who plays kt-66 tubes? Are they good?

[Quencho092]

Right now, im running a strat through an old ss preamp tube power stage peavey classic. Sounds great, but my tubes are dying, and i need a good new set. i hear kt-66 tubes and 6l6 tubes like the ones in my peavey have similar specs regarding bias. Are they any good? i hear they're fat as hell in sound, and thats exactly what i want right now. Who plays em?!

 

[rhmcfarland]

Re: who plays kt-66 tubes? Are they good?

Yes. Get the Groove Tubes KT66HP type. I use them in my SLO-100. The bias is set at 32.5 ma. We settled on that after testing the sound with higher and lower values. The KT-66 is fatter sounding. More lows. Rounder top-end. More "wet" sounding, IMHO.

 

[Quencho092]

Re: who plays kt-66 tubes? Are they good?

where can i get my hands on some biasing tools

 

[guymanperson]

Re: who plays kt-66 tubes? Are they good?

i use them in my main gigging amp a Dr z rt66,.... very rich large sound

 

[Quencho092]

Re: who plays kt-66 tubes? Are they good?

the final question-do they get muddy at very high volumes-say a 2x12 50 watt combo almost at full

 

[aleclee]

Re: who plays kt-66 tubes? Are they good?

where can i get my hands on some biasing tools

The two I can think of off the top of my head are the Weber BiasRite (I have one of these) and the Alessandro.

 

[rhmcfarland]

Re: who plays kt-66 tubes? Are they good?

KT-66 HP's stay clear at high volumes. As a matter of fact, they'll beat you up! The SLO-100 is a 100 watt amp, and it absolutely shakes the building when we were testing them.

 

[The Owl]

Re: who plays kt-66 tubes? Are they good?

KT-66 HP's stay clear at high volumes. As a matter of fact, they'll beat you up! The SLO-100 is a 100 watt amp, and it absolutely shakes the building when we were testing them.

Good recorded example, on the legendary John Mayall Bluesbreakers album w/ Clapton, Eric was playing his axe through a Marshall combo amp with KT-66's in it, hear the tone for yourself, it's BEAUTIFUL!

 

[Marcel]

Re: who plays kt-66 tubes? Are they good?

is it right that the kt66 are tighter and more modern sounding?
I heard they should sound killer in a soldano though i read mike himself likes the 5881 more....

 

[Quencho092]

Re: who plays kt-66 tubes? Are they good?

i have a pair of sovtek 5881's, and im not that impressed. It has a kind of cardboardy like feel, and at very high volume it mudds up. but maybe its my speakers. I have the stock peavey scorpion style speakers from the late 70's in there now...lol. They're probably similar to greenbacks in wattage handling

 

[Quencho092]

Re: who plays kt-66 tubes? Are they good?

where should i buy them, and at what hardness....i play lots of classic rock/clean stuff. The clean tones are real important to me, but i also want to be able to hit the tubes hard, i guess a 3-7 in hardness would be good?

 

[kaknight]

Re: who plays kt-66 tubes? Are they good?

I have a pair of them in my Fender Twin (running at 60w instead of full 100) and they are really loud. back in the late 60's and early 70's several companies made amps that used these tubes because they can produce higher wattage without blowing up. My experience is that they gave some more bottom end to my amp (compared to the stock GT 6L6's that came in it), and have a bit less crazy top end. They don't cost that much more, and I'd recommend giving 'em a try. you will definetely need to bias though. I have a multi-meter, which is what you will probably need (expensive), or you could take it to an amp tech and have it done for a few bucks.

Several people have complained that they are harder on the tranny than 6L6's but I have had mine now for well over a year, and everything still plays rock solid. Bob at Eurotubes runs KT88s (another big power tube) in his fender twin with the bias really out there, and says that there are no problems whatsoever.

 

[Quencho092]

Re: who plays kt-66 tubes? Are they good?

how long do they last, say after an average 1 hour a day, and hard cranking at jam sessions every week? What hardness would you recommend too?

 

[Quencho092]

Re: who plays kt-66 tubes? Are they good?

i just cracked open my peavey classic and its a '75 circuit board, and no bias pot to be found. It runs 5881's fine, are kt66 tubes in the same bias range? The amp is made for 6l6gc tubes.

 

[Marcel]

Re: who plays kt-66 tubes? Are they good?

i have a pair of sovtek 5881's, and im not that impressed. It has a kind of cardboardy like feel, and at very high volume it mudds up. but maybe its my speakers. I have the stock peavey scorpion style speakers from the late 70's in there now...lol. They're probably similar to greenbacks in wattage handling

i think the most of the mud could (i just guess!! ) come from the cab.
I have a similar problem over a 1960A but i played over an Mesa Recti Std. and there was no mud though i dialed in much more bass.....

 

[Stratman]

Re: who plays kt-66 tubes? Are they good?

I use GEC brand of KT-66 (Cost is around $200 ea).

Biggest sounding tubes around but be careful and make sure that your transformer can handle the heater current draw. (1.3 amps)

 

[GoldenVulture]

Re: who plays kt-66 tubes? Are they good?

IF your playing with the BIAS CURRENT/VOLTAGE and your tubes start to glow red/orange on the plates in it;you,ve got it OUT OF RANGE; 2 much ,2 little will do the same thing.
IF your fecken round inside the amp;the voltages going into these valves can be up to and over 500v DC[can be fatal]BE CAREFULL!mg:

I have an amp that uses KT88,s;which run on higher voltages again and produce a higher wattage output;Even though they are the same pinout[socket] its not just a matter of swapping them into something that uses 66,s or 6l6,s ; they need and draw more power and other"Operating characteristics" are different.The same is true for KT77,s but they are much closer to a 66 than an 88;and may be usable in amp that uses 66,s/6L6,s;depending on its design.

 

[jeremy]

Re: who plays kt-66 tubes? Are they good?

the gtkt66hp arent made anymore, which is too bad they were nice tubes