KT88 recom. for quicksilver mini mono's

Jax2 : well with your personal standard i could take a pen and write "Genelex" on any KT88.
The fact is that there's very few chances that those tubes will sound like a Genelex :)

Where did you see me comparing the sound of KR to Genelex? Re-branding has been a common practice throughout the history of vacuum tube making. Re-branding absolutely does NOT indicate an inferior tube, in fact there are many outstanding tubes available that are re-branded, though I don't think any were done with a pen. In this case, as I pointed out if you read the quote, Tesla was supposedly building a tube of Kron's design, and not their own as you suggested. I made no assertion whatsoever as to their quality.

Marco

One has to take Marco's quoting the 6moons.com interview of Professor Kron as the true. And, as Marco states, this was a different tube than the JJ (Telas/Teslovak).

I have no experience with the KR KT88, apart from seeing a pair of amps with them. They are far larger physically than a JJ KT88, with supposedly more power and extension. As far as the "tone" of the tube goes, or the claims of superior power/extension, obviously, I cannot make any comment regarding that. There is so little opinion avaible about them sonically that they remain more or less an unknown. I REALLY lament the missed opportunity of not giving them a listen.

One would surmise that if JJ felt the KR KT88 superior, they would have either continued on with the design. Or, if doing so violated any agreements, patents, trademarks, etc., they would have still incorporated elements of the overall design in their own tubes. Perhaps this has not yet happened, but will in the future?

Marco is also correct about rebranding tubes. This was de rigeur during the halcyon days of tubes. There are hundreds, if not thousands of examples of this, such as the treasured Amperex/Bugle Boy tubes which were made by third parties (normally by Mullard, Philips, etc.).

Aside from all of this, one has to label the second hand nature of the statements regarding the KR KT88 being compared sonically to the British Gold Lion tubes as such. While, it may or may not be true, until and unless someone who has actually tried both steps up and says this here, or we have a tube shootout, it comes across as not having much behind it.

The KT88 in current production that I like best is the JJ. For my money, they are head and shoulders better than the Sovtek and EH variants.

Finally, I hear a lot of good things by people I respect regarding the Shuguang/Penta tubes, but have not personally heard them. I will say that I wouldn't discount the Chinese tubes offhand. As utterly shocking as this assertion will sound, in my own experience, the current Shuguang 12AX7 bests a lot of the NOS sacred cow 12AX7 tubes. Now, if they'd only redo their EL34...

FWIW, Vacuum Tube Valley (VTV) magazine did a 6550/KT88 shootout many years ago. I used to have a copy, but I think it made it to the recycle bin. The top three in that review were the Genelex 88's on top, TungSol 6550's second, and JJ/Tesla 88's third. No recollections of what amps they used (this would certainly make a difference), but I think there were a few, and judging was done by four or five panelists as I recall. Perhaps someone has a copy and can give more complete results.

Marco

The quote from the 6moons inverview with Kron is on page two of that interview here.

12-03-06: Jax2
FWIW, Vacuum Tube Valley (VTV) magazine did a 6550/KT88 shootout
many years ago. I used to have a copy, but I think it made it to the
recycle bin. The top three in that review were the Genelex 88's on top,
TungSol 6550's second, and JJ/Tesla 88's third. No recollections of what
amps they used (this would certainly make a difference), but I think
there were a few, and judging was done by four or five panelists as I
recall. Perhaps someone has a copy and can give more complete results.

VTV Issue 19. Available from VTV as a back
issue.

System: 80 wpc Air Tight ATM-2 PP KT88, Ait Tight ATC-1 preamp, Air
Tight ATH-2 Moving Coil Step-Up Unit, Quad 989 loudspeakers,
Clearaudio Maximum Solution TT, Graham 2.2 tone arm, Koetsu Onyx
Platinum MC phono cartridge, Shunyata Lyra ICs, Shunyata Aries speaker
cable.

Order of finish: Genelex KT88 Gold Lion (1969) - 4.87, Tung-Sol
6550 1963 Grey Plate - 4.77, JJ KT88 (2002) - 4.63, Ei KT90 (1990) -
4.52, EH KT88 (Reflector 2002) - 4.16, Svetlana 6550 (2001) - 4.13,
Svetlana SVKT88 (2002) - 4.09, Svetlana SV6550C (Reflector 2002) -
3.98, Philips 6550 (Sylvania 1970s) - 3.98, Chinese 6550 (Valve Arts
2002) - 3.89, GE 6550A (1970s) - 3.78

I think it's important to note the production dates of these tubes. Things
have changed since 2003 when this article was published, and these
rankings may or may not apply today.

Also, based on my limited experience with a VAC Phi 110/110 PP tube
amp, it's my opinion that amps are voiced with certain tubes, and they
will sound best with those tubes. No matter what I swapped into my
VAC, it always sounded best with the Chinese sourced (Shuguang) VAC
stock tubes, and my experiments included the much heralded Genelex
Gold Monarch KT88 (1969).

Thanks Grant. I agree, it will depend upon the amp you are using them in. I've had similar experiences where one tube type sounds better than another in one component, but is bested by the one it beat when rolled in another component. Never had any draw me to the few Chinese tubes I've heard, but still, that doesn't surprise me in the least...I've always seemed to find the ones I've heard rather hard and edgy. The best thing to do, if you can afford the price and the time, is to get various sets of tubes (preferably ones that have been previously burned-in) and roll them in the equipment you are going to be using them in. Pretty much like everything else in this hobby: use your own two ears, your own system, your own room, your own music, and your own judgement. What someone else thinks is best, may not be what works for you, and you'll never know unless you try. Ask any question as to which ________ is best here in these forums...virtually anything....and you are bound to get a virtual rainbow of responses. Do a search if you want an example...best tube, best monitor, best CD player under...blah, blah, blah. Or just look at the responses to this query. There is no one right answer, and anyone who believes they think they know there is one single answer for such a question that applies to all individuals has their head deeply entrenched in their own rectal cavity...IMNSHO People and their preferences are as unique as their fingerprints. Threads like this, and others like it, are merely a good place to start.

Marco