KT66 tubes-- new. any likes?

[lifer]

please....only comment if you know what the real ones sound like for a reference. thanks.

i tried the new gold lions. i figuyred "ya get what ya pay for".....good lord, they blow. anyone know of others that may be usuable for gigs/recording? thnaks for any input!

[BrianH]

Bumping as I was wondering the same. I've been out of the tube loop for a while and wondering what new production is most preferred... still Shuguang? Reissue Tung-sol or Genalex?

The Genalex got a few positives here: http://forum.metroamp.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=35624" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

thanks,

[Roe]

Gold lions "RI"
TADs

[dretot]

lifer,
Nothing out there sounds exactly like the real deal (I'm sure you know). I've been using Valve Arts and they are close........how close?........90% I'd say. Gotta pay for that extra 10%. I've had mine for 3 1/2 yrs. and they're still going strong and sound good. Interesting about the Gold Lions. I've wanted to try those. Some reviews have been positive.

my opinion of course.......

here's a clip. lp/jtm45 clone w/VA kt66/celestion g12h

http://www.soundclick.com/player/single ... i&newref=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I know..... not quite Clapton, but you can get an idea of the Valve Arts. btw, I've got a Celestion Gold in there now and it's better.

dre

[Ted B]

Well done, very nice sound.

As for the VA KT66s, I've used them for years, and find them to respond well to bias tweaking. I've had them sounding good enough to keep the Genalex KT66s resting in their boxes.

I can't comment on the current 'Gold Lion' tubes, but I'd recommend playing with the bias a bit. I know the VAs do well when run a bit on the hot side.

[DaveMcLain]

For about the last 10 years or so we've been using the KT66's in the Marshalls used in our band. I started out using the Groove Tubes(Saratov) KT-66 and then later switched to the Valve Art because I could not get the GT version any longer. The Valve Arts were very similar but not quite the same and in our experience they tended to sound a bit fuzzier and more "maxed out" when cranked up good. Not long ago I tried a set of the Gold Lions from New Sensor and in my opinion they sounded very very good. They were superior overall to the other two types we had used. The tone seems to be more solid than the VA's, tighter and less fuzzy when cranked up and also not as dark sounding as the older Saratov version. This was just my observation with them in the same amp and biased similarly current wise.

Speaking of bias, I had to change a few resistors to rescale the bias pot when switching between each type in order to get enough range of adjustment so just plugging them in is not an option they are that different.

I think it's very worthwhile to buy a few different brands and experiment with them because everyone has different needs from their amp. In our case the amp gets run into a Marshall Power Brake to control volume but it's not run even close to flat out. We tend to go for cleaner Marshall tones with more punch for rhythm guitar. Another tube that also worked well in our application but was right on the edge of having too much headroom/too clean sounding was the Electro Harmonix KT88.