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Re: New Tung Sol 6550s. My impressions. Also a run down of tubes I have tried.

Posted by SirAnthony (A) on April 11, 2006 at 18:29:22

In Reply to: Re: New Tung Sol 6550s in VTL ST150. My impressions. posted by Powell on April 11, 2006 at 17:39:00:

I like them too. I have tried NOS Tung Sol 6550 three hole grey plates, reissue Tungsol 6550, EI KT-90 type 2's, SED 6550, Chinese KT-88 smooth plates. They are all good tubes.

The NOS TS is by far the best tube. They are the most musical. They sound detailed, smooth and delicate all the the same time.

The reissue TS isn't better than any of the other tubes in any area except maybe bass definition. But I just enjoy listening to it more then any of the other current production tubes.

The EI KT-90 is a good all around tube. It's hard to fault in any area. But I just don't enjoy it as much as other tubes. It's a good tube for moderate listening levels. I would say sober critical listening is it's strength. But when I want to turn the music up, the EI just doesn't inspire me to do so.

The SED 6550 in my sytem is the warmest of the bunch. It's great when you are looking for that. It does inspire me to turn up the volume. Also it's a good tube to throw in when you want a change of pace.

The Chinese KT-88 is a good tube. It needs alot of breaking in. Cymals sort of sound like pie plates at first. But things smooth out as they break in. It's a very musical sounding tube... Up to a point. These tubes inspire you to turn up the volume. But one notch to far and they go from sounding great to hurting you ears. These tubes can sound very nuetral or warm depending on how you bias them, Under bias them for a clean sound. Over bias them for warmth. But I finally biased them at the recomended setting my amp manual recomends.

Really all of these current production tubes are very good. They just have different flavors for different configurations and different people.

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Kimber Kable

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