Tube rolling in Cayin A-88T

Kag,

Haven't rolled the input tubes as yet. I have experience with the RCA grey glass VT-231 GT tube from the 50's. I thought it was definately a smoothie, but I actually liked the linearity of the stock EH tubes in my former Cary amp. The Cary definately needed the EH to sound alive. The RCA in the Cayin may be indeed a nice sound as you mentioned.

Ive yet to hear harshness from the Cayin with anything Ive played, except those discs/LP's known to be so.I recently played some trumpet from Rick Braun(Full Stride) and Chris Botti( A Thousand Kiss...) and man they sounded excellent!

Perhaps the RCA/Tung Sol combo would be very good together.

One thing to keep in mind is that the amp/speaker interface is all telling as well as you know.. It's likely the reason why you may have NOT heard the harshness with the Primare.

On my Ushers, if anything, I have a sound presentation that is more relaxed, yet very dynamic with the Cayin. I found that the 4 ohm tap didnt work as well as the 8 ohm tap and by a big margin. The 4 ohm limiting the dynamics and bass. And the Ushers are 4 ohm nominal

maybe try the 8 ohm tap if not being used would also be a suggestion. You shouldn't need the 16 ohm tap unless your speakers are rated as such or very high ohm/hi-sens types.

Just a thought.

Hoping the Tung-Sols arrive here soon!

As a aside note: When I ordered my 88T from AS's..I spoke with Clarke who recommended going with the KT-88 version. He thought it sounded better amp for amp and the 6550 version comes with EH 6550's.FWIW.

Are you guys using aftermarket powercords with the A-88t? If so, any suggestions on which works or sounds good? Thanks

Great sound with VH Audio Flavor 4 cord. I think this cord works well with many components. Im very impressed with it on both this amp and my Cayin 17A CD.

Which speaker terminal are you guys using? There seems to be a pretty good difference between each one. The flexablity this amp offers is a strong plus. You can change tubes, switch between UL and Triode, and use different speaker terminals.

I've tried all the taps and definately prefer the 8 Ohm. In my system the 4 Ohm limits the dynamics, bass..everything is flat sounding. The 16 Ohm is a bit bright..8 Ohm perfect! I listen exclusively in UL mode. The Triode less coherent and < dynamic overall.

Just biased some Re-Issue Tung Sol 6550's and they sound very good indeed. Bass is not quite as prodigious as the stock tube.. being somewhat less focused, but the mids are more lush with a nicer top end IMO.. A Very listenable tube/ Im sure they need to break-in for a time.