I just made my LSi-9's sound 100 times better!
I've had my LSi-9's for about eight months now. I've always been a little disappointed with the sound, but it was still better than everything else I've had in my apartment. I realized it was all because of the bass performance -- I was used to a huge 15-inch sub that I got rid of when I went tube a little over a year ago. Nonetheless, I just wrote it off to my amplifier and room dynamics.
Until about three weeks ago when all of this changed!
I know there's a few other Jolida tube amp owners that hang out here and this post is for you.
My amp is a 502 series circa 1996. I have modified it with Auricaps and some new resistors to allow biasing for both EL34 tubes as well as the stock 6550 tubes. But, I must tell you, nothing has changed how I feel about these speakers more than replacing the 6550's with a quad set of Ei KT90 power tubes!
Before, the sound was decent... but going to KT90's was as big a jump as was going to tube in the first place! The soundstage depth, clarity, and inner texture is beyond comparison. The soundstage of the LSi-9's blossomed with this tube. When listening to just about anything other than crappy pop music, the speakers disappear completely in my living room. It was a day and night difference. The KT90's give the LSi-9's an amazing amount of authorative bass which is tighter as deeper than many solid state amplifiers.
If anybody out there has a tube setup, try the Ei KT90 tubes with your Polk gear. These tubes works so damn well with the LSi-9's that it's uncanny!
-crazyhead-
Until about three weeks ago when all of this changed!
I know there's a few other Jolida tube amp owners that hang out here and this post is for you.
My amp is a 502 series circa 1996. I have modified it with Auricaps and some new resistors to allow biasing for both EL34 tubes as well as the stock 6550 tubes. But, I must tell you, nothing has changed how I feel about these speakers more than replacing the 6550's with a quad set of Ei KT90 power tubes!
Before, the sound was decent... but going to KT90's was as big a jump as was going to tube in the first place! The soundstage depth, clarity, and inner texture is beyond comparison. The soundstage of the LSi-9's blossomed with this tube. When listening to just about anything other than crappy pop music, the speakers disappear completely in my living room. It was a day and night difference. The KT90's give the LSi-9's an amazing amount of authorative bass which is tighter as deeper than many solid state amplifiers.
If anybody out there has a tube setup, try the Ei KT90 tubes with your Polk gear. These tubes works so damn well with the LSi-9's that it's uncanny!
-crazyhead-
Post edited by CrazyHead on
Comments
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Crazyhead,
nice read my man.So cool finding ways to improve your sound.Tubes and Lsi'2 Interesting........Hmm.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
Crazy Head,
My 502 came with a complete set of upgrade tubes which included Svetlana KT's along with the 6550's. I jumped right to the KT's without trying the 6550's. I missed the whole joy of upgrading and didn't even know it. One day I'll throw the 6550's in just to laugh at them.
madmaxVinyl, the final frontier...
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want...
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Oh yea,
The original Chineese EL-34's Jolida uses have something I like as well but I can't quite put my finger on it. Tight bass is not it. It is something in the midrange. When I replaced them with Svetlana EL-34's the bass tightened up but I lost the really special midrange qualities of the Chineese ones.
madmaxVinyl, the final frontier...
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... -
Originally posted by madmax001
Crazy Head,
My 502 came with a complete set of upgrade tubes which included Svetlana KT's along with the 6550's. I jumped right to the KT's without trying the 6550's. I missed the whole joy of upgrading and didn't even know it. One day I'll throw the 6550's in just to laugh at them.
madmax
Svetlana does not make a KT90... only Ei in Yugoslavia does. There, apparently, once was a Chinese company making a knock-off KT90 but they were terrible. Fortunately, there's nobody selling the Chinese versions anymore so you can't miss them.
You might be thinking about the KT88. Svetlana and a number of other outfits make KT88 types.
The KT90 is a beam tetrode if I recall, and was designed in 1990 by the people from ARC specifically for audio use in their amps. Ei was (and still is) the exclusive manufacturer and also helped quite a bit in the design.
The KT90 is *entirely* different in sound compared to a KT88. The KT90 has deep, extremely tight and accurate bass with plenty of gumption to make you think you're listening to high-buck solid state equipment. The KT90 has incredibly extended highs -- so much so that the soundstage is almost holographic! The mid-range is where the KT90 really shines... it's soooo detailed and dynamic. Sonic textures are aurally rendered so nicely in the mids.
Basically, the KT90 gives you all the analytical performance you would want from a solid state tube but with all of the euphonics and musicality you could need from a pure-tube setup. In my opinion, it's the best power tube available today!
Since you're running a 502, you can just drop them right in. It's really worth it to check them out. You can get a matched quad for around $150 from Upscale Audio and Triode Electronics.
http://www.upscaleaudio.com/
http://www.triodeelectronics.com/
Again, you really do owe it to yourself!
-crazyhead-
