[geowak]

Looking around for a quad of power tubes, KT88.

I was wondering what country and manufacturer is making the best NEW tubes for the money?
Russia, USA, Great Britian??

Also where to buy the best NOS and which companies?
RCA, Telefunken, JJ, ETC...

I heard there are some really bad knock-offs out there.

[Bill O'Connell]

There is a seller on EBay that goes under the name Hanshare-Electronics, the owner is a gentleman named Ricky. He offers matched quads of the Black Treasure series KT88-Z, warranty of one year on the tubes and offers free shipping. Takes about 5 days to be delivered. He is an honest guy and stands by his product and is a pleasure to work with. Highly recommended.

[decal]

"Best" is in the eye/ear of the beholder. There is no definitive "best" anything, it's all subjective. When you ask a question like this, the answers will always be what folks think is "best" to them in their system. Their suggestions may or may not work for you. You are the only one that can decide what's "best" for you. This is probably not what you want to hear but, it's a fact.

[JakeJ]

Thank you, decal.  That right there is the definitive answer of "best".

[borism]

After agreeing about there being no "best" of NOS or new tubes, I wonder if the OP is just asking about some KT88 recommendations? I have found Russian "Winged C" and Gold Lion reissues to be very good with a McIntosh MC275. Also, Chinese Shuguang Black Treasure KT88s have received very good reviews in this forum. I am less familiar with NOS.
Good Luck!

[medium jim]

After agreeing about there being no "best" of NOS or new tubes, I wonder if the OP is just asking about some KT88 recommendations? I have found Russian "Winged C" and Gold Lion reissues to be very good with a McIntosh MC275. Also, Chinese Shuguang Black Treasure KT88s have received very good reviews in this forum. I am less familiar with NOS.
Good Luck!

Svetlana Winged C's are very good as are the others you mentioned.  However, if the tubes are going in a vintage piece of gear, then go NOS and try to find some nice European tubes. If going into a modern piece of gear, then go with current production as most modern amps are voiced and designed for new production tubes. 

Jim

[h00hbt]

Hi

Ivé been rolling some KT88´t the last years or so and I would recommend Penta Labs KT88. You can order them from Dougs tubes with no hassle http://www.dougstubes.com . A big bang for the buck.

On the contrary of what many others say I could also recommend JJ KT88´s with one exception, only buy tested and burnt in tubes from a retailer you could return the tube/s if something is wrong. I realy like the tight deep bass they are capable of producing.

The only new production KT88 I would stay away from are Electro Harmonics, Svetlana, the rest are a go....

Cheers

/H

[Ericus Rex]

As far as I know, the KT88s are only made in Russia, Serbia, and China these days.  Are there any tubes made in the US or England anymore?

[h00hbt]

As far as I know, the KT88s are only made in Russia, Serbia, and China these days.  Are there any tubes made in the US or England anymore?

China, czech republic, Russia.

Serbia? where you thinking of Ei tubes? They aren´t producing tubes anymore anyway.....

[bregez]

China, czech republic, Russia.

Serbia? where you thinking of Ei tubes? They aren´t producing tubes anymore anyway.....

Maybe Slovakia, I think JJ's are made there now.  Or maybe they are still made in the Czech Republic, who knows?

[Ericus Rex]

Maybe Slovakia, I think JJ's are made there now. 

That's what I meant.  I'm still quite confused about that whole region   

[JakeJ]

I agree a couple of us got focused on the term "best".  After having re-read the OP he does ask about both new production and NOS.  My experience is as follows:

Disclaimer - my amps are Valve Amplification Company PA-160 monoblocks requiring one matched quad of 6L6, EL34/KT77, or 6550/KT88 tubes per amp.  Currently I am running Gold Lion KT88s.  They came with JJs.  The amps were voiced with the long discontinued Golden Dragon tubes that, I believe, were made by Shuguang.

Russian Reissue Gold Lion KT88 - The ever so slight winner over the Penta Labs KT88 SC.  The difference is very subtle in  that the Gold Lions have just a bit more transparency and so seem to make a better distinction between various instruments and handle the texture of large orchestral pieces a bit better.

Shuguang made Penta Labs KT88SC - No doubt a great tube made to exacting specifications for Penta Labs.  As stated they seem to get a little confused on large orchestral music.  Transparency isn't quite as good and female vocals can have a bit of sibilance in their upper registers.  Also bass is not quite a well defined as with the Gold Lions

JJ Electronic KT88 - These tubes have a prominently tipped up treble in my amps.  Oodles of glassy shimmer that didn't go well with my speaker's ribbon tweeters.  I used them out of necessity until I could buy some better tubes.  Bass is flabby and loose.  That tipped up treble becomes quite annoying after about 30-60 minutes.  They made one last performance in the amps after getting the GLs and the Pentas and some audio buds came over for a comparison listening session.  Anybody want to buy a used octet?    Cheap!

Black Treasures and NOS require deeper pockets than I have.

Don't know if that helps but there you have it.

[SteveFord]

Good luck finding them but the Ei KT88s (Yugoslavia) were very good.  I had them in some VTLs and they did nothing wrong that I could hear.

[geowak]

This is what I was looking for... great recommendations on both NEW and NOS tubes.

I do understand JakeJ and Decal- I should have phrased the post differently. Many of us know that "best" is subjective. And not all of us hear the same sounds or have the same reaction (likes or dis-likes) as others.

I am new to the TUBE rolling and trying to understand what to look for in a good tube and how to pick out a quality manufacturer. I am also trying to AVOID the fake tubes and counterfeit tubes and just plain bad ones. Just like all of us, I don't want to pay too much money for poor quality tubes.

From what many of you posted, I have a general direction. Thanks keep the suggestions coming.

BTW
I have a new integrated tube amp, not an old one. I have some NEW JJs in there now (2 X 12AX7) and some Chinese tubes (2 x 12BH7) and Chinese tubes in the Power section (4 x KT88)

I think I want to replace the Chinese tubes for better ones.

[bregez]

I personally like EH, I find their build quality to be better than JJ's or Chinese tubes.  JJ's tend to have "skinny" pins and fit sloppy in the tube sockets.  They may have fixed this recently however.  Again that is personal preference. 
Here is an interesting read summarizing current tube manufacturers from 2005.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page and the author summarizes companies, locations, and tubes manufactured.  Enjoy.
http://la-economy.blogspot.com/2011/02/vacuum-tube-post-from-past.html

Brad

[Ericus Rex]

I'd skip NOS KT88s if I were you.  Getting a matched quad of anything would would cost you oodles.  And then there's no guarantee they'll last.  I'd go New production on the KT88s.  I have experience with the GL reissues and can recommend them.  There are rave reviews on the Black Treasure and the newer Pavanes all over the place.  Then there is that ebay seller selling Canada Fuller tubes with a warranty.  Since they're high-dollar tubes I find the warranty a must.

NOS miniatures are more reasonably priced compared to power tubes so you can do some rolling without totally breaking the bank.  If you want to start off simple and cheap, compare some JAN 12AX7s to your JJ's.  If you prefer the sound of the JANs then look around for some tested used Telefunkens or Mullards to try.  You really don't have to pay $300/pair for tubes.

[medium jim]

I personally like EH, I find their build quality to be better than JJ's or Chinese tubes.  JJ's tend to have "skinny" pins and fit sloppy in the tube sockets.  They may have fixed this recently however.  Again that is personal preference. 
Here is an interesting read summarizing current tube manufacturers from 2005.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page and the author summarizes companies, locations, and tubes manufactured.  Enjoy.
http://la-economy.blogspot.com/2011/02/vacuum-tube-post-from-past.html

Brad

EH don't make tubes rather they consign to have them made and then label them after they do their QC on them.  If you can find them, Russian Groove Tube KT88's are outstanding.  They come hardness matched and for home stereo the higher the number the better.  Aspen Pittman, the founder of GT is a good friend of mine, however, he sold GT to Fender several years back.  However, the quality hasn't declined.  Aspen personally went to each factory, in China and in Russia to set up their assembly and tooling and because of that, was done right. 

While GT was mainly in the Guitar Amp business, their tubes are used by many high-end home amp builders.  Here's a link to GT:

http://www.groovetubes.com/power.html

Most Guitar Center's and other large Chain Guitar Stores carry them...be sure to get hardness 8 or higher as this will give you more headroom and clean power. 

Jim

[Les Lammers]

Looking around for a quad of power tubes, KT88.

I was wondering what country and manufacturer is making the best NEW tubes for the money?
Russia, USA, Great Britian??

Also where to buy the best NOS and which companies?
RCA, Telefunken, JJ, ETC...

I heard there are some really bad knock-offs out there.

"best" is system dependent. With speaker x tube y may be best. The new issue Gold Lion KT88's are well regarded but may not be to your liking. Personal preference is also a factor.

[rpf]

There are a lot of very good power tubes being produced today. If most are not on the level of the best NOS - with the possible exceptions of the Black Treasures 6CA7 and KT88, and the Genalex KT88 and KT66 - they are at least easily available and affordable (BT aside). NOS power tubes are hard to find and extremely expensive.

In addition to the above, the Genalex KT77, SED 6550 and EL34 (I haven't heard the KT88), the EH 6CA7 and Tung Sol KT120 can all sound excellent in the right amp. As others have stated, system matching and personal preference both play a significant role.

With small signal tubes however, I have mostly been disappointed in the sound quality of current production (in the few pieces of gear I've heard them in). There, I would try to stay with NOS where possible and affordable.

[geowak]

There is a supplier that recommends NEW JJ KT88 copy of Genelex. Any thought if these tubes are of good quality? Is the Blue Glass version any different from the standard tubes of JJ? I think they are made in Slovakia.

Based on the fact that I stated I have a NEW integrated amp,
which is designed as a copy of Western Electric designs of old he has suggested these tubes.

Also the amp takes a pair of 12BH7's, which the supplier has suggested NOS RCA.

Any other suggestions by you guys/gals about the JJ's or NOS RCA....