Problems with Svetlana KT88 and Sonic Frontiers

I have been running Svetlana KT88's in my power 3's with no problems. I am interested though in trying the EH6550's. I would be interested in hearing from anyone that has done a direct comparison of these tubes on power 3's.

Has anyone tried the Electro-Harmonix KT-88 in the Power 2? If so, what did you find? Here's a review of various tubes and the reviewer prefers the EH KT-88 to the Svetlana KT-88. Different amp but wondering if I would get similar results in the P2.

Nameci is right. Sonic Frontiers told me the earlier Svetlana KT88s had stability problems. ARC and other manufacturers will tell you the same. Present production Svetlanas are supposedly better, but some tube experts believe they are NOT the most reliable tube, period.

I have used EH6550s, which look just like KT88s, kind of a hybrid tube. They sound excellent in the Power 2 amp, better than anything else. They add more life and detail to the highs, and have a great lower end punch.

I have been using my Sonic Frontiers Power 2 with Svetlana KT88's. I have not have had any problem at all. I have talked to a tech(I forget the name) at SF when I was purchasing KT88's. Tech mentioned that there were some bad batches of Svet KT88's that may cause problem. Only thing will happen when the tube shorts out is the biasing resistor for that tube will burn up. Tech told me that was easy fix and even sent me a few resistors in the mail. Well, I have had Svet KT88's and JJ Tesla KT88's other than Svet 6550s came with the amps with no problem what so ever. I remember that SF tech told me that if Svet KT88's fail, it is usually with in first 20hrs of use.

I'm using the Sovtek KT-88s in my Music Reference RM-9 amp with great results. It beats generic Chinese 6550s and EL-34s by a mile. I've had them for five months with no problems. The Svetlana's have a great reputation in the high end and I'd like to try them. I hope this is just a single isolated bad batch.

I owned the Power 3s about 5 months ago and was also told of to avoid Svetlanas. I went ahead and used the Sovteks and never went back, I found them to be very nice sounding in the MIDS. From what I understand, If SF runs the tubes at a very high bias, and the Svets were blowing at whatever the biasing point is. I did try the Ei90s, the Newest Chinese kt88s (the name escapes me now) and the Sovteks just did everything about right

I don't have a sonic frontiers amp, but a Copland and the Svetlana's have worked better than any other power tube I have tried including Sovtek KT88, Svetlana 6550C, JJ Tesla KT88, Tung-sol 6550, and a GE6550A. The mids were more pronounced and very silky smooth. The bottom end was the tightest of the bunch.

I would only think SF was right and it was a bad batch. The KT88 was their newest tube and there might have been some growing pains. They work well now. If you go to a few of the tube dealers web-sites, that is the tube they are using personally. I have had SF amps and they should work fine.