Gold Lion KT88's different types?

That is exactly what I saw. However if you look at the add to cart option you have to specify which Genalex Gold Lion Quartet type you want first. The options are hard, medium, or soft.

It appears there are different types and some are better than others for audiophile purposes.

Here is what BNB Tubes had to say about it:

Hello Mike,

It does indeed apply, and you should have something toward the harder end of the scale. Meaning the tubes will stay cleaner, longer. Which translates into higher Gm and Ip numbers. Please just remind us if you order that you want something toward the harder end of the scale. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask,

Best regards, BnB Tubes, Inc.

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I have noticed some other sellers ask you to specify soft, medium, or hard which seems to correspond to how and when they distort. I’m using these in a very high end amplifier so not sure if that applies?

Mike

It's pretty laughable to start your own post, and then make almost all of the posts but that's what I'm doing. I kind of feel like I'm having a conversation with myself but maybe someone else will benefit from the posts.

Here's what Jim McShane at Citation Amps and Tubes (well known and respected tube seller) has to say on the subject:

I'm not an Audiogon member so I can't post there. But feel free to share what I wrote.

"The hard-soft-medium stuff is for guitar amps. It's describing the point where the tube breaks into distortion. But unless you are using these in a guitar amp it's meaningless to you.

And add that the big sellers use "distributor matched" tubes. The matching is almost always pretty awful on those, regardless of what they say. I've seen "distributor matched" tubes off by over 10 ma. My standard is plus or - 1 to 1.5 ma."