KT88/EL34

[shel50]

Any thoughts on KT88 vs EL 34 regarding music genre?
I listen often to Jazz and female vocals.......wondering which type of power tubes you folks prefer regarding the KT 88's vs EL34's
I'm told the EL 34 focuses on the midrange area as opposed to KT88
Supposedly the KT 88 is best for the entire frequency.....
Any thoughts to share would be appreciated.

 

[Mcsnare]

My experience has been that it's hard to generalize. It comes down to the amplifier and it's design.
If I had to comment, based on hearing a lot of tube amps in my system, EL-34's are less linear than KT-88's. What I've heard with EL-34's tends to be less imediacy and dynamic contrasts. Smoother and more classically "tubey". I've heard KT-88's sound anywhere from low end and high end emphasized, to extremely clean and linear sounding. I don't think of sonic signatures as being a genre thing although I might think about it differently if you had said "I only listen to Swedish death metal."
It's either clean or it's not and there's a thousand graduations in between.
My .02

 

[shel50]

My experience has been that it's hard to generalize. It comes down to the amplifier and it's design.
If I had to comment, based on hearing a lot of tube amps in my system, EL-34's are less linear than KT-88's. What I've heard with EL-34's tends to be less imediacy and dynamic contrasts. Smoother and more classically "tubey". I've heard KT-88's sound anywhere from low end and high end emphasized, to extremely clean and linear sounding. I don't think of sonic signatures as being a genre thing although I might think about it differently if you had said "I only listen to Swedish death metal."
It's either clean or it's not and there's a thousand graduations in between.
My .02

very interesting indeed.... Your background is very impressive indeed---many thanks
I concur with your thoughts