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Just purchased a used VT100 mark III. I usually try to start off with tubes of known age and quality. Thanks
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Not sure if the SED 6550 are the same tube as SED KT88 but back when I had ARC Ref 600 monos I loved the SED KT88s, clearly better than anything else I had tried in every respect.Naz
Edits: 06/04/15
I have an ARC VT130SE. For many years I used SED winged C 6550s - loved the sound and saw no reason to change. Then SED closed down and the =C= 6550s became expensive and difficult to find.
I wanted to use current production. I had previously tried the Sovtek 6550WE and thought it not as good than the SED. I read excellent reviews of the Gold Lion KT88 reissues and rather luke warm ones for the (cheaper) Tung-sol 6550s reissues. However, there are a number of comments here and elsewhere that ARC does not recommend KT88s with its gear and even that they will blow up the VT130. So I contacted ARC who said they preferred 6550s but that I could use KT88s "if you like the sound" (implying they didn't!). They specifically did not recommend KT120s.
Well, I took the plunge and, to cut a long story short, the GL KT88s are fantastic. In my system with very familiar recordings (mainly classical and jazz but some pop and classic rock) they are clearly better than the SED 6550s, with deeper base, clearer highs, a significantly deeper front-to-back sound stage, slightly better imaging, greater clarity and solid tonal accuracy across the frequency range. On good recordings, piano, guitar and female vocals are magical, strings gutsy, brass - well, truly brassy, and drums (in my rather base-shy system) more solid and tangible than before. Some recording that previously sounded rather harsh and congested (Karajan Tchaikovsky symphonies, Pollini Chopin polonaises, Blakey at Birdland, Rollins at the Village Vanguard) have cleaned up dramatically. Dynamic range seems to be greater, perhaps because I can now play many recordings louder, cleaner. Each of these improvements is small but definite and the overall result is a clear improvement over the SEDs. The sound is more neutral but - to my ears - more natural. The SEDs sound sweeter, which some may prefer, but which I now think is slightly artificial.
I would be interested to know what the reissue Tung-Sol 6550s sound like, but for now I will stick with the GL KT88s. There have been some rumours of unreliability but I have had no problems over the last 4 months, except that one of the 8 tubes immediately blew when I first installed it (the suppliers, Hotrox UK, promptly sent a replacement).
If you check with ARC and they say your amp can use KT88s, I would strongly recommend the Gold Lion reissues.
garf
Let me echo the compliments made regarding the Gold Lion (Russian) KT-88s. I like them very very much. Yes they are perhaps a little this side of warm but that beats the icy and edgy glare of so many power tubes. It is refreshing and reminiscent of the golden sound and glow of tubes at their prime.
Steve
I have owned a pair of Quicksilver mono amps for many years. They have been heavily modified with silver wire, teflon caps, etc. I went through many sets of KT88 tubes looking for the holy grail. The current favorite is the Gold Lion reissue.
Different context, but here's a quick and dirty review I did on the New Sensor Reissue Tung-Sol 6550. The review was based on using them in a conrad-johnson Premier 11A but later listening with a Premier 140 with the Teflon C1 capacitor upgrade was basically the same.I was one of a minority on the conrad-johnson forum who preferred the Reissue 6550 to the KT120. Everything is so system and user dependent.
Joe
Edits: 06/04/15
I did read your 6550 & KT88 reviews and was impressed that you rated the GL KT88 higher than the SED 6550. I also saw that you liked the Tung-Sol 6550 reissue but I wanted to hear the KT88 and am glad I did. Maybe I will try the Tung-Sol next time!
garf
Sovtek 6550WE. This is what ARC recommends and supplies these days. Warren feels they sound better than the Svet 6550C they used when the VT100 was produced.
Jim McShane can set you up with a couple of nicely matched quads. Just as good as anything from ARC and will be much less money.
SED 6550C, but they run about $100/each. ARC is using the Sovtek 6550WE for use as power rectifiers in current production, but I'd give Plymouth a call. You may be able to use KT-120s.
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IIRC, that amp used Svetlana (=C=) 6550Cs, which are no longer available.
Contact AA sponsor Jim McShane and learn what he suggests. ARC has been known to call for tubes which bias "peculiarly".
Eli D.
I bought an octet of KT-88s from Jim McShane they were fabulous best current production tubes I've bought period.
Steve
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