KT88 Brand make "That" Big of Difference at "Medium" Volume?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Adambomb
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Adambomb

Adambomb

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I've only played the stock Sovtek KT88's in my 20th Shiva and I've been wondering if getting a better quality pair of KT88 tubes would make much a difference at medium volume levels? I've played around with preamp tubes and know they make the most difference in tone, but was going to ask if buying a better pair of KT88's would be worth it for my Shiva.

BTW I've done the EL34 conversion and really compared hard between the tone of the 20th Shiva w/KT88 and EL34's... My conclusion is I like the bigger, clearer, more articulate sound of KT88's so I'm never going back to EL34's in this amp. Sounded way to congested at gigging volumes.

So what KT88's do people like regardless of amp? And would it be worth the loot to buy a quality pair for the amp?
 
I've flipped a few KT88s in my 20th Sheevs...

Ended up with the Gold Lion variety. Very clean, bouncy, clear and punctuated. Definite improvement over the stock glass.

I've heard some cats dig the Tung-Sols as well...but I've got zero first hand on this as a fact.

Peace
Mo
 
from my experience, tung sol's KT88's are very clean sounding. and loud.
 
personally i think the Chinese ones " ruby" , "shuguang" sound best. powerful,good bass response
 
+1 on the shuguang just put those in and they sound fatter less harsh than the sov's.
 
I really like the JJ KT88s in my Twin Jet. They have a tighter low end and more rolled-off highs.
 
yeah forgot about the jj's . i always recommend thoes when a customer complains about loose bottom end.
 
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