[smodtactical]

Guys I love my crack OTL with bs650, atticus and hd800S. The warm smooth, euphonic sound with very full mids. I prefer her to audio gd he9, elekit ut8600S and even my ARC pre into pass power amp.

Is the Kenzie or mogwai an evolution of that euphonic sound? Is it as euphonic and warm in the mids as the Crack OTL but better? I have heard mixed things about that.

Thanks!

 

[DeweyCH]

Found a great tube at a great price for the KT88/6L6 sockets on the Mogwai - the Tung-Sol 6AR6. Requires adapters, but got a NOS pair for $60 and WOW does it sound great. Big, big upgrade over the TS 6L6GC pair I had been using. Stage is increased and detail is cranked up, bass is hefty and fun. Cannot recommend highly enough.

 

[andypat]

Found a great tube at a great price for the KT88/6L6 sockets on the Mogwai - the Tung-Sol 6AR6. Requires adapters, but got a NOS pair for $60 and WOW does it sound great. Big, big upgrade over the TS 6L6GC pair I had been using. Stage is increased and detail is cranked up, bass is hefty and fun. Cannot recommend highly enough.

What rectifier tube are you using?

 

[DeweyCH]

What rectifier tube are you using?

Stock. I've got a USAF-596 and adapter on the way though.

 

[Zbell]

Anyone know if Sophia Princess 274b rectifier tube can be used in place of 5U4/5AR4 on Mogwai Rev2? It's a tight fit next to the transformer, but there's maybe a millimeter of space...

 

[andypat]

Anyone know if Sophia Princess 274b rectifier tube can be used in place of 5U4/5AR4 on Mogwai Rev2? It's a tight fit next to the transformer, but there's maybe a millimeter of space...

https://sophiaelectric.com/collections/274b-5u4g/products/pages-se-aqua-274b

… The max value allowed for the Princess 274B mesh plate is 4uf, or 8uf for the Princess 274B rigid plate. But for a typical 300B single ended amplifier, it is usually larger than 8uf. To overcome this limitation, Sophia Electric came out with a newly designed Aqua 274B rectifier tube to raise the limitation from 8uf to 47uf. This Aqua 274B can directly replace 5U4G in most amplifiers with great sonic improvement.

The Mogwai Rev 2 has a 33uF capacitor immediately after the rectifier. I wouldn't risk using any of the Sophia rectifiers other than the Sophia Aqua 274B.

 

[Little Bear]

Anyone know if Sophia Princess 274b rectifier tube can be used in place of 5U4/5AR4 on Mogwai Rev2? It's a tight fit next to the transformer, but there's maybe a millimeter of space...

If you end up getting the Sophia rectifier tube, maybe you'd like to buy my pair of blue glass coke bottle Sophia KT88-ST to go with it. I've decided to go back to 6L6's.

 

[Zbell]

https://sophiaelectric.com/collections/274b-5u4g/products/pages-se-aqua-274b

The Mogwai Rev 2 has a 33uF capacitor immediately after the rectifier. I wouldn't risk using any of the Sophia rectifiers other than the Sophia Aqua 274B.

Yeah I think you're right. I have a mesh plate and basic research said it should work, but I foolishly tried it without digging a little deeper. Got a little inner tube lightning (don't know if there's a term for that) upon turning on the amp, but honestly worked fine and sounded great otherwise. With that said, not gonna try it again.

If you end up getting the Sophia rectifier tube, maybe you'd like to buy my pair of blue glass coke bottle Sophia KT88-ST to go with it. I've decided to go back to 6L6's.

Please don't tempt me, those look too cool - I already have a Sophia rectifier around that I use with a WA6.

 

[Zbell]

blue glass coke bottle Sophia KT88-ST

With that said, would love to hear your impressions of them vs the 6L6's? I'm currently running with some Tung-Sol 6550 reissues that I'm really enjoying.

 

[Little Bear]

With that said, would love to hear your impressions of them vs the 6L6's? I'm currently running with some Tung-Sol 6550 reissues that I'm really enjoying.

An actual comparison is difficult because I bought the tubes only 2 months ago and they have maybe 60-70 hours of use, so I'm not even sure they're fully broken in. But I can say that they are the most powerful tube I've used and also seem the most linear of the output tubes I've tried in the Mogwai (EL34, 6L6GC-STR, KT66, 6384). The bass is noticeably stronger with the Sophia 88's than with any of the others. The frequency extension is superb at both ends. They sound very smooth, throw a big soundstage with excellent depth. The Tung-Sol 6L6GC-STR has long been my favorite output tube with my speakers, which are Klipsch La Scalas*. I think they sound a bit more "warm and intimate" than the other tubes I've tried, which sounds really good with the La Scalas. For almost any other speaker, or for inefficient headphones like Susvara, I'd stick with the KT88's.

*For the past year or so, my Mogwai SE v1 has been doing speaker duty.

 

[ardbeg1975]

Hello. Just picked up a gently used rev 1 Mogwai (I like octal input tubes) to complement my somewhat dry 300B amp. I really like the contrast of the two tube amps so far. Pairs really well with my VCs.

 

[ardbeg1975]

I saw some sonic impressions of the Tung Sol reissue 6550s. Any impressions of the NOS Tung Sols?

 

[dunkyboy]

I’m using NOS Tung-Sol. Best tube I tried for this amp, and I tried a few. Detailed, rich, balanced. Mine are microphonic though, which is annoying - don’t know if it’s common or I just got unlucky.

 

[ardbeg1975]

I’m using NOS Tung-Sol. Best tube I tried for this amp, and I tried a few. Detailed, rich, balanced. Mine are microphonic though, which is annoying - don’t know if it’s common or I just got unlucky.

Thank you. Good to know. I think I may take the risk of their being noisy if the overall sonics are great.

 

[me2621a]

Thank you. Good to know. I think I may take the risk of their being noisy if the overall sonics are great.

NOS TS are very nice tubes. There are three variants. 3 hole, solid grey plate, and black plate. The solid grey plate is the best of the three IMO.

If you are looking for a pair feel free to DM I have a few. No worries if not, either way they are great tubes.