Shuguang WE KT88 valves

[mcgjohn]

over the last year or so, have recommended to many to look into the Shuguang WEKT88 plus red base tubes. an excellent sounding tube.

thought I would provide a short update on the shuguang red base WE-KT88s

bought one quad set in August 2019.

Bought a 2nd quad set in late Dec 2019 or early Jan 2020.

Lost one WEKT88 a few weeks ago from the orig quad set.

Was playing some prestige jazz recordings last night and lost a second red base KT88 in the process.

still best sounding KT88 have found, bar none.

But out of the 1st quad set, 2 have died, and now using the 2nd quad set as spares for the first quad. At 350 USD per quad, not a great result.

Shuguang and those sellers who market these WE tubes are selling at a super premium over their other Chinese tubes as well as the Russian competitors.

So they should last a bit longer than 9-10 months before giving up the ghost in an amp that is pretty easy on toobes.

Have to say, while still the best sounding KT88 I have heard, their quality and reliability reminds me of the chinese made crap tubes of 10 years ago, where
you had to say a little prayer each time before hitting the power switch on the amp, otherwise the tubes would super nova on you, or in simpler words, garbage tubes.

Have had better luck with the Shuguang Nature sound treasure KT88-T. But also another pricey tube.....

may have to return to some of the Russian made tubes for reliability

 

[Destructor]

I've been tempted to buy some of those higher priced tubes but could never bring myself to do it. The Chinese tubes I have bought have been generic but tested tubes, the China EL34's and KT66's I've used in my AES Superamp have been quite dependable though they have less than 400 volts on the plates.

 

[Brice]

Does your amplifier bias the KT88 hard? They should last much longer.

 

[zackthedog]

Just curious, where did you buy the tubes? I've stopped buying power tubes from eBay sellers, I just don't find them as reliable as those sold by trusted dealers.

 

[mcgjohn]

As @Destructor noted, I was tempted as well...........called by the sirens for possibly better sound and hit the buy button on those tubes....

amp is a PL dialogue so is pretty easy on tubes; plate voltage is much lower than many other tube amp brands.

as for sellers, first was from chinahifiaudio; 2nd was from ebay on line seller.

and agree, the ebay sellers seem to have higher probability for failure than other outlets.

Key point to the post was to let others know who might be tempted to try em. they should be prepared for a few failures. but they will get some really nice organic sound while the tubes still function.

tks

 

[JohnT123]

My go-to KT88 is from thetubestore.com

It's listed as their preferred series KT88 and it's made by Shuguang to their specs. Very rugged and quite affordable compared to the "treasures" line. I've been running them for a couple years now and I'm very happy with them.

As a disclaimer I have to add that I know the folks at thetubestore.com but that doesn't affect my opinion of the tube.

 

[Big-L]

I know this is an old post,but wanted to say that I've had the WEKT-88 tubes in my Intergrated amp for well over a year and they just sound amazing,but im sure the NOS preamp tubes help as well...Cifte 12au7 and Mullard 6201.They hold there bias very well,unlike the Gold Lions that were purchased on EBay.I got mine from an overseas seller and not from EBay.

It did take take a lot of hours for burn in,but well worth it for the sound stage.

These tubes are now hard to find. I was wanting to get another quad set,but can't seem to find any in stock. I'm sure it's due to the fire and now the pandemic. If anyone knows a place that has them....please let me know !!

Thank you !

 

[>m0]

I was going to order from Chinahifi, but found an Amazon seller. I just fired them up. I also have been running the 'Preferred' KT88 from thetubestore (Penta KT88). I guess the WEKT88 need a lot of burn in, as they sound shrouded, very narrow soundstage, no reall bass, etc., compared to the Preferred quad I have been running. I'll wait till the Preferred start to fail before putting the WEKT88 back in...