Tung-Sol KT170

Marcus · Dec 4, 2020

“Due to the success of the KT120 and KT150 tubes and the popularity of these tubes with High-End Audio manufacturers, the Tung-Sol tube has been developed to provide a beam tetrode with even more power capability. The Tung-Sol KT170 has a power dissipation of 85 watts allowing amplifiers using a pair of these tubes to reach power output levels in excess of 300 watts.

The Tung-Sol KT170 has an original shape glass bulb that was designed specifically to maintain the highest vacuum and dissipate heat when the tube is operated at high power levels. The Tung-Sol KT170 also has an equipotential cathode for increased reliability and to effectively amplify audio frequencies in the output stages of High-End Audio equipment.

The Tung-Sol KT170 is the largest and most powerful tube in the 6550, KT88, KT90, KT120, and KT150 series of audio tubes.”

Marcus · Dec 4, 2020

Bobvin · Dec 4, 2020

Wow! I wonder how long until different amp maker's bless it for their systems. The KT150 was a nice upgrade when I used them in my ARC REF75 amp, I expect there will be others like me who'd like to pop these into my REF160M's to see if they offer a similar improvement. Certainly my Wilson Alexia (v1) are not shy if shown more power!

kach22i · Dec 4, 2020

The guy with one post posted this, so weigh it as you will.

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I heard that this tube is a JV between Tungsol and Primaluna via Upscale Audio. I heard this on the hifipodcast.net episode 10

Apparently Tungsol makes the Primaluna branded EL-34s that come with all Primalunas and this tube will be the most powerful tube that can be used on the Primalunas

Very cool looking. Pushes the design of the KT150s to another level

MikeHorns · Dec 4, 2020

It has been brought up by the folks on the Allnic T-2000 thread. ttps://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/t-2000-25th-anniversary.31877/#post-686940

Here are the dimensions in inches for KT-150 vs. KT-170.

Screenshot_2020-12-04 kt150-tung-sol pdf.png

rich121 · Dec 7, 2020

Marcus said:
View attachment 72088 View attachment 72089

Not 139mm tall, it is 150mm tall... here are the official specs from Tung-Sol:

Bobvin · Dec 7, 2020

Whats with the redactions?

matakana · Jan 18, 2021

Bobvin said:
Whats with the redactions?

Apparently a drop in replacement from the KT 150 if desired!

CKKeung · Jan 23, 2021

On Jadis' facebook :

Argonaut · Jul 10, 2021

ARC REF 300 anyone ?

rich121 · Jul 10, 2021

I talked with Mike Sanders, Founder/owner of Quicksilver Audio about using these in my Quicksilver V4 mono amps, as they are the new model built around the KT150 tube.
Mike said he had tried using the KT170 in his 'Mono 120' amps that use a pair of KT150 tubes, but did not like the results.
Here is what he said about using in my V4 mono amps:

"We do have these tubes now and they do put out a lot of power but at much higher distortion than the KT150. They would
work in the V4 but would not sound as good as the KT150."

I'm hoping that the tubes he used were earlier versions and that they will have better versions later?

MikeHorns · Jul 10, 2021

rich121 said:
I talked with Mike Sanders, Founder/owner of Quicksilver Audio about using these in my Quicksilver V4 mono amps, as they are the new model built around the KT150 tube.
Mike said he had tried using the KT170 in his 'Mono 120' amps that use a pair of KT150 tubes, but did not like the results.
Here is what he said about using in my V4 mono amps:

"We do have these tubes now and they do put out a lot of power but at much higher distortion than the KT150. They would
work in the V4 but would not sound as good as the KT150."

I'm hoping that the tubes he used were earlier versions and that they will have better versions later?

I tried the KT-170s on my Quicksilver V4 and Mike is right, more power but less fidelity. Overall, they sounded slow and muddy. I really don't think it's the tube's fault, but rather, Mike did not design or retune his amp around KT-170s.

rich121 · Jul 10, 2021

MikeHorns said:
I tried the KT-170s on my Quicksilver V4 and Mike is right, more power but less fidelity. Overall, they sounded slow and muddy. I really don't think it's the tube's fault, but rather, Mike did not design or retune his amp around KT-170s.

Thank you for posting.
From what I have heard about this tube in the amps it does work with it is impressive.
Hopefully in the future it will be possible to have my V4s modified to use this tube.

rich121 · Jul 11, 2021

Addicted to hifi · Jul 11, 2021

CKKeung said:
On Jadis' facebook :

View attachment 74065

Beautiful tube amplifier.cheers

Addicted to hifi · Jul 11, 2021

Marcus said:
“Due to the success of the KT120 and KT150 tubes and the popularity of these tubes with High-End Audio manufacturers, the Tung-Sol tube has been developed to provide a beam tetrode with even more power capability. The Tung-Sol KT170 has a power dissipation of 85 watts allowing amplifiers using a pair of these tubes to reach power output levels in excess of 300 watts.

The Tung-Sol KT170 has an original shape glass bulb that was designed specifically to maintain the highest vacuum and dissipate heat when the tube is operated at high power levels. The Tung-Sol KT170 also has an equipotential cathode for increased reliability and to effectively amplify audio frequencies in the output stages of High-End Audio equipment.

The Tung-Sol KT170 is the largest and most powerful tube in the 6550, KT88, KT90, KT120, and KT150 series of audio tubes.”
View attachment 72087

Stunning tube. I love it.

Argonaut · Jul 11, 2021

A cursory glance under the hood of my ARC REF250 SE expunged the harbouring of any machinations toward a move on the 170’s, even though pretty certain of the headroom required of the power supply...There is simply not a Snowball in Hades chance of shoehorning those Fat Boys into the KT150’s socket array...

Lyric Audio Elite · Aug 29, 2021

Cayin está trabajando en este nuevo modelo llamado "soul"

Addicted to hifi · Aug 29, 2021

Lyric Audio Elite said:
Cayin está trabajando en este nuevo modelo llamado "soul"View attachment 81506 View attachment 81507

Absolutely stunning I love it.

Zero000 · Aug 29, 2021

I think they look just plain weird. Struggling with the shape in extremis.

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