Schu Posted October 22, 2022 Share Posted October 22, 2022 6l6, el34... Not a fan of gold lion myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captainbeefheart Posted October 22, 2022 Share Posted October 22, 2022 205D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KT88 Posted October 22, 2022 Share Posted October 22, 2022 12 hours ago, 82 Cornwalls said: 6L6 is the closest. Not always a direct replacement since the KT66 draws about 50% more filament current. Have you tried the current production Gold Lion KT66s? Not yet. I tried the KT88 Russian Gold Lion with my MC275 Mk4 but I do not like it too much. For my taste it is a bit exhausting trying for more treble and transparency. I like JJ's KT88s much more because they sound very natural in the mids. By the way, they are made on the tools of former Czech Tesla, JJ now in Slovakia, and Tesla got these tools from Telefunken in the 1970s. Before Corona and the Ukraine war I got the KT88 JJ for 25€ a piece in Germany, now it looks very different 55€ a piece. The Russian fake GoldLion KT88 costs 95€ a piece, not worth it in my view and it has technically nothing at all to do with a real GEC Goldlion from back then. It also wore out quickly, although the Mcintosh is not a tube-eater at all. Of course, I know that Western Electric is in a much higher price league. But then I want either a cheap but reasonable tube from JJ or an expensive but really very good tube from WE that is worth every cent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captainbeefheart Posted October 22, 2022 Share Posted October 22, 2022 50 minutes ago, KT88 said: It also wore out quickly, although the Mcintosh is not a tube-eater at all. It's not when bias is set to where it should be. These are fixed bias and when replacing power tubes one still needs to check where the bias is set and adjust accordingly. The original 275 has no adjustment pot, I don't remember if they added one to the mkiv but I don't think they did. Still not a problem, there are a couple resistors forming a divider circuit that you tweak to change bias. When the bias is set correctly the tubes do last a very long time, combine that with the fact the power tubes are under almost 100% negative feedback there isn't much of a point in "tube rolling" different brands because if the tubes are within their acceptable electrical parameters the feedback dissolves any slight sound differences between them. McIntosh didn't think it was necessary to add an adjustment pot because the tubes last so long. Any sound changes you might be hearing from changing power tubes cannot be directly related to the tube brand if you have not gone in and made certain you have the exact same bias between the them. The fact the bias isn't adjusted means you are more likely hearing a change in operating conditions (more/less bias current) and it's effects on how the amplifier functions vs brand of tube. Maybe I can get some posts approved today, probably not and nobody will ever read this lol. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.