Lookin' for info/opinions on KT90, KT99, & KT100's along w/ sources to obtain them. Anybody had any experience with these critters?
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jbmojo |
KT90,99,100 info |
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Posts: 384 (09/09/09 19:08) |
Lookin' for info/opinions on KT90, KT99, & KT100's along w/ sources to obtain them. Anybody had any experience with these critters? Ninty-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.
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Psycho Bass Guy |
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Posts: 329 (09/14/09 06:52) |
I answered this a few days ago, but Yuku ate it.
KT90: an extinct tube if New Sensor isn't making them now. Originally conceived by Manley for high end studio amps, it's essentially a cross between the 6KG6 sweep tube's voltage handling and an EL34-like sound, with a taller, thinner bottle relative to most 6550/KT88's. They were made by Ei in the old Philips plant and the last few runs of them are famous for being dangerously faulty. New Sensor started making them right as Ei's production got bad, but they are hard to find. Given New Sensor's track record with big audio beam tetrodes, their KT90 is probably an excellent tube. I have quite few old Ei KT90's, but have never encountered New Sensor's version. KT99: Can be one of three different tubes, two of which were made in China and the other in Yugoslavia in the 80's. The Chinese tubes are either just relabelled KT88's or another tube that resembles a fatter KT90, but without the KT90's voltage handling, which is a copy of the Yugslavian KT99. It was supposedly a 'modernized' version of the Gold Lion KT88 for McIntosh. The sound is supposedly nice, but they do not hold up well under operational voltage. They are very rare, but from what I have gathered, do not live up to the hype and most modern KT88's are superior. KT100: This can either be the aforementioned "KT99" or the far more common version, a relabelled Chinese KT88, which is an often unfairly maligned tube. They sound nice and balanced, and handle voltage well, but have a slightly muted high end and midrange. I have dozens. Any other questions?
"I'm the fly in the ointment, the monkey in the wrench, the pain in your ass."
Psycho >^}
Last Edited By: Psycho Bass Guy
09/14/09 10:35.
Edited 1 times.
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jbmojo |
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Posts: 392 (09/14/09 19:15) |
Thanks, that answered a lot of questions for me.
Ninty-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.
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Psycho Bass Guy |
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Posts: 330 (09/14/09 22:02) |
BTW, what are you thinking of using those tubes for? There are lots of other KT88/6550 types out there right now that are much easier to find. I also
forgot that JJ made (makes?) a KT90 called the "EL509II." It's not on the Eurotubes website anymore. For more info on it and other big beam
tetrodes, check out this thread: http://ampworkshop.yuku.com/topic/1976?page=1
"I'm the fly in the ointment, the monkey in the wrench, the pain in your ass."
Psycho >^} |
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SG123 |
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Posts: 8371 (09/15/09 20:24) |
Can't believe I read through that entire "Biasing an SVT" thread again - but I did.
One of the best discussions we've had on here. Some of the photo links from 2006 are actually still working! It would be interesting to know how those amps turned out over the long haul. [ Andy's V9 & the one for RussBert's son's buddy ]
So many
frequencies, so little time...
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Andy ZZ |
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Posts: 2581 (09/16/09 15:00) |
My V9 is still kicking up dust. One of those projects that turned out so well that I'll likely never sell her.
-andy-
It aint the years, it's the mileage...
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Andy ZZ |
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Posts: 2582 (09/16/09 15:08) |
By the way, I saw that Ted finally finished his big bad bass amp kit.
PBG, have you heard anything about it? Good, bad, etc? I know Ted was agonizing over the iron. He was having a hard time finding Transformers that could do the job properly. For both the output stage and the PI stage. -andy-
It aint the years, it's the mileage...
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Psycho Bass Guy |
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Posts: 331 (09/17/09 19:30) |
I know that it had a couple of revisions later, and I have heard of a few people building it, but that's as much as I know. The big tube bass amp
market has cooled dramatically in the past couple of years.
The layout is here: https://taweber.powweb.com/store/ab200_layout.jpg It looks like he got rid of the EL84 driver and went with an EL34 and backed off the supply filters. On paper, it looks like a cross between an SVT and a 400PS, but set up more conservatively than both. With a great set of tubes and a little hot-rodding, that thing could be evil. It's even listed in the schematic: https://taweber.powweb.com/store/ab200_schem.jpg as an option.
"I'm the fly in the ointment, the monkey in the wrench, the pain in your ass."
Psycho >^}
Last Edited By: Psycho Bass Guy
09/17/09 19:39.
Edited 3 times.
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Psycho Bass Guy |
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Posts: 332 (09/17/09 19:37) |
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jbmojo |
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Posts: 395 (09/17/09 20:50) |
Now you're giving me some real big ideas about my bass amp project, even if the "big tube amp market has cooled off". Not where I come from,
anyway.
What about the KT100's? Still available? Ninty-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.
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Andy ZZ |
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Posts: 2584 (09/18/09 08:32) |
Isn't that output transformer UltraLinear?
But not wired for UL operation? Odd, no? -andy-
It aint the years, it's the mileage...
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Psycho Bass Guy |
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Posts: 333 (09/19/09 01:26) |
jbmojo wrote: The last ones you used to be able to find them on eBay fairly regularly were just relabelled "6550-98's," new production Chinese 6550's made using Richardson Electronics jigs sold to them out of the old GE Ken-Rad plant. I wouldn't take too much stock in the "KT100" being necessary to boost the plate voltage. Any decent 6550/KT88 ought to do fine with 700 plate volts.
"I'm the fly in the ointment, the monkey in the wrench, the pain in your ass."
Psycho >^} |
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jbmojo |
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Posts: 406 (09/26/09 10:53) |
Which ones do you think are the better ones out of the different makes? I've been using JJ's for a while, they hold up well and sound fine to me . I've seen some really pricey ones from other outfits, but don't see much difference other than being "freeze dried", "mated for life", "burned in for 5 years",etc. You know, the usual sort of advertising bs you see all the time. Nothing you can't get around by just fine-tuning the amp, adding a balance control in the bias circuit, that sort of thing. Ninty-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.
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Psycho Bass Guy |
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Posts: 336 (09/28/09 20:04) |
The JJ KT88's kick ass, but bias up a little hot for full power for my taste; I don't trust them to handle an amp with a powerful drive stage, like an
SVT, unless you back them off a bit. KT90's (good ones anyway) are tough as nails, but mostly mids; I have them in my cathode biased Wizard Bass 500, which
redplated everything else, JAN GE6550A's included. I'm really partial to the coke bottle shaped New Sensor tube that used to be sold as the
"Sovtek KT88" but is now called the "Tungsol 6550;" they're tough, cheap, AND sound good. About the only modern 6550 I DON'T like
is the "Flying C" /old "Svetlana" 6550C with the square plate holes.
"I'm the fly in the ointment, the monkey in the wrench, the pain in your ass."
Psycho >^} |
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jbmojo |
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Posts: 414 (09/29/09 00:20) |
How about for a Sound City LB200 MkIII?
Ninty-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.
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Psycho Bass Guy |
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Posts: 337 (09/30/09 06:21) |
What kind of bass/cab/music? Sound City's are pretty "middle of the road" tonewise (the active EQ notwithstanding). If you want more snarl, then
go with KT90's, otherwise the JJ's or New Sensor'Tungsols" should be fine.
"I'm the fly in the ointment, the monkey in the wrench, the pain in your ass."
Psycho >^} |
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jbmojo |
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Posts: 418 (09/30/09 06:28) |
Old Ampeg SVT (8X10), heavey, but still sounds great. Music? Rock, blues, 9th ward second-line funk, soul, that sort of stuff, and you?
Ninty-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.
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Psycho Bass Guy |
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Posts: 338 (09/30/09 07:15) |
I'd say stick with the JJ's. They have a nice bite that the Tungsol 6550's lack, which can get a little 'compressed' sounding and are better for "smooth" music requiring more clean punch than growl. I'm an SVT guy first and formemost, but my amp (and cab) stable is huge. I play loud rock ala Motorhead and I love old SVT cabs, but when they're too tall, I use an Acme Series 1 4x10 for all my amps or an Ernie Ball HD212 if I'm using an amp with an 8 ohm output. It's funny because the HD212 is very heavy, 103 lbs, but there are stages that are too short ceilinged for the 8x10 stack, and no room to set the head beside the cab.
"I'm the fly in the ointment, the monkey in the wrench, the pain in your ass."
Psycho >^}
Last Edited By: Psycho Bass Guy
09/30/09 20:14.
Edited 1 times.
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jbmojo |
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Posts: 419 (10/01/09 09:29) |
Yeah, SVT's are great for loud rock, heavy funk too. I think mine is a '71. Heavy-ass heads though. Used to have one when I was younger.
I also got a little 4X10 Behringer cab (that wound up in Guitar Center's dumpster after somebody got pissed and kicked in one of the speakers. No surprise there, it sounds crummy by itself). When I push that one and the SVT cab with the TE SM600 head (ss) that I'm using right now, the combination sounds real good-12X10. Heavy SOB though, almost as much as the SVT. The TE ain't light either. Oh well, it is bass equipment, after all. Can't wait to hear 'em both with the Sound City (tube). Ninty-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.
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