[fabio_]

Which is the best Kt88 that I can buy ?

regards

[Peter Wieck]

On Jun 11, 7:16*am, "fabio_" wrote:
Which is the best Kt88 that I can buy ?

regards

Present-day manufacture or "Any"?

KT88 = 6550 (OK, not quite, but close enough) to cover both sides of
the pond.

Rendering my _OPINION_ here, in rank order, starting with Old Stock:

Sylvania & GE Tied for First Place amongst US manufacturers
All other are about equal, and reasonably OK.

GEC premium Euro Old Stock
Then: Gold Lion for Euro, Siemens close behind - and very scarce. OLD
STOCK, not the re-issue. Mullard and Telefunken after that. Keep in
mind that the differences between these four are very, very small.

Pretty much everything else is OK of Old Stock.

Present-day makers - I have very limited experience with them, but EH
and Sovtek KT88s have passed through my hands and sounded well in my
vintage equipment. No clue as to life expectancy, however.

NOTE: There are a LOT of fakes and re-labeled frauds out there. So be
very, very careful if purchasing old stock.

I am assuming an audio application vs. instrument amplification. To
the latter, anything I suggest would be based on second-hand opinion -
kinda-sorta silly.

Others will have other opinions, of course, and only your ears should
govern the ultimate decision. Sadly, it is difficult to audition tubes
in the same way that one auditions equipment. Over the years, I have
taken to acquiring as many representative examples of various makers
as I practically can just for that reason.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

[Fjiluk The Hogfish-Beater]

On Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:16:28 +0200, fabio_ wrote:

Which is the best Kt88 that I can buy ?


I prefer the JJ in guitar amps. Don't know if it is the best that you can
buy but I've found it the most reliable and the best sounding tube for
guitar.

[It's that guy again]

On Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:16:28 +0200, fabio_ wrote:

Which is the best Kt88 that I can buy ?


There was a day when real GEC KT88's could be bought for $10 each, with
boxes and graphs. I bought a ****load of them. They were being dumped
because said dist company needed real cash, real fast. I sold property
to get 5 palettes of them, including a few boxes of KT77's and KT66's.

I'm waiting till the day they hit $200 each. And do not fool yourself,
that day will come. I've already been offered $100. Maybe I'll wait
till the idiots are willing to pay $300. Suckers and their $ soon parted.

As far as 'new' KT88's go, 'Western Electric' says they make them, but samples show
they (like most '88's') are just strong 6550's in another bottle. Said GEC machines
are said to of gone to China, but it seems alot of it made it's way back to the
USA, because 'Richardson' says they owned it, and 'FritTronics' owns them now.

Of course, we all know about 'Fritztronics' : www.fritztronics.com

(which is a parody site, with some truth involved) (booze not included)

I offered my 'stash' to Korg in the 90's, but they said no. It seems
$35 each was too much to pay. I can retire on said stash due to overseas
people who pay $500 each for real WE 300B's, God bless and keep them all.

I'm laughing all the way to reality.

JJTj






Let me ride on the Wall Of Death one more time
Let me ride on the Wall Of Death one more time

You can waste your time on the other rides
This is the nearest to being alive
Oh let me take my chances on the Wall Of Death

You can go with the crazy people in the Crooked House
You can fly away on the Rocket or spin in the Mouse

The Tunnel Of Love might amuse you
Noah's Ark might confuse you
But let me take my chances on the Wall Of Death

On the Wall Of Death all the world is far from me
On the Wall Of Death it's the nearest to being free

Well you're going nowhere when you ride on the carousel
And maybe you're strong but what's the good of ringing a bell
The switchback will make you crazy. Beware of the bearded lady
Oh let me take my chances on the Wall Of Death

Let me ride on the Wall Of Death one more time
Oh let me ride on the Wall Of Death one more time
You can waste your time on the other rides
This is the nearest to being alive
Oh let me take my chances on the Wall Of Death
Let me take my chances on the Wall Of Death
Oh let me take my chances on the Wall Of Death

[Iain Churches[_2_]]

"fabio_" wrote in message
...
Which is the best Kt88 that I can buy ?


Tesla are highly recommended. They were still
in production until very recently in the Czech Republic.
The factory has recently been taken over, I am
not sure of the current state of production.

Tesla tubes are beautifully made, but the structures
seem to be a little fragile so they do not travel well.

I have a quad or original Genelex from the 1970s.
They test like new. I used them for test and prototypes
until I found out how valuable they are.

Iain

[Peter Wieck]

On Jun 12, 9:02*am, "Iain Churches" wrote:
*I used them for test and prototypes
until I found out how valuable they are.

Mpffff - that is a difficult decision, isn't it? About 15 years ago,
when faced with a couple of NIB 2A3 Sylvanias I made the conscious
decision to not hoard tubes against perceived future value but use
them or see them go where they will be used. It may be foolish from a
financial perspective, but I am much more relaxed about it. And even
recently, I am still tripping over various "valuable" tubes at yard-
sales, flea markets and such.

I have the perhaps irrational belief that if all the various tubes
under mattresses, in closets and residing in various other hoards were
to surface all-at-once, the price of an originial-issue WE300B would
drop to about $10. Tubes in general were manufactured in countless
billions for over 60 years - if as few as 5% survive (I believe much
more than that do), that remains a LOT of tubes even counted against
those who actually have a use for them.

My own hoard - in use and spares - well exceeds 1,500 - and I am only
one guy who does it only as a hobby. It used to be many, many more,
but I culled out the odd-voltage & TV-exclusive types a few years
ago.

One startling but accurate figu Something over three hundred
million (yep, 301,833,000 per Grinder) *consumer* radios were made in
the US alone between 1922 and 1965. This does not count computers,
commercial, audio, military, televisions, radar, sonar,
communications, instruments, organs and whateverall else. Just in OEM
equipment, the tube-count goes into the billions. Then we have the
rest of the world and what was made there.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

[ZACK.]

nice tubes the old GEC i also use KT66 GEC
on a old drivein amp 100v line 200watts.

"fabio_" wrote in message
...
Which is the best Kt88 that I can buy ?

regards