Location: London/Durham
Posts: 6,882
I'm Lawrence.
nick for my own clarification,these are for the 4 large valves on my amp with 1 spare?
My System
John Wood KT88 Amp.
Paradise Phono Stage
Sony TTS-8000 Turntable.
PMAT-1010 MK6 Tonearm.
Ortofon Cadenza Bronze
Sony X555ES Cd Player
Yamaha NS1000m Speakers
Hi Jamie - yes, exactly right.
As mentioned before JW recommended these to me when I wanted to upgrade from the Sovteks to the 'best' available. They are pretty much the 'holy grail' of KT88s, and a decent matched Quad set will go for £1200+ on ebay. They will beat any currently manufactured valves including Gold Lions and all that stuff.
But as I say, I'm not sure about selling these now, until I have had the chance to try them in practice and can vouch for them 100%
Nick if it helps you and you are near by you are welcome to try out your KT88s in my amp which is currently sporting some nice McIntosh KT88s. Fully able to bias etc. I'm in London N2.
Current: [P20] Roon/Tidal > Custom PC> Chevron Paradox NDF16 > Phast Pre > Neuro. 686 > Tannoy Berkley (RFC tweaks)
Location: London
Posts: 685
I'm James.
When I tested them these valves worked as you would expect, no h/c leakage, no cold shorts, no gas, no irregularities in the testing, nothing to suggest they aren't rock solid. And yes, there was a bunch of crap Nick bought as well but had to discard, I don't think it was a 'jackpot' purchase for him.
As with all old valves, if you wish to use them it makes no sense to put them in an extreme environment by which I mean running them at their design limit. This applies to new valves as well but they cost less and are easy to replace ...
Of course anyone interested can PM me and I'll tell them what I know which is that these are honestly represented by a decent chap. I didn't charge for measuring them and have nothing to gain, no relationship with the seller, etc. In my opinion these are as good a punt as old valves ever can be.
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Thanks for your post, James. Very kind of you.
Location: Shenfield
Posts: 574
I'm Slav.
If James (Jazid) tested these buy with confidence ,
best KT88 out there and extremely rare
Location: Suffolk, UK
Posts: 55
I'm Steve.
Before selling my vintage GEC KT66s and others (GZ32s, EF86s) I sent the lot to http://www.timetravelaudio.co.uk/ser...ing-servicing/
Edinburgh, Scotland iirc).
I think it cost £70 all-in for around 12 valves to be tested and shipped back to me? Something like that. In any case I was able to sell each with an individual reading of all the various plate voltages and currents etc.
It seemed to be a transparent way for the buyer to know what they were getting and protection for me to know there shouldn't be any returns.
Very friendly and efficient service. There are plenty of other mail-order testing services but this guy (Stewart iirc) is to be recommended.
Steve
Location: London/Durham
Posts: 6,882
I'm Lawrence.
I don't think there was any question over Jazid's testing.
Location: London
Posts: 685
I'm James.
Power to this chaps elbow, he's seventy quid richer than me. Other than that it's the same service.
Having read the blurb on his website - for a commercial service - I would feel inclined to note that no one tester, and certainly not the 163 can test every valve, at least not at close to working voltages and currents, and for some valves with little accuracy. Best to ask the limitations first, especially if using old or power triodes, regulator or rectifier tubes, and transmission valves.
KT series and all those mentioned in Steve's post are fine however.
Another thorny issue is 'calibration' . I am not aware of any true calibration service for valve testers. This is because of the difficulty and time/cost of working on the machines which do not reach original spec (read 99+%) in order to bring them up to it - which is the whole point of calibration: It should be independent and certified. I think most people mean that their valve tester agrees within say 5% of readings obtained for a particular valve on a 'known good' other tester eg Amplitrex, or a well fettled Neuberger or pi-tracer. There will be some who may have checked HT and bias voltages, and maybe current readings, that's about it. It is not very honest to claim ones tester is calibrated if it isn't: being me I'd ask to see a copy of the calibration certificate and date.
Hence my earlier caveats about buying used valves, and one reason for the ubiquitous disclaimer on eBay from sellers showing test results that the figures given are correct from their machine, not from yours!
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