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Tubes Asylum Questions about tubes and gear that glows. FAQ |
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Tubes Asylum Questions about tubes and gear that glows. FAQ |
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In Reply to: There is a kt88z price war on the Bay right now. posted by Michael Samra on August 4, 2010 at 20:35:19:
I would not recommend buying KT88Z's from ANY of the ebay sellers. They are all 'B' grade, and poorly matched with lowest plate current readings. The person you want to buy them from is my friend Clark (Chen Yuwen) at Good Component in Shenzhen Province. He has access to the Shuguang production line and will pick out tubes for you from the latest run. Ask him to send you a quad of 'Premium A' tubes with matching plate current readings > 50mA (range is 30 - 60 mA). Your total price will be $350 including 4% PayPal fee and 3-day DHL shipping. Tell him Neil referred you.
To the misinformed person who asserted the KT88Z's "are the same tube as the solid plate except for the dark glass": Just get over yourself sweetheart! Not only are they different than any other Shuggie/Penta KT88, they are different from ANY KT88 I've ever seen! All you have to do is hold one over a strong (halogen) light source and you can see right through the coating. The plates have the largest oval alignment/inspection holes (3 each side) of any KT88 on the planet! There are two HUGE halo getters on top, and of course, none on the side which would interfere with the carbon coating. Honestly, some people!!!
As for the sound. First, they sound VERY impressive after 80 hours (I now have about 600+ hours on mine), but they REALLY DO NEED the 300 hour recommended break-in to put out that last increment of performance. 300 hours seems outrageous for a power tube I know, but I've experienced it first hand, and can only assume it's due to the carbon/polymer coating needing to "cure" in some way. I have A-B'd the KT88Z's with all the popular current manufacture KT88's out there (except EAT's, which I don't own.) I've also A-B'd them extensively with my almost NOS vintage Gold Lions. Conclusion: with a measured Gm of 12,000 micromhos (after 300 hours) they blow all current products ( <8000 umhos) away. And they are even a tad better (in the micro detail, big soundstage department) than my vintage Gold Lions.
Probably no one who dropped $1600 on a quad of EAT's will ever A-B them with these Shuggies. However, as I said, these KT88Z's slightly bested my NOS GL's which means they are likely at least AS GOOD as the EAT's, but I wouldn't want to speculate beyond that ;--)
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Follow Ups
- Stay away from KT88Z's on eBay! - nsgarch 08/29/1011:29:19 08/29/10 (0)
- RE: Stay away from KT88Z's on eBay! - LinuxGuru 16:19:37 08/29/10 (0)
- RE: Stay away from KT88Z's on eBay! - nsgarch 17:31:59 08/29/10 (0)
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