Penta KT88SC or Shuguang Treasure KT88-Z

Tyson · « **Reply #20 on:** 4 Jan 2011, 09:34 pm »

ANY amp that can fit KT88's should use the Black Treasures, IMO.

Levi · « **Reply #21 on:** 5 Jan 2011, 12:24 am »

Quote from: Tyson on 4 Jan 2011, 09:34 pm

ANY amp that can fit KT88's should use the Black Treasures, IMO.

The Genalex Gold Lion reissue sounds much better in my amp. Period.

Tyson · « **Reply #22 on:** 5 Jan 2011, 12:30 am »

Want to take some GL's off my hands? I have a few extras

putz · « **Reply #23 on:** 5 Jan 2011, 12:54 am »

Here's pictures of my Jolida KT88 tubes. Guess the maker and win a prize.

Pez · « **Reply #24 on:** 5 Jan 2011, 12:54 am »

The Genalex reissues are basically glorified ElectroHarmonix KT88s. You should give those a shot, bet they'd give you pretty much the same performance.

Edit: Those tubes are definately Shugaungs.

Ericus Rex · « **Reply #25 on:** 5 Jan 2011, 01:03 am »

I would think the Treasures would sound better than the Pentas in ANY amp. You might not get 100% out of them with the Jolida but the Pentas would also have the exact same handicap. If you upgrade amps later you could always keep the Treasures or sell them seperately and not lose a whole lotta dough.

putz · « **Reply #26 on:** 5 Jan 2011, 01:38 am »

Same tube? Tried to add pics side by side but didn't work.

From TheTubeStore website:

Based on our customer responses this KT88 tube definitely has the best bang for the buck of all the KT88 types.

The Shuguang KT88-98 tube is of the same construction as what we have sold as the Gold Aero and Penta type tubes. They feature exceptionally balanced sound at a bargain price.

From our KT88 tube type listening tests: "The Shuguang KT88-98 tube has perfect clarity from the very bottom to the very top of the frequency spectrum. The separation and clarity really bring out voices and acoustic instruments nicely." The Shuguang KT88-98 has a very open soundstage.

Ericus Rex · « **Reply #27 on:** 5 Jan 2011, 02:38 am »

Yep, same tube. The Shuggies have a fairly unique shape to the glass. Also notice the orange colored base and 'dimple' that extends into the metal base. Construction of anodes are identical as well as mica spacer above. Same exact tubes.

The Shuggies are very good KT88s. I hope/think the Treasures are better (my quad hasn't arrived yet).

Pez · « **Reply #28 on:** 5 Jan 2011, 04:58 am »

Oh gawd.... Sorry guys, but I have to say the standard issue Shuguangs SUCK! They are nothing compared to the Treasures, which is all the more surprising that the treasures are any good at all. If you have any experience at all with NOS or the Pentas you wouldn't even consider the standard Shuguangs at all other than as test tubes for an amp you just built.

Seriously friends, I know that sounds really harsh, but if you are rolling standard Shugs and you want a decent lower end tube give the Gold Lion KT66s a shot, then my next recommendation would be the KT88 Pentas, then of course the Treasures. I personally would not go cheaper than the Gold Lions KT66s (not the KT88s personally). Thus saith the dispenser of Truth.

putz · « **Reply #29 on:** 5 Jan 2011, 05:24 am »

Standard Pentas or the SC version?

Quote from: Pez on 5 Jan 2011, 04:58 am

Oh gawd.... Sorry guys, but I have to say the standard issue Shuguangs SUCK! They are nothing compared to the Treasures, which is all the more surprising that the treasures are any good at all. If you have any experience at all with NOS or the Pentas you wouldn't even consider the standard Shuguangs at all other than as test tubes for an amp you just built. Seriously friends, I know that sounds really harsh, but if you are rolling standard Shugs and you want a decent lower end tube give the Gold Lion KT66s a shot, then my next recommendation would be the KT88 Pentas, then of course the Treasures. I personally would not go cheaper than the Gold Lions KT66s (not the KT88s personally). Thus saith the dispenser of Truth.

Pez · « **Reply #30 on:** 5 Jan 2011, 05:38 am »

The SC's are the better ones. Get them from Doug @ http://dougstubes.com/6550kt88.htm all around great guy and outside of Rachel and Ian he's pretty much the only other human being I buy tubes from any more.

putz · « **Reply #31 on:** 5 Jan 2011, 05:58 am »

Already spoke to Doug and he recommended the SC's. That's why I was trying to decide between them and the Treasures.

I'm still breaking in the stock tubes and they are sounding better each nite. Listened to Wicked Game by Chris Isaak and it sounded outstanding. Never having owned a Tube Amp before, I have no point of reference but liking what I am hearing so far. Let the games begin.

Ericus Rex · « **Reply #32 on:** 5 Jan 2011, 01:09 pm »

Quote from: Pez on 5 Jan 2011, 04:58 am

Oh gawd.... Sorry guys, but I have to say the standard issue Shuguangs SUCK! They are nothing compared to the Treasures, which is all the more surprising that the treasures are any good at all. If you have any experience at all with NOS or the Pentas you wouldn't even consider the standard Shuguangs at all other than as test tubes for an amp you just built. Seriously friends, I know that sounds really harsh, but if you are rolling standard Shugs and you want a decent lower end tube give the Gold Lion KT66s a shot, then my next recommendation would be the KT88 Pentas, then of course the Treasures. I personally would not go cheaper than the Gold Lions KT66s (not the KT88s personally). Thus saith the dispenser of Truth.

But the Pentas are just Shuggies that have been rebranded, retested and rematched. It actually says this much on the Penta website under KT88SC. Don't know why you heard them differently. Now, the KT88SC is supposed to be a better tube than the KT88-98. But I haven't directly compared the two. Of course, nothing can compare to the Treasures! (I hope!)

Pez · « **Reply #33 on:** 5 Jan 2011, 03:44 pm »

Haha no. The Pentas are a pretty good replica of the original Genalex KT88s. They are very different from the standard Shugs. The Penta website even says so. (not sure where you're looking)

Quote

The KT88SC is made in China by the Shuguang factory exclusively for Penta Laboratories. It was designed to be equivelent to the original Genelex / M-O Valve KT88 in construction tecniques and cosmetic appearance.

As far as the Treasures, they are supposedly a complete departure from anything any modern tube manufacturer is doing these days. Clearly one of the biggest things you'll notice is the high carbon polymer coating. Beyond that much magic and special metals mined from the heart of meteoroids , forged deep within the mountains by dwarves and sanitized in unicorn blood.

Ericus Rex · « **Reply #34 on:** 5 Jan 2011, 04:05 pm »

From Penta's website:

"The Shuguang KT88SC is of the same construction as Penta's Gold Aero and Penta type tubes. They feature exceptionally balanced sound at a bargain price."

It's hard to tell from the pics at Penta's website but aside from the color of the plastic at base (black instead of orange) the construction looks identical to Shuguang KT88. Can you post a close-up pic of your Pentas?

Your quote above is from Doug's tubes website, right? It would be good marketing for Doug to make the Pentas sound unique but I seriously doubt that Shuguang would completely retool just to make a competitor's product. Create Audio tubes are different in that the internal parts are completely different from Shuguang; they just used their tooling to encase and finish the tube for Create. Could this be what Penta is doing? All I can find on the Penta website suggests that Penta and Shuguang are the same company.

Hopefully your pic will shed some light on the discrepancy!

Pez · « **Reply #35 on:** 5 Jan 2011, 04:08 pm »

http://www.pentalaboratories.com/Product.aspx?dept_id=1516&pf_id=KT88SC%20MP

putz · « **Reply #36 on:** 5 Jan 2011, 04:20 pm »

Link that I saw on Penta's site and pic of tube from there

http://www.pentalaboratories.com/Product.aspx?dept_id=5020&pf_id=KT88SC SHUGUANG

Pez · « **Reply #37 on:** 5 Jan 2011, 04:34 pm »

So anyway, they are very different. The standard Shugaungs have those giant wings and the Shugaung SC (or Penta SC) don't. They probably have different heat dissipation, voltage specs etc, but I'm not going to bother looking it up as it's probably minuscule and rather irrelevant to the discussion of WHICH SOUNDS BETTER.

Ericus Rex · « **Reply #38 on:** 5 Jan 2011, 11:17 pm »

That's the pic I saw too. I was hoping to get a better view of the internal structure of the tube. No worries!

NOS Valves · « **Reply #39 on:** 10 Jan 2011, 11:16 pm »

I was just surfing around and some how stumbled onto this thread. I don't visit here much but I felt I needed to comment in this thread since there seems to be allot of confusion here.

The Shuguang factory makes many different variations of the KT-88 so I can see why the confusion happens on Internet forums.

1) The Valve Art, Ruby or the Shuguang Labeled KT-88-98 are all one and the same. These tubes have no side getters just two top getters. and a 3 hole plate. Pretty darn nice sounding tubes for the $ spent.

2) Inside the Shuguang Treasure looks to me to be identical to the above. The only difference I could find was the black smoked glass that hides the inside. I personally think these tubes are a complete scam for the money. I think they are dead nuts the same as the KT-88-98 with a smoked glass that is much to do about nothing. Marketing scam if you ask me.

3) The Penta Labs KT-88-SC is completely different from either of the above. It has very heavy silvering for the dual side getters and a top getter... the silvering on this tube has to cover nearly 50% of the glass surface. The plates have no holes and are very dark colored almost black. The glass envelop is even different with a more rounded shape. IMHO to my ears this is the very best KT-88 currently made and the closest match to the mighty Gold Lion Genelax KT-88.

4) I really have never cared for any KT-88 coming out of Russia and the Gold Lion didn't change my mind with it's appearance. I also agree with the other poster in this thread that stated it was nothing more then an EH KT-88 with a new name stamped on it. But then I'm not at all happy with the buying up of old brand tube names and stamping them on all kind of modern production tubes just to make a buck. another clever marketing scam.

With all the above stated I will caution you all that none of the modern production tubes have the lasting ability of the good old NOS output tubes so especially with output tubes I would highly suggest folks use some common sense about what they pay for them. You won't be happy when in a couple short years (at most) your $300 or $400 tubes are worn out.