KT 77 Tubes instead of EL34 or 6CA7's

Lee Henley said:

Hi All

I have had it confirmed from the manufacturer of my Mastersound DuVenti EL 34 amplifier that I can use KT 77 valves.

About a year ago I swapped the EL34 tubes out for 6CA7 valves and liked what I heard, over the past few months I have been contemplating changing the amplifier but have not heard anything yet that I like. The current tubes are a bit noisy and due for replacement and started to do a bit of research and found that KT77 tubes can be used, models Ive seen are JJ and Golden Lion, so with this in mind I was wondering if anyone had used such tubes and what experiences they have had?

Many thanks in advance

Lee

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I know you did not mention price, but JJ KT77 are $20 each while GL KT77 are $50 each at thetubestore.com. I have used the JJ KT77 in my Rogue Stereo 90 and like them. I think they are one of the best sounding new production tubes out there. Some have reported reliability issues but I believe that the QC has improved at JJ. I have never had an issue with my quad after three years of rotation in my amp (maybe 400 hours actual playing time). That said, you definitely want to buy them from a vendor who takes the time to weed out the duds.
I have not tried the GL KT77, but was not impressed with the sound or the longevity of the quad of GL KT88 I got from thetubestore. Two died in their boxes (the dreaded white getters) after being pulled from the amp (less than 350 hours of use). Hate it when $60 a pop tubes die prematurely! So yes, I am a little biased against the Gold Lion brand.
Best tube of this type I have used in my amp are the Treasure black bottle 6CA7 but they are very pricey at over $90 each.
Enjoy the roll!

New production tubes are a poor value, I wouldn't touch them.

The GL KT77s sound pretty good but you can expect them to last about half as long as they should. JJ's have been unreliable, are they better now? Who cares, I'm not taking the chance. I hope new production can make some improvements but from what I've seen there are absolutely none worth buying.

DaveC said:

New production tubes are a poor value, I wouldn't touch them.

The GL KT77s sound pretty good but you can expect them to last about half as long as they should. JJ's have been unreliable, are they better now? Who cares, I'm not taking the chance. I hope new production can make some improvements but from what I've seen there are absolutely none worth buying.

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Agree and disagree.
Agree that NOS tubes in general sound better and last longer. The tubes do the amplifying in a tube amp and the better your tubes the better your amp will sound. My main output tube in the Rogue is the EI KT90 type 2 (which was a new production tube not so long ago). I also have a nice stash of GEC KT66, Russian 6P3S-E, RCA and GE 6L6gc, Mullard EL34, etc etc. These all sound better, last longer and have been bullet proof in my amp (although I admit to not being a big fan of the NOS Mullard EL34 sound, too rich for me, I actually prefer the Treasures or gasp the JJ in my amp). But I am a tube collector, its a hobby I spend a fair bit of time and money doing. For example, I go to a lot of hamfests to make contacts and hunt down tubes. Most people have no interest in doing that. I also have an amp with individual bias pots for each tube, allowing me to use unmatched output tubes. Not all (many) amps do. When's the last time you came across a matched set of NOS output tubes? So for most people new production output tubes are the only game in town.
If you have a nice stash of vintage output tubes maybe we could talk?

Lee Henley said:

Hi All

I have had it confirmed from the manufacturer of my Mastersound DuVenti EL 34 amplifier that I can use KT 77 valves.

About a year ago I swapped the EL34 tubes out for 6CA7 valves and liked what I heard, over the past few months I have been contemplating changing the amplifier but have not heard anything yet that I like. The current tubes are a bit noisy and due for replacement and started to do a bit of research and found that KT77 tubes can be used, models Ive seen are JJ and Golden Lion, so with this in mind I was wondering if anyone had used such tubes and what experiences they have had?

Many thanks in advance

Lee

Click to expand...

I am currently using Gold Lion KT-77 tubes in my Quicksilber V-4 amplifiers and like the sound better than the JJ EL-34 tubes I was using. I have had them in there for a while and they have held bias and been reliable.