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Cayin HA-6A Class A KT88/EL34 Tube Headphone Amplifier
Mar 12, 2021 at 11:41 AM Post #616 of 1,943
ThanatosVI said:
Well there are also the
TaD KT88-STR blackplates
KR KT88
EAT KT88

Those 3 received plenty of praise, however at a higher price than Gold lions.

12au7 rolling is considerably cheaper
Click to expand...
Yes I have received this morning Tad KT88-STR Blackplates, they are on the burn in phase now but they sound already very nice right out of the box, more on those later !

usually if you want to fatten the sound, go For JJ power tubes, like JJE34L or JJ6550.
Maybe even the JJ KT88.

I have a set of JJ El34, and they are indeed very creamy, but highs are too much recessed for my liking.
If you are more fan of kt88, usually the 6550 is fatter sounding while keeping about the same power

as for input tubes, amperex bugle boys, or Nos mullards usually do the trick as well.
 
Mar 12, 2021 at 12:51 PM Post #617 of 1,943
Gr3g277 said:
Yes I have received this morning Tad KT88-STR Blackplates, they are on the burn in phase now but they sound already very nice right out of the box, more on those later !
Click to expand...
How do these compare to the Gold Lions?
Have you tried RAM KT-88 tubes?
 
Mar 12, 2021 at 1:30 PM Post #618 of 1,943
Zachik said:
How do these compare to the Gold Lions?
Have you tried RAM KT-88 tubes?
Click to expand...
I have to put the gold lions back in the amp, and the blackplates need a bot more burn in.
from memory I will say that soundstage seems wider, and tone a bit richer, bass seems is great, but cannot confirm for the moment.
I will report back when I have swapped between them
 
Mar 12, 2021 at 3:34 PM Post #619 of 1,943
ThanatosVI said:
Well there are also the
TaD KT88-STR blackplates
KR KT88
EAT KT88

Those 3 received plenty of praise, however at a higher price than Gold lions.

12au7 rolling is considerably cheaper
Click to expand...
Yes, sure.
I did not mentioned these three names, because for me they looks like rebranded Shuguang KT88 tubes.
Also, have found that Chinese manufactures start to mimic JJ KT88 tubes, then original JJ tubes are manufactured on old Tesla equipment.
 
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Mar 12, 2021 at 3:37 PM Post #620 of 1,943
kimdeug said:
Yes, sure.
I did not mentioned these three names, because for me they looks like rebranded Shungan KT88 tubes.
Also, have found that Chinese manufactures start to mimic JJ KT88 tubes, then original JJ tubes are manufactured on old Tesla equipment.
Click to expand...
All 3 are current production tubes.
The TAD is based on a british Design while the other tubes are Tesla reissues
 
Mar 12, 2021 at 5:22 PM Post #621 of 1,943
Gr3g277 said:
I have to put the gold lions back in the amp, and the blackplates need a bot more burn in.
from memory I will say that soundstage seems wider, and tone a bit richer, bass seems is great, but cannot confirm for the moment.
I will report back when I have swapped between them
Click to expand...
Which do you think has wider sound stage and sounds richer with more bass? The TAD or Gold Lions? (I have read your post couple times, and it could be interpreted both ways, I think)

Also, is that the right tube:
1615587557445.png

Does NOT saying Blackplate on it...

The photo from the manufacturer website does:
1615587496204.png

(but I prefer to buy locally and avoid international shipping, plus cheaper in the US for me...)
So, is it the same tube or 2 different grade levels (which could explain the cheaper price of the one that does not say "Blackplate" on it)?
 
Mar 12, 2021 at 5:29 PM Post #622 of 1,943
OK... apparently they DO have 2 grade levels:
1615588062438.png
1615588094834.png

The US places seems to be selling the cheaper (non-Blackplate) version.
 
Mar 13, 2021 at 4:40 AM Post #623 of 1,943
Zachik said:
OK... apparently they DO have 2 grade levels:
1615588062438.png1615588094834.png
The US places seems to be selling the cheaper (non-Blackplate) version.
Click to expand...
Yes there are 2 grade levels, the str version, which is cheaper, and the blackplates series.
The second picture is the tube I have, and I was talking about this tube in my previous post. Sorry if it was unclear, I am not a native english speaker :wink:

The tubes branded TAD, means tube amp doctor, a german company specialized in guitar amp parts.
TAD tubes are made in the shuguang factory in china. They are made using a special equipment and tooling, with a schematic specific to them.They are then pre-burned in and selected and matched in germany, hence the "premium selected" branding.
The blackplate series, are basically the same, but the anodes have a black special coating, which is supposed to help with linearity and heat dissipation.


I think they are great tubes, very reliable, and have a sound of their own, I mean those are not just plain rebranded shuguang tubes. ( could be the case for some small tubes , but i don t know for sure )
Further listening confirms my early impressions, a bit richer sounding than the gold lions, but I am not sure yet if that is because the highs are recessed or if they are neutral with more body.
I have only 2hours of listening on them so too early to make a statement.

Moreover I use my desktop computer as a source, and I have a usb pci filter card coming with a linear power supply, as I figured playing with the bifrost 2 usb and coax input from the reclocker produced vastly different results.

by the way @ThanatosVI was the psaudio powerplant an improvement in noise floor for the ha-6a ?
 
Mar 13, 2021 at 7:53 AM Post #624 of 1,943
Gr3g277 said:
by the way @ThanatosVI was the psaudio powerplant an improvement in noise floor for the ha-6a ?
Click to expand...
No, it didn't alter the noise. It did improve the sound tho.

All noise I had was from one of the stock 12au7 with different tubes it was completely silent
 
Mar 13, 2021 at 10:57 AM Post #625 of 1,943
Gr3g277 said:
Sorry if it was unclear, I am not a native english speaker :wink:
Click to expand...
Your English is great. I am not a native English speaker, too :)

Gr3g277 said:
Yes there are 2 grade levels, the str version, which is cheaper, and the blackplates series.
The second picture is the tube I have, and I was talking about this tube in my previous post.
Click to expand...
Where did you buy them from? I am in the US, and rather not order from Germany (will probably take well over a month to arrive...).

Gr3g277 said:
I have only 2hours of listening on them so too early to make a statement.
Click to expand...
I truly appreciate your impressions, and totally understand your caveats :wink:
 
Mar 13, 2021 at 11:25 AM Post #626 of 1,943
Zachik said:
Your English is great. I am not a native English speaker, too :)


Where did you buy them from? I am in the US, and rather not order from Germany (will probably take well over a month to arrive...).


I truly appreciate your impressions, and totally understand your caveats :wink:
Click to expand...
I bought them direct from tad in germany, took a few days to arrive with ups :wink:
But I live in france not far from the german border... so that helps with shipping, no idea how long it will take to arrive in the us, I will say TAD are very nice to deal with.

I also got nos sylvania 12bh7 from them
That I need to try :)
 
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