F18 Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 (edited) 16 hours ago, RoHo said: And how much is a quad of NOS English Gold Lion KT88's these days? ? $1000+ 16 hours ago, Red MacKay said: Gold Lions are just passe'. What you want are a matched quad of NOS blue label GEC KT88s. Now that will be quite the challenge... Gold Monarch, Genalex Gold Lion (Red and Gold label), Genalex, (blue label), Marconiphone, Pinnacle, Mullard, Marconi, Osram, Philips Miniwatt (for Australian market) and GEC tubes that are made in England are all the same tubes made by the M-OV Company. Genalex blue label tubes were simply re-labelled GEC tubes for the export market (USA). Genalex Gold Lion (red and gold label) were export as well but these were hand selected measured for best transconductance and anode current, much rarer and lot more expensive. These came in a fancier packaged box and a certificate saying the tube has been tested to the highest standards along with hand written test results and the technician who tested it. MO-V stopped tube production in the 80's which meant no more GEC tubes for domestic and European markets and no Genalex for the USA, fast forward 2 decades, New Sensor Corp, Russia attained some of the designs, patent rights to make reissue tubes from the original MO-V company Gt . Britain/England. 13 hours ago, Smp said: Genelex Gold Lions are Russian valves and NOS don't exist as far as I know as Genelex isn't a particularly old company. However, Lucas Miles in Melbourne sells them for $85 apiece and will do a matched quad for you. @Red MacKay is however correct NOS blue label GECs would also be my first choice if you can find them. Incorrect, see above post. 90''s made genuine Tesla KT88's made in Czecho Slovakia are also very nice tubes and yes also rare and command high prices when they pop up, right up with the GEC in terms of sound quality. The new Teslovak short/fat bottle KT88's made in Czecho Slovakia are also very nice tubes, possibly the best modern production tubes you can buy made on original tube tooling equipment they used to make the original Tesla KT88's. Better than the reissue Genalex and Shuguang/Psvane KT88 garbage which have reliability issues. Edited March 30, 2018 by F18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smp Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 I stand corrected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzlowie Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 On 2/7/2018 at 7:53 AM, buddyev said: Also trying a different 6SL7 in the front center spot — maybe a round plate Tung-sol 6SL7. Yea, try different tubes in the center spot - this one does most of the work. My Topaz came with the Tung sol's of cause but Earl also supplied a couple of extra's an RCA and a TJ Full Music. Tried the RCA for a while, lost some of the sparkle and sounded bit flat. The Full Music really added some sparkle, top end came alive, more so than the Tung sol. One of my fav tracks is "Two suns in the sunset" by Pink Floyd, there's a sax passage towards the end that was really harsh and not nice when the Full Music first went in but about 20-30hrs later its sounds superb. In conclusion I picked up extra sparkle from the Full Music but keep the smoothness of the Tung sol. (Earl told me he loved the sound of the Full Music but not their reliability, thats why he doesn't use them) Just remember when trying different tubes allow time for the new to burn in to match what you're replacing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red MacKay Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 11 hours ago, F18 said: Genalex Gold Lion (red and gold label) were export as well but these were hand selected measured for best transconductance and anode current, much rarer and lot more expensive. These came in a fancier packaged box and a certificate saying the tube has been tested to the highest standards along with hand written test results and the technician who tested it. I had a quad set of these, and didn't like them as much as blue label GECs. But that is like 25 years back. I didn't realise at the time that they were hand selected etc like you mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F18 Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 They are basically the same tube, KT88 wise that is. Black bakelite socket snuggly sitting beneath a metal waist base securing a tube envelope with 3 O getters, 1 top and 2 on sides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryO Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 (edited) Not sure if you have got any further with this @buddyevbut the best KT120's I have heard are the Tungsol ones that are branded as PrimaLuna. They get to choose which ones in each batch made they want and send the rest back that gets sold to everyone else. Having also compared the the PrimaLuna branded Tungsol el34's they clean up the normal Tungsol el34's that are sold to the public. I have a set of PrimaLuna branded Tungsol KT88's can't say they sound good, but I've never heard KT88's that sound good. If you know anyone with a Prima amp that has factory fitted KT120's then why not ask them if you can borrow a couple for a day or two? cheers Terry Edited March 31, 2018 by TerryO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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