Author Topic: KT88 Comprable To EL34? (Read 20413 times)

Tricalibur · « **on:** July 28, 2006, 07:51:06 PM »

Ive been researching some realy cool amps made by Electric Amp Innovations. The thing thats so cool 'bout them is that they use oldschool parts and components. So basicly they build their amps how amps were made in the late 60's-70's which gives them a very vintage saturated kind of tone thats seems very reminiscent of early Sab Records. (which of course peaks my intrest :D). Any who, they offer three different tube types on all their amps; EL34, 6550 and KT88, each of which will yield a different output wattage. So EL34 - 120 watts, 6550 - 160 watts and KT88 - 180 to 200. I have been in contact with the owner of the company for the past week trying to get some information regarding which amp would get me the best 'Master Of Reality' era Sab tone and it seems the EL34's would prob be the best choice considering they are pretty much THE choice power tubes in vintage style amps. However, the guy also said that the KT88's would basicly get me EL34 esque tone but at "mondo-volume" levels. Now im not much of a tube guy. I cant realy tell the diffrenece between different power tubes so well and I honestly dont have a whole lot of experience with tube amps period. So what do you more experienced people here think? Would KT88's be to modern sounding maybe? Would EL34's be more apropriet for the tone I'm trying to achieve?

dave_mc · « **Reply #1 on:** July 28, 2006, 10:57:41 PM »

dunno about the difference between kt88 and el34, but you do realise that 200 watts (heck, even 50!) is loud as hell?

Neemo · « **Reply #2 on:** July 28, 2006, 11:37:21 PM »

kt88 sounds BIG, huge headroom
el34 sounds middy, earlier breakup

Tricalibur · « **Reply #3 on:** July 29, 2006, 01:57:00 AM »

I know itd be loud as hell but thats pretty much what im goin for. As in I want something louder than anything anybody else has. What do you mean by 'huge headroom'? I know I want an extremely 'Big' sound so I think the KT88 is the one i want. I mean 200 watts cant be that much louder than 100 right? Like how 100 is actualy only a few db's louder than 50. It'll just sound a lot larger. I think 8)

downrodeo · « **Reply #4 on:** July 29, 2006, 05:30:09 AM »

Headroom refers to how loud you can turn up whilst still keeping the tone nearly 100 percent clean; hence, no breakup or distorting going on. (OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT!)

HTH AMPS · « **Reply #5 on:** July 29, 2006, 12:00:28 PM »

Is the guy using different transformers for EL34s versus KT88s? - you won't get 200w out of a quad of KT88s using a 100w EL34 transformer set, you WILL get a different tone though with more headroom.

I've just put 6550s in a mate's 2203 and even at bedroom volume there is more bass and a fuller tone. I personally prefer 6550s or KT88s in any amp that has a fair amount of gain and a master volume - they just give you 'more' of that kind of tone.

:twisted:

Bainzy · « **Reply #6 on:** July 29, 2006, 12:44:09 PM »

The big difference between a 1959 Marshall 100w and the 200w Majors was the fact that the latter had 200w output transformers and ran KT88's instead of EL34's. You wouldn't get 200w without the higher rated transformer, but you might get a tone a bit more closer to a Marshall Major.

dave_mc · « **Reply #7 on:** July 29, 2006, 01:57:35 PM »

Quote from: Tricalibur

I know itd be loud as hell but thats pretty much what im goin for. As in I want something louder than anything anybody else has. What do you mean by 'huge headroom'? I know I want an extremely 'Big' sound so I think the KT88 is the one i want. I mean 200 watts cant be that much louder than 100 right? Like how 100 is actualy only a few db's louder than 50. It'll just sound a lot larger. I think 8)

ok, fair enough.
i have a pentode/triode switch on my amp to switch from 100 to 50 watts, and the difference in volume is noticeable...

genocidal tendencies · « **Reply #8 on:** July 29, 2006, 02:27:25 PM »

Side note:
Thanks dave, I'd been trying to remember the tavern's address for a while.

So, valves, eh?

Side note 2:
I'd never noticed the connection before but I know a girl called Katie who was born in 1988.

dave_mc · « **Reply #9 on:** July 29, 2006, 06:23:10 PM »

^ :lol:

:drink:

Tricalibur · « **Reply #10 on:** July 29, 2006, 06:38:23 PM »

Quote from: Bainzy

The big difference between a 1959 Marshall 100w and the 200w Majors was the fact that the latter had 200w output transformers and ran KT88's instead of EL34's. You wouldn't get 200w without the higher rated transformer, but you might get a tone a bit more closer to a Marshall Major.

Yeh, Im assuming thats what Electric amps are doing. Running larger output transformers with diffeent tube types. So would this basicly mean that I could have an EL34 powered amp but with a larger output transformer and still be able to get a 200 watt rating? Would you need to have twice as many el34's?

Skybone · « **Reply #11 on:** July 29, 2006, 06:47:38 PM »

Electric Amps used to distribute Matamp, now they build copies of Matamp's.

Tricalibur · « **Reply #12 on:** July 29, 2006, 07:04:38 PM »

there not so much copies as they are handmade replicas of what Matamp USED to make back in the 60's and 70's. Check out this page if your intrested; http://www.electricamp.com/real-turrett-board-point-to-point-steel-chassis-tube-amps.html

HJM · « **Reply #13 on:** July 29, 2006, 08:42:56 PM »

Odd, most Matamps and Oranges of the 70s, the 120w era, were PCB.....

Bainzy · « **Reply #14 on:** July 29, 2006, 11:30:55 PM »

Quote from: dave_mc

Quote from: Tricalibur
I know itd be loud as hell but thats pretty much what im goin for. As in I want something louder than anything anybody else has. What do you mean by 'huge headroom'? I know I want an extremely 'Big' sound so I think the KT88 is the one i want. I mean 200 watts cant be that much louder than 100 right? Like how 100 is actualy only a few db's louder than 50. It'll just sound a lot larger. I think 8)

ok, fair enough.
i have a pentode/triode switch on my amp to switch from 100 to 50 watts, and the difference in volume is noticeable...

A pentode/triode switch works differently to halving the wattage; it reconfigures the tubes in an operation in triode mode that in real terms makes the amp a lot less wattage than half. Basically halving the wattage doesn't halve the level of sound output, but reconfiguring the tubes in triode operation will reduce the sound to about 60% of it's full volume level.

I think the reason wattage gets confused with volume so much is that people don't realise these amps are rated for wattage at how much clean power they have, not full volume. A 1959slp Marshall can put out 100 watts of clean power, but at full clipping can easily be found to put out 150w RMS of power.

Quote from: Tricalibur

Quote from: Bainzy
The big difference between a 1959 Marshall 100w and the 200w Majors was the fact that the latter had 200w output transformers and ran KT88's instead of EL34's. You wouldn't get 200w without the higher rated transformer, but you might get a tone a bit more closer to a Marshall Major.

Yeh, Im assuming thats what Electric amps are doing. Running larger output transformers with diffeent tube types. So would this basicly mean that I could have an EL34 powered amp but with a larger output transformer and still be able to get a 200 watt rating? Would you need to have twice as many el34's?

Since EL34's have a typical plate dissipation of about 25 watts, yeah you'd probably need 8 to get 200w from them. How you'd go about doing it, I'm not sure, there must be a good reason why Marshall didn't go down this route and used higher rated equipment instead (less space, less heat, less hassle?).

Author Topic: KT88 Comprable To EL34? (Read 20413 times)

genocidal tendencies