature KT88-T has a good sound balance, good sound bounce, great dynamics, and tone perfect. It can directly replace any model of KT88.
Update.
- Tianlaizhiyin tubes Shuguang Group factory celebrate the 50th anniversary of 2008 after the launch of Treasures series, another great masterpiece!
- This series is the dawn of the R & D team in the version on the basis of the the existing treasures Imperial possession, absorbing domestic and foreign the various gall advantage of, which lasted three years constantly upgrading temper made??.
- The product is very particular about the use of materials, including imports Du tungsten wire, high purity high density vacuum smelting graphite, West German high-density spring carbon plate, the platinum gate, the purity of 99.99% gold pin tube needles, high transparent lead-free glass, the best significantly the luxury of air!
KT88-T characteristics
- In improved design based on GEKT88 and Gold Lion KT88
- Critical materials imported
- The ultra-high vacuum, clean and environmentally friendly manufacturing, withstand voltage up to 800 volts, life expectancy more than doubled
- Oversized board consumption design, more resistant to the impact of a large dynamic
- Balanced sound fine lubrication is both the KT88 dynamic powerful, yet aristocratic temperament.
- Teana absorb the essence of each KT88-T, relaxed sound, the details clear, rigorous, interesting, amplifier for stunning sound.
- Decent shape design, in line with the Chinese and Western aesthetic taste
- Reliable is the dawn of, KT88 their fundamental
The KT88-Z tube's construction features gold grid wires and a new internally coated black glass bottle. This unique HPCC coating is known as High Polymer Carbon Compound glass coating and is unique for its ability to reduce stray electron emission that can otherwise reflect off the glass. Shuguang also uses their new "Super Alloy" technology. Originally applied to aviation, aerospace, and military applications, this technology has been successfully used by Shuguang to accomplish directional solidification and single crystallization. This greatly improves the ability of electron emission and electron current stability. This new Shuguang Treasure series required additional parts selection quality control processes, improved vacuum techniques and additional burn-in time and testing. This Shuguang Treasure KT88-Z tube is their premium export grade and purchased direct from Shuguang in China.
Regular series.
Shuguang KT88-98
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Based on our customer responses this KT88 tube definitely has the best bang for the buck of all the KT88 Tube Types. The Chinese (Sino) made Shuguang KT88-98 tube features exceptionally balanced sound at a bargain price. From our KT88 tube type listening tests: "The Shuguang KT88-98 tube has perfect clarity from the very bottom to the very top of the frequency spectrum. The separation and clarity really bring out voices and acoustic instruments nicely." The Shuguang KT88-98 has a very open soundstage.
Shuguang GEKT88
The GEKT88 - also sold as a Penta KT88SC, Preferred Series KT88 and TAD KT88-STR and/or STR-Blackplate - is rumored to be Shuguangs direct copy of the now incredibly expensive GEC original. So lets see what the re-branders have to say.
The TubeStore Preferred Series KT88. $69 / €58 each
Our Preferred Series KT88 tube is a versatile high quality tube. It is very musical and with a frequency range balanced from top to bottom. It has a strong detailed bass and smooth highs, with the mids slightly warm yet still detailed. The soundstage is wide and deep. The Preferred Series KT88 construction features a solid plate design and triple getters.
We have been working at sourcing a good quality KT88 tube for the past couple years. This KT88 has excellent quality and for the price is one of the best KT88 in production today. They are custom made for us in China by the Shuguang factory. Our years of experience in testing, rating and listening, combined with customer feedback and knowledge were used to give you the best tube value we can provide. These are tubes that consistently provide us with positive customer feedback.
This tube is also sold as or known as Penta KT88SC or KT88-SC tube.
TAD KT88-STR and KT88-STR-Blackplate - €58 and €78 respectively.
The latest version of our TAD KT88-STR is built in the style of the early British MOV KT88. It has the same big and heavy glass envelope and beautifully polished metal base. Its wonderful tone and great appearance make this tube the most attractive choice for high-end audio applications and powerful bass guitar amps.
It offers a vivid and three-dimensional tone, pleasingly warm, detailed and with subtle highs. A very musical reaction, with great sound and finest details in mids and top-end; a linear and harmonious overall response with a very natural tone, make the TAD KT88-STR our favorite tube in the KT88 and 6550A class.
The TAD KT88-STR BLACKPLATE is a high-end KT88. A timeless classic desgin.
Premium Selected & Matched by TAD in Germany.
TAD BLACKPLATE
characteristics:
⦁ very detailed and defined tone
⦁ natural and relaxed sound characteristics
⦁ lively portrayal of voices
⦁ perfect for complex and three-dimensional sounds
⦁ consistent thermal operation
⦁ long tube-life because of stable heat dissipation
Shuguang Black Treasure KT88-Z and TAD KT88-STR BLACKPLATE cost nearly the same at €73 and €78 each. The Shuguang KT88-T which is their finest tube comes in at roughly $80 or €67 each.
Valve Art KT88
Jacmusic: This KT88 is said to be made on original old machines from the M.O. Valve company, UK. The tube base is kitted to the glass, so you won't have any vacuum defects due by mechanical stress from pulling out the tube often. (Note: This is a weakness of some KT88, like TESLA) . We offer a version with a nice polished nickel plated tube base.
cost of tube is circa $40 each. Possibly a Shuguang GEKT88 ?
(P) And finally we have the Psvane vacuum tubes KT88-TII.
Q: What is new with Psvane TII series vacuum tubes?
A: The improvement and modification of TII series compared to the previous T-series include:
Crystallized carbon grey coating inside the tube: This makes the TII series tubes to be a ‘grey bottle’, not a ‘black bottle’. The Crystallized carbon coating technology used in vacuum tubes have been patented by Psvane Audio in China and pending abroad. The benefit of the Crystallized Carbon coating will improve on absorbing random electrons inside the vacuum tube and dissipating heat more efficiently under extreme temperature, which will further enhance the stability of the vacuum tubes.
Teflon Base with Oxidized Aluminum Collar: instead of using fragile ceramic base, the TII series tubes use low conductance and highly durable Teflon materials for the base (no including the guide pin in the middle) to improve on anti-corrosion and anti-breakage. The brass-color sandy Oxidized aluminum collar around the Teflon base is anti-corrosion as well – no more finger prints and oxidization on the tube base with time of use, and your tubes will maintain a prestige condition for a long time.
Product logo engraved on the base, not printed on the glass enclosure: As many tube amps have tube sockets installed in various directions based on circuit layout, previously the printed logo on the black bottle tubes may face inconsistent directions. TII series have logo only engraved on the base so your amp will maintain a consistent and highly desirable appearance for all TII series tubes.
Higher quality glass enclosure: Higher quality glass is used for the new TII series to offer a better hand feel of the tubes, plus slightly heavier weight (approx 10% among all models) than previous series.
Last but not least – Sound Quality not a tiny bit less: TII series offers not a tiny bit less sound quality than the previous T-series. The new coating materials offer an even better music presentation in terms of minor 3D imaging improvement, layering and clarity. You will not lose anything in terms of sound by going for the latest and newest TII series if T-series are phased out and will gain all the greatly improved workmanship mentioned above.
$225 / €190 for a pair
***
That is it when it comes to new KT88 tubes, there is the Russian, Czech or Chinese variant. When it comes to user reviews and comments in general about these tubes, I will draft a new and separate reply for that so keep your eye out for that.
1) The KT88 / KT66 /6550 Directory
2) General Electric Company - Wikipedia
3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KT88
4) https://www.europeanaudioteam.com/en/e.a.t.-kt88-diamond-valve-wp000023.html
5) https://www.thetubestore.com/shuguang-treasure-kt88-z
6) http://www.shuguangdianziguan.com/product/
7) https://www.thetubestore.com/shuguang-kt88-98
8) https://www.thetubestore.com/preferred-series-kt88
9) https://www.tubeampdoctor.com/en/tad-kt88-str-blackplate-premium-matched
10) https://jacmusic.com/valveart/intro.htm
11) https://psvanetube.com/wordpress/product/kt88-tii-quad/
12) http://www.kraudio.com/
13) https://sgdz.world.taobao.com/shop/....14.17.60c94cc2oZjhKX&user_number_id=90563453
14) https://www.hifi-amplifiers.com/en/...e-quad4-kt88t-vacuum-tube-matched-p-5246.html
>>> The Shuguang factory which made KT88's experienced a fire in 2019 and has not proudced any new tubes. The hopes are that the new factory will get up and running soon. ASAP as more information is available, it will be punlished.
April 2021 has been mentioned. <<<
April 2021 has been mentioned. <<<
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Schuguang info.
The document displayed on Shuguang's webape, when translated, becomes the following info:
its a declaration about
1. Shuguang factory’s production line is at shutdown condition due to the relocation
2. Shuguang factory havent produce any “shuguang” or “SG” trademark vaccum tube amplifiers.
3. Shuguang keep the right of pursue legal action against the people spreading false information about shuguang
Information was released on the 17/01/2020
? ? - ??????????
So there is the confirmation that the plant is being moved or relocated.
The document displayed on Shuguang's webape, when translated, becomes the following info:
its a declaration about
1. Shuguang factory’s production line is at shutdown condition due to the relocation
2. Shuguang factory havent produce any “shuguang” or “SG” trademark vaccum tube amplifiers.
3. Shuguang keep the right of pursue legal action against the people spreading false information about shuguang
Information was released on the 17/01/2020
? ? - ??????????
So there is the confirmation that the plant is being moved or relocated.
Attachments
That is a nice collection of information.
But watch out for thinking the 6550 and KT88 are interchangeable.
Generalization:
KT88 maximum Rg 270k / 100k fixed bias; 470k / 220k self bias. (At Plate+Screen Dissipation of 35W / >35W respectively).
6550 maximum Rg 50k fixed bias; 250k self bias.
Tube roll a 6550 into a KT88 socket.
Your Mileage May Vary.
Red Plates may occur.
Using the 6550 requires a lower DC return resistance than for a KT88.
It also makes the driver design more difficult for the 6550 than for the KT88.
Just sayin'
But watch out for thinking the 6550 and KT88 are interchangeable.
Generalization:
KT88 maximum Rg 270k / 100k fixed bias; 470k / 220k self bias. (At Plate+Screen Dissipation of 35W / >35W respectively).
6550 maximum Rg 50k fixed bias; 250k self bias.
Tube roll a 6550 into a KT88 socket.
Your Mileage May Vary.
Red Plates may occur.
Using the 6550 requires a lower DC return resistance than for a KT88.
It also makes the driver design more difficult for the 6550 than for the KT88.
Just sayin'
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Personally I am not planing on using the 6550, KT88 is most likely the better tube. If the opposite where true the thread would have been called 6550 Superthread
The "Double Triod Valves" notation or description is wrong since these are beam tetrode tubes.
I wouldn't buy tubes from RS, other components sure but not tubes and besides, I'm not after the KT88-98 unless that is all I can get.
Writing this thread thought me one or two things, but it will still and probably require me to evaluate a few different version.
Which variant ?
I did not include the "cheaper" Psvane tubes since they are currently not offered.
That is probably a KT88-98. Psvane doesn't sell their budget KT88's anymore, could it be because Shuguang hasn't been making tubes since at least December 2019.
And EH is a budget tube after all, so 2 years is okay I guess.
Kron Audio or just KR claim that they are hand made, which most tubes are I guess. There is also a few videos on youtube with factory and production tours, showing that they produce the components going into the tubes.
Do you have a source for your info, I'd love to take a look at it. They do look like KT88-98 / GEKT88
Video from KR Audio production: KR Audio - Vacuum tubes made in the Czech Republic - YouTube
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