KT88/EL34

shel50 · Jan 4, 2024

Any thoughts on KT88 vs EL 34 regarding music genre?
I listen often to Jazz and female vocals.......wondering which type of power tubes you folks prefer regarding the KT 88's vs EL34's
I'm told the EL 34 focuses on the midrange area as opposed to KT88
Supposedly the KT 88 is best for the entire frequency.....
Any thoughts to share would be appreciated.

Mcsnare · Jan 4, 2024

My experience has been that it's hard to generalize. It comes down to the amplifier and it's design.
If I had to comment, based on hearing a lot of tube amps in my system, EL-34's are less linear than KT-88's. What I've heard with EL-34's tends to be less imediacy and dynamic contrasts. Smoother and more classically "tubey". I've heard KT-88's sound anywhere from low end and high end emphasized, to extremely clean and linear sounding. I don't think of sonic signatures as being a genre thing although I might think about it differently if you had said "I only listen to Swedish death metal."
It's either clean or it's not and there's a thousand graduations in between.
My .02

shel50 · Jan 4, 2024

Mcsnare said:
My experience has been that it's hard to generalize. It comes down to the amplifier and it's design.
If I had to comment, based on hearing a lot of tube amps in my system, EL-34's are less linear than KT-88's. What I've heard with EL-34's tends to be less imediacy and dynamic contrasts. Smoother and more classically "tubey". I've heard KT-88's sound anywhere from low end and high end emphasized, to extremely clean and linear sounding. I don't think of sonic signatures as being a genre thing although I might think about it differently if you had said "I only listen to Swedish death metal."
It's either clean or it's not and there's a thousand graduations in between.
My .02

very interesting indeed.... Your background is very impressive indeed---many thanks
I concur with your thoughts

Thieliste · May 26, 2024

shel50 said:
Any thoughts on KT88 vs EL 34 regarding music genre?
I listen often to Jazz and female vocals.......wondering which type of power tubes you folks prefer regarding the KT 88's vs EL34's
I'm told the EL 34 focuses on the midrange area as opposed to KT88
Supposedly the KT 88 is best for the entire frequency.....
Any thoughts to share would be appreciated.

I found the Psvane EL34PH not versatile if you listen to all types of music as opposed to Psvane KT88C.
I'm sending mine back for Psvane Acme KT88 and my Psvane KT88C are going back to Jadis for Tungsol KT120s.

Gregadd · May 26, 2024

I do not know the EL- 34 is better in any way than the 6550 or later the kT-88. But what the E:34 does well it did very well. The glorious midrange is a wonderful match for female vocals and jazz.
The question is why settle for the midrange, when you can have it all or at least so much more with the KT-88.
If you run across a vintage EL-34, go for it. Otherwise, I recommend the KT -t88.

shel50 · May 27, 2024

Gregadd said:
I do not know the EL- 34 is better in any way than the 6550 or later the kT-88. But what the E:34 does well it did very well. The glorious midrange is a wonderful match for female vocals and jazz.
The question is why settle for the midrange, when you can have it all or at least so much more with the KT-88.
If you run across a vintage EL-34, go for it. Otherwise, I recommend the KT -t88.

Fair statement about having it all with KT88-----
Regarding Thomas Jefferson---He was listening to Dark Side of the Moon when he signed off on the Constitution.
Learned that in law school

sparkie · May 28, 2024

shel50 said:
Any thoughts on KT88 vs EL 34 regarding music genre?
I listen often to Jazz and female vocals.......wondering which type of power tubes you folks prefer regarding the KT 88's vs EL34's
I'm told the EL 34 focuses on the midrange area as opposed to KT88
Supposedly the KT 88 is best for the entire frequency.....
Any thoughts to share would be appreciated.

It really would depend on the output transformer and its screen connection method (tridoe vs. ultra linear) But the EL34's I like to use for reproduction are marketed as 6CA7 which are a little bit bigger in diameter than the EL34. The JJ EL34 is a nice guitar amp tube, but I don't like them in stereos.

Kt88, I like the Ton Sol black plates that is hard to get, but I find the JJ black sable 6550 a good substitute for these and the GE 4 star 6550, for stereos. Guitar amps with higher B+, I like winged =c= 6550 (Svetlana).

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KT88/EL34

shel50

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Mcsnare

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shel50

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Thieliste

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Gregadd

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shel50

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sparkie

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