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Theres no doubt about it the Pentas ARE made by Shuguangs. And yes an identical shug branded tube can be bought, though if memory serves there is some difference whether it be matching tolerances or some other magic pixie dust.
Pez, how much of a difference do you hear between the KT88SC and the Black Treasures? While I think the Black Treasures are better, I'm not sure they are that much of an improvement overall sonically. Better, yes, but not necessarily all that noticeable over the Pentas.BTW, one KT88 I rarely seen brought up is the SED Winged C KT88. There seems to be good press in Europe, but here stateside, most folks do not seem to like them. Too bad, as they look more robust than most K88s made currently. I have not herd them lately, but the last time I did listen to them, they seemed dull sounding. The JJ sounded compressed, and the bass was not natural sounding.
I got NOS (well they are 12 years old) KT88 SED quad from 1999 and they sound very good in my VAC PA80/80. I like them much better than original VAC tubes (looks like Golden Dragon branded VAC), Shugaung KT88-98 and better than EH KT88 I tried. I will compare to Penta KT88SC soon and report back. I wanted to try ST black bottle KT88's, but a friend of mine talked me out of it since he tried them and feels that they are basically slightly better Shugaung KT88-98 in a nice box with better selection and HPCC coating. Never heard Golden Lion KT88, but some time ago I heard an amp with Original Tesla NOS KT88-s tubes that replaced chinese KT88 and they were very good sounding tubes, huge difference in that PP amp. I tend to like how various SED tubes sound, they usually have very good bass, separation and transient response. I heard all this improved over EH and VAC KT88 tubes in my amp. If you like SED sound signature and prefer it over Shugaung tubes in general give them a try, very nice tubes. There is also a very interesting Fullmusic KT88/C and Canada-Fuller KT88 tubes both made in china, never heard them but I would like to.
Greetings from the new guy.Has anyone tried the Black Treasures KT88 in a VAC Phi 200? I got this superb amp only a few months ago and I just love it. When designing it, Kevin Hayes chose KT88SC-MQS for this amp and they sound great, although I don't know much about them. When something sounds so good, it's sometimes hard to imagine it getting better until you hear it in your own system. I'd be interested in hearing from VAC owners about your tube rolling adventures. Thanks in advance.
If you like the sound of the SEDs give the gold lion KT66 tube a try. They have very similar sonic, bit more refinement IMO.
Hmmm. Never heard of a KT88 amp that wouldn't also take KT66s. Can it run EL34s?
Ya not unheard of for a KT88 amp to not run el34s or equivalent. Oh well, how long have you run the Pentas for? Are they broken in?
They had about 60 hours on them before I tried them in this amp. They sound nice, but I don't think they are objectively better than SEDs, just different sound signature. I feel that SEDs are more dynamic and have better transients and bass, in my amp with my speakers, than any KT88 I heard so far.
I had just the opposite experience with my old HK Citation II. The SED KT88 sounded dull compared to the Penta KT88. The bass had no definition. Now, the SED tubes were late 90's production, so not sure how the current ones are.I now own an Eastern Electric M88, which is a much different sounding amp from the old HK. I've been curious about trying SED tubes with the M88. I have tried the Black Treasures and Pentas with the M88, and they both are great. The Treasures are really special, but the Pentas are not far behind.
I had a bit more listening time with SED and Penta Labs KT88. I ended up liking SEDs more, so I pulled Penta Labs KT88s put back SEDs. I feel they are more dynamic, precise and clean sounding without the softness that Pentas have. Original VAC tubes are similar to Penta Labs but a bit less interesting, and EH KT88 are overall nice but not in anyway better than Pentas and SEDs. I am waiting for NOS Ei KT90 tubes, I heard good things about them in my amp.
Fair enough. Each system is different, so it's impossible to state with any certainty how set of tubes with system A compare to system B. There are way too many variables to take into account. I'm sure that the SED would sound different in my current amp vs. how it sounded in my previous amp.
My concern with SED tubes right now is spotty availability with increasing questions of reliability. The most recent SED 6550 has spiked up n price, and some of the dealers are reporting quality control issues.
