Who's tried the JJ KT88's?

Post by **VelvetGeorge** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 5:01 pm

I just ordered a matched sextet for my Ampeg SVT. I hope they hold up better than the typical 6550.

George

dynaman · Post by **dynaman** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 6:20 pm

Can't speak for the JJ's, but I've been running a quad of Sovtek KT88's in some monoblocks with nary a problem. Over 500 volts on plates, biased at 50mA, solid state rectification and NO standby switch. I've ran them almost everyday for the last two years with no problems.

Country Boy Shane · Post by **Country Boy Shane** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 10:19 am

Hey george, didn't you modify one of your heads with KT88's at one time? Or was it KT66's??

myker · Post by **myker** » Sat Jun 18, 2005 8:47 pm

hey george, i have a couple of these jj kt88's. they sound like 6L6, with much more low end, and better crunch. but still have a very "american" sound to them. i have tried them in the JTM45 and in my SLO clone, and i highly recommend them in amplifiers that do not rely on the power stage for their distortion, but they sound killer in amps with lots of preamp gain. i plan to build a 100 watt with 2 of the 88's and 2 el34's...
just my $.02.
mike

FMmark · Post by **FMmark** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 11:40 am

We replaced the EL-34's in a '74 Super Lead belonging to one of the guitar players in my band with JJ KT-88's. He won't go back to EL-34's any time soon. I have him mixed pretty loud in my in-ears so I hear it fairly naked right from his cab. They sound great to me, the only thing I can say to describe it is that it sounds more solid. The difference is in the low end, I don't want to say it tightened it up, it's not that drastic but again, more solid is an accurate description. Just seems to have more balls and authority. It's subtle enough where it doesn't change the overall character of the amp but I think it's a more attractive sound.

I replaced 6L6's in a Soldano Hot Rod 50 with Sovtek KT-66's and that made a huge difference. Unfortunately I have not compared different brands of the KT-88's but so far the JJ's are good and reliable, and the Sovteks have not let me down in the Soldano.