Just ordered a set of the TS 7581a for $105 on Amazon to try out.
Anyone have experience with the Tung Sol 7581a vs. EL34, KT66, KT88, 6L6
I broke down and added another power tube (Tung Sol 7581a) to my collection. That can get expensive as my Primaluna Dialogue HP Premium integrated has 8 power tubes.
Why has this tube escaped me thus far? Why is it not more popular? Many folks don't sell this reissue tube.
I think this is a great deal. I was torn between the lush, thick midrange of the EL34 and the more evenly spread out sound of the KT88. But the KT88, for all its more correct behavior didn't romance me like an EL34.
The 7581a from Tung Sol can be had cheap and I really like them. [I'll spare you all the audiophile terms]. They check the boxes that I was looking for.
Does anyone have experience, information or knowledge about this splendid tube?
PS The next experiment is KT150s but I can't see doing it if I'm gonna lose any of that great EL34 midrange.
Why has this tube escaped me thus far? Why is it not more popular? Many folks don't sell this reissue tube.
I think this is a great deal. I was torn between the lush, thick midrange of the EL34 and the more evenly spread out sound of the KT88. But the KT88, for all its more correct behavior didn't romance me like an EL34.
The 7581a from Tung Sol can be had cheap and I really like them. [I'll spare you all the audiophile terms]. They check the boxes that I was looking for.
Does anyone have experience, information or knowledge about this splendid tube?
PS The next experiment is KT150s but I can't see doing it if I'm gonna lose any of that great EL34 midrange.
Showing 12 responses by noromance
I tried them last night. Impressions: Out of the box a little dry but extended in the treble. Very good bass. Clean and powerful sounding making my 1960s 6L6 Ratheon black plates sound a little tired. They did lack the sweet midband of the older tubes but they only have a few hours on them. Overall pretty impressed. |
@frogman Hi there. I bought mine from amazon. 8 tubes in 4 monoblocs still running fine. |
@rshak So what changed from when you preferred the GL KT88s? |
@rshak I found that too. Midband sweetness wasn’t there and they were a little tight. After 20 or so hours, they opened up. I’ve easily 1000 hours on these in my monos (2 tubes each) and they sound sublime. |