has anyone bought valves from them? they make some bold claims and would appear to be a better choice than chinese ones.
https://sophiaelectric.com/collectio.../pages-se-kt88
has anyone bought valves from them? they make some bold claims and would appear to be a better choice than chinese ones.
https://sophiaelectric.com/collectio.../pages-se-kt88
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
I've heard about them and seen a few reviews. They are expensive, I'm happy with my GEC KT88 CLONES, if the form of the Genelex gold lion KT88.
SS
CD Teac VRDS25X(Audiotuned) DECK 1210 Mat Crystal Audio Mods MN Base/Bearing/Platter+Ebony armboard Feet Isonoe PSU Paul Hynes SR7EHD-27XL/DCSXL Ag DC lead/3 Stage Regs/Recap PCB+No Pitch/Strobe/Light ARM SME V(Kondo Ag Rewire&Tags) MC Cadenza Black FGS CABLES Arm Yannis SPD-4 IC Yannis 222 Litz+Ag bullets Power WAR PRE ATC SCA2 SPEAKERS ATC 50ASL STANDS Atacama PHONO Sugden Masterclass PA4 SUT Ortofon ST80SE POWER PSAudio P10
VALVE
PRE Croft Epoch(Modded) AMP Sondex S100 (Modded) SPEAKERS Tannoy 15"MG+RFC Warwick cabs+ Ref XO + Batpure supertweeters DECK Garrard 301 Mat Teunto Bearings 401(Bastin) Plinth Bamboo Arms 3009/3012 PSU Eagle+Tachometer MC Ag Meister II/FGS + Ortofon SPU MONO CABLES Arm Yannis 420.5 Litz+ SpeakerPC Tripple C+WBT-0681 Ag IC Oyaide FTVS-510 AgWBT 0110Ag Phonostages Paradise(4 Box Mega-Modded) / Croft Musicmaker
Last edited by User211; 22-11-2020 at 19:14.
Utter bollocks. Made in China and rebranded. If you like the look of them fill yer boots. I'm betting that the Genelex mentioned above will be just as good or better. I remember Bill Beard once telling me over a beer or three about his trip to the factory in china where he bought a consignment of KT88's. He told be they stopped the production line where Gold Dragon's were being made and the screen print changed to Beard. There is a lot of Billy bulsh spread about valve rolling. I have just re-valved my amps with stock Chinese valves and they sounded just as good as the expensive ones i had replaced the originals with.
I’ll stick with my gec’s I think!
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
I one bought 12 Golden Dragon EL84s for my Bill Beard BB100.
3 months later half of them had failed.
Sophia rebrand Chinese valves. Fact.
So why utter bollox when it is a fact?
A lot depends on the valves in question and the circuit they're used in [i.e. how hard they're biased/driven], as to whether or not current production Chinese valves will be as good as something more expensive, or NOS. Almost invariably though, IME, the *best* NOS valves (in closely matched pairs), of any description from the best traditional manufacturers, will outperform Chinese varieties, simply because they're much better made.
I've had considerable experience of using KT88s (in various amps), and for me, the best sounding (and most reliable) ones by a country mile are in the following order:
1) Original GECs - but at now crazy cost!
2) E.A.Ts: https://www.europeanaudioteam.com/en...-wp000023.html
3) 'Winged C' Svetlanas (now unfortunately discontinued).
4) Golden Lions.
TBH, I wouldn't grace a good KT-88-based amp with anything else, especially the 'all fur and no knickers' poncy shit, shown at the beginning of this thread, as they're designed to appeal to a certain type of buyer (one who judges more on looks than anything else) and simply aren't built well enough to be reliable!
Therefore, IMO, they're to be avoided at all costs, as they're a total waste of money. So, sorry, Jamie, it's a 'no' from me
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!
Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!
Oh, and one further thing... If the KT-88 amp in question can be made suitable for use with KT-120 (or 150) valves instead, then that'll likely be the best sounding option of all - and much cheaper, too!
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!
Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!