treasure kt 88 vs vintage tung Sol 6550


Well, I have been trying to give these treasure kt88 a fair shake for a while.  I have read many that say they cannot hear a difference in these grant fidelity choice tubes and vintage nos.  All I can say is do not take any wooden nickels.  There really is no comparison, the vintage tung Sol 6550 just blew away the treasure kt 88.  Not even close, in bass, texture, clarity, well, everything.  One thing I will say about the treasure kt 88 is I did find them forgiving.  As far as CDs are concerned, the tung sols are not.  If you have a CD in with the tung sols, you will know it.  If you have vinyl on, same thing.  If is a quality recording, you will hear it regardless if it is digital or analog. The treasures are not as clean sounding, but considering what is available today, they may be the closest to nos.  However, any claim that they are as good or better than nos really is not very honest.  IMHO.
tzh21y

Showing 2 responses by charles1dad

Hi Al,
I wasn't aware that the MC 275 amplifier relied on generous use of negative feedback (NFB) in its circuit. This is an obvious example of influential variables I had mentioned earlier. I once used a push pull amplifier that had adjustable settings for NFB. You could alter your preference for choice of cables or tube rolling based on which NFB amount /setting was chosen. 
Charles, 
Over and over again it has been demonstrated that personal preference is just that , personal. In one amplifier or system to a specific individual the Tung Sol  could be clearly superior.  Now placed in another system and different listener the Treasure KT 88 would be declared equal or superior sounding. I find that proclamations are rarely universal in audio, simply too many variables at play. If you find a terrific fit for your system that's a beautiful thing,  but extrapolation is difficult. 
Charles,