by Bob Latino Sun Oct 10, 2010 11:20 am
Hi Baddog,
120 milliamps of bias current per each of the four KT120 tubes in the M-125 (480 milliamps total) would exceed the flow rate of the Weber WZ68 (450 milliamps). 100 milliamps per 4 tubes combined with current needed for the 12BH7's would be right at the flow limit of a WZ68. Still - not a good thing to run a component in a tube amp at it's maximum design limit.
To my knowlege, at the present time, there is no amp available that can take advantage of the full value of the Tung-Sol KT120 output tubes. It is possible in the future that someone may create an amp that can use these tubes to full advantage. (600+ VDC B+ and 100 - 120 milliamps of bias current per tube). As I mentioned in an earlier post, the reason that the M-125 amp is not optimized for the Tung-Sol KT120 is that presently it is the only octal tube available that can deal with the high bias current and high voltages mentioned above. I would not want to optimize a commercial amp for ONE tube that is only available from ONE manufacturer. If Tung-Sol decides to pull the plug on this tube because it doesn't sell, then you are left with an amp without a source of output tubes. KT88 and 6550 tubes will "red plate" severely and probably self destruct with 600+ volts B+ and 100+ milliamps of bias current.
All that said, The KT120's are quite usable in the M-125 at the 500-520 VDC bias B+ voltage and 60 milliamp bias current per tube. Since the KT120's are being used at well under their designed voltage handling and bias current, they would probably last a long time in the M-125.
Bob
Last edited by Bob Latino on Sat Nov 06, 2010 6:53 pm; edited 1 time in total