SilverSport Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 ...okay...after reading many threads and weeding (threading through???) through the stuff I don't need, it appears I NEED a matched quad of Valve Art KT-88s to give a listen with my VRDs...ordered this today...I will report back when I get them and give 'em a listen...if there are any tips or something you think I should know...by all means let me have it! []...missing my EICO HF-81...listening to the MAC 1900 in its place and it pains me to say this but I prefer the EICO... (before it decided 47 years of service was all it had in it before it needs a freshening...It"ll get it courtesey of my bank account and Craig's magic hands...) Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audible Nectar Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 I forget that you got those amps used, and therefore didn't get the VA tubes??? Whatever the case, the Valve Art KT88 is a VERY GOOD tube in the VRD's - it makes VRD ownership relatively inexpensive due to the qualities of this tube in particular. This is Craig's "stock furnished" tube. A MUST (unless you go GEC) if you really want the best bass the VRD can deliver.....authoritative, powerful, yet clean and liquid without going NOS broke. When I get my VRDs, they'll be running Valve Arts in all likelihood - a tough tube to beat in current production stuff. Just bias 'em up and give 'em 100 hours in your amps before any critical evaluation. Continue to check bias occasionally until it holds steady at .70VDC.....then enjoy them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSport Posted December 21, 2006 Author Share Posted December 21, 2006 Audible...as always...I really appreciate you guys making sure my screwups are kept to a minimum and help with the advice to make my aural experience the best it can be...the KT-90s I have right now have plenty of bass but perhaps missing a bit in the midrange...the KT-88s (Electro Harmonix) have more mid but at the price of bass...I can't give that up...I am looking forward to the Valve Art KT-88s... Thanks again, Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meagain Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 Silver - Great! When will the tubes arrive? Looking forward to your opinion. Audible - You are getting VRDs? Cool! When will this happen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 My latest quad of VA KT88s are burning in very nicely. As a matter of fact, they sound amazing! I might put the Pentas on the backburner as spares and just keep the VAs in there. Can't see swapping them right now when my system is sounding as good as it ever has! Maybe better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchist Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 Can someone definitively say what the bias is supposed to be on these KT88's? I have now seen it specified to bias them at .45 (barely over a EL34), bias them at .5, bias them at .6 and now bias them at .7. You would think the bias setting should be pretty easy? PS. Valve Art, Penta, Ruby... all Shuguang tubes. Did some more research. Penta is now boasting about their Teslovac tubes made in the Soviet Union... well, czech republic. manufacturer: teslovak Teslovak KT88SC Beam Tetrode. read further: "The KT88SC is made in China by the Shuguang factory exclusively for Penta Laboratories." You have to love the outsourcing world particularly with respect to audio equipment. Everybody and their brother "manufactures" amplifiers, receivers, tubes... etc or has them "exclusively" made yet you can buy the same equipment with a hundred different brands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 All the different KT-88 tubes from Shuguang look different, they are not the same tube. The KT88SC is a copy of the Genalex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audible Nectar Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 Silver - Great! When will the tubes arrive? Looking forward to your opinion. Audible - You are getting VRDs? Cool! When will this happen? In the spring, me thinks...........[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 I'll sell you mine for $3000. I have the signature version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audible Nectar Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 I'll sell you mine for $3000. I have the signature version. Whose signature? Yours or Craig's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchist Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 All the different KT-88 tubes from Shuguang look different, they are not the same tube. The KT88SC is a copy of the Genelex. No kidding. They have three types of KT88's and I wonder if not more. One has a wrap around metal base (KT88), one has three holes in the plates(KT88-98 aka Valve Art KT100), and one has smooth plates (GEKT88 or KT88SC). They also have a KT100 which is frequently relabeled which has square shoulders. The point is Valve Art, Penta, Ruby, et al are merely marketers who slap a label on Shuguangs tubes and then claim they are unique, made in Russia, made to their specifications or are something else special. Everybody and their brother claims to have a Genelex copy and offer them from $100 to $300 and they are the same Shuguang tube. If you want to pay for the label - great but don't think your Penta is any better than the Shuguang it is. Or your Valve Art has some magic the Shuguang tube doesn't. If you have your tubes matched by the retailer, you are getting the same product offered by these marketers. Shuguang will print any label you want on these tubes and as I mentioned to Craig before, he should contact them and get a NosValves labeled tube which he could sell himself. That would be cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSport Posted December 22, 2006 Author Share Posted December 22, 2006 I thought the Shugs were made in China... Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 "Can someone definitively say what the bias is supposed to be on these KT88's? I have now seen it specified to bias them at .45 (barely over a EL34), bias them at .5, bias them at .6 and now bias them at .7. You would think the bias setting should be pretty easy? " It looks like it could be a moving target depending on your plate voltage. I once asked what the max bias setting on a KT-88 could be. This was the response ////////////////////////////////////// I was always told no more than 70% of plate dissipation. Here's the formula - 700/plate voltage x 35 = ?? milliamps //////////////////////////////////////////////////////// So 700/450 (my plate voltage) X 35 = 54 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchist Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 They are. Would never guess a "teslovak" was made there as well, would you? Particularly since - "Thesevacuum tube were designed from the research and development conductedby our Penta engineering staff in joint cooperation with the originalTesla Chinetz factory in the czech republic." Reminds me of several audio equipment manufacturers - Sherwood, Outlaw, and others - who all have a certain product manufactured by an OEM in China and then state their individual engineering staffs designed the product while the OEM advertises the item directly and will badge it under whatever name. Stick a different label or knob on it, change the parameters in the software and suddenly it is a "unique" product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSport Posted December 22, 2006 Author Share Posted December 22, 2006 If this is true then why do the Valve Art KT-88s and the Electro Harmonix KT-88s sound so different to me??? Money notwithstanding??? Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 No kidding. No reason to get snippy Robert. I just wanted to point out there are some physical differences between the tubes even though they come out of the same factory. Your, "PS. Valve Art, Penta, Ruby... all Shuguang tubes" comment gave the impression that all of the tubes are the same and just being rebranded. I noticed you quoted yourself regarding some of the differences, but you evidently pulled it from another thread -- because it sure isn't in this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 If this is true then why do the Valve Art KT-88s and the Electro Harmonix KT-88s sound so different to me??? Money notwithstanding??? Bill The EH tubes aren't made at the Shuguang factory. They are made at the Xpo-Pul factory in Saratov Russia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchist Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 Snippy? My bad. Just responding to your correction. The quote is from the other thread on KT88's. I thought you read all of them.[] Dean-O is correct about the EH's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 I see, just confirming what I said, not saying it in the sense that I was stating something obvious that everyone knew already. Yeesh, I need to go back to bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 Shuguang will print any label you want on these tubes and as I mentioned to Craig before, he should contact them and get a NosValves labeled tube which he could sell himself. That would be cool. I'm not in this to "be cool" gooossshhhhhhhhhhh I leave that for Fonzy!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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