New to the Forum & new owner of a ST-120; Tube questions

arledgsc wrote:Gold Lion KT-88s are my favorite of that model of tube.  But I prefer KT-120s in my ST-120 amp.  Either case Jim McShane is my man for power tubes.  Jim knows Bob's amps and matches the tubes accordingly.  His prices are extreme competitive and takes care of warranty issues straight away.

Had pretty good luck buying preamp tubes from different sources.  But I've also had to eat tubes purchased on Ebay as you usually get no warranty.

But let the amp run in with the Sovteks while you figure out what to try next.  You will be confused on true amp sound until it breaks in.

Dave_in_Va wrote:Aren't Genelex tubes the same Russian tubes from the same factory that makes several brands?

As far as I know these brands (Mullard, Tung-Sol, Genelex) have absolutely nothing to do with the the original companies.

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't there only three tube factories? One in China, one in Russia and one in the Czech Republic (or somewhere in eastern Europe)?

deepee99 wrote:Tesla-Vac used to make the finest tubes, but Clinton bombed the factory during the Kosovo dust-up. My late friend John Bedini almost went postal over that. It forced him into solid-state stuff, which he made a fine job of.