This is exactly why I really can’t appreciate the KT88.
I prefer a less powerful but more controlled sound.
I get different results with rectifier tubes all the time. I have good 5u4g’s and less good ones. In general I prefer gz34 with my 6SN7 tubes. Don’t know if there is a logical explanation to that. I have a rectifier tube from Elrog - a 5u4g - and this makes the mogwai sing like nothing else - especially when used with 6SL7. Punch and holographic soundstage. A NOS GE 5U4G sounds kind of congested in comparison. So, even within the same tube category there is a lot of rolling to be done.
Exhausting, but fun when it plays out the way you like.
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I seem to agree with your experience here.
Focal Radiance sound better to me from 6sl7 even though the gain is quite high.
I still haven’t tested enough to fully decide but think I also enjoy the 6sl7 with LCD-5 more so than 6sn7.
Never tried the EL34 so would be interested in rolling this tube.
Mite look at purchasing a pair soon.
Any particular EL34 brand you can suggest?
I do own a HD600 but doesn’t get much of my time lately.
I seriously really enjoying the KT88 till I spend some time with them and then went back I noticed no bloat on a few of my usual tracks.
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EL 34 B STR Ruby don’t have crazy price and sound very good toy ears.
Check also TungSol.
I’ve no experience with NOS tubes at the moment. I’m trying to explore some combo and check what meets my preferences before investing great amount of money on pricy tubes.
I will look at these maybe get a pair in the future.
Any experience on rolling the rectifier tube?
I found the stock 5u4gb rectifier tube to have more slam? compared to 5AR4.
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I have never tried EL34 power tubes I my Mogwai. I don’t know if you were referring to the GZ34 rectifier?
I use a gz34 matsushita.
For kicks you might want to try the Bendix 6384 (cetron or tungsol) power tubes. This is my personal favorite - so much punch.
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These sound interesting.
I guess these are a bit rarer to find as they seem to be hard to find here in the UK.
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True. They are unfortunately hard to come by.
Let me know when you desperately need to try them. I have small collection.
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EL34 and in particular EL34B STR have nearly as much power as 6L6 but sound to my ears cleaner and more controlled without losing warmth and impact.
With jazz music I really love them for the sense of space and room they give to the sound maintaining a good instrument separation and bringing a very clean, noise free sound.
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Sounds interesting- can you recommend a brand of tubes?
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I have a pair of Ruby with dark red base and they sound better to my ears than other brands.
I don’t think they are currently in production but I’d have to check it.
The TungSol aren’t very expensive and are usually quite good.
Check that the tubes are EL34B and not standard EL34: it doesn’t change a lot but the sound from the B/B STR is better to my ears.
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Thanks - always exiting with new ventures in hifi. Will check them out for sure.
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Never mind. Enjoy the music.
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Ok so it has took me a while to understand how the Mogwai SE is presenting the sound.
And I am for sure still learning the pros and cons.
Still going thru a enjoying/not enjoying stage with it.
This Mogwai SE comparison is exclusively with the Rebelamp(Mogwai with its default tubes as off June/July last year).
I have tried the KT88 and 6sn7 and 5ar4 and event thought I had more power I felt like there was less control so went back to stock.
Used many headphones with the Mogwai SE but for the purpose of this review going to keep it simple and only talk about my two main headphones.
Headphones used for comparison are LCD-5(With EQ), Focal Radiance.
Things I am not enjoying so much with my Mogwai SE:
1- Soundstage is a major drawback in some recordings.
The soundstage is much narrower and closer/more intimate compared to the Rebelamp and I know the Rebelamp isn’t the best for soundstage.
The far left and right images in some recordings just seem to be really narrowed and in some cases be much more close to you instead of far left and far right in comparison to the Rebelamp.
I think this is more noticeable with the LCD-5 as the Radiance are already quite intimate but it is still noticeable on both headphones.
2-AudezeLCD-5 don’t pair that well for my taste.
Like mentioned above lateral soundstage, imaging, detail, separation and texture is so good already on the LCD-5 that trying to change this with the Mogwai SE seems to change it for the worse to me on most of the music I have listened to so far.
The effect of the Mogwai Soundstage I get with the LCD-5 I would describe as cluttered in some recordings compared to the Rebelamp.
3- Noise with Radiance.(very little and not noticeable once listening to music)
This doesn’t personally bother me much just something to keep in mind.
No noise from LCD-5.
Things I really enjoy about my Mogwai SE:
1- The bass!! It seems to put the bass in front stage and is definitely ‘THICKER’ & ‘BIGGER’ from the Mogwai SE compared to Rebelamp. For a lot of my more upbeat music I listen to this is great.
2-The smoothness from all the edges of tones so everything sound easier to listen to.
This is especially noticeable in the highs and is less fatiguing compared to the Rebelamp.
3-Soundstage is very intimate. Some have described this as putting you in the centre of the stage.
I find this can work great for some recordings especially vocal or piano recordings together with the smoothness from the Mogwai SE.
This can give a more organic and realistic presentation.
4-Focal Radiance works great with the Mogwai SE. Soundstage/layering is very intimate with the Radiance anyway so creating a slightly more intimate presentation don’t seem to be as much of a issue compared to the LCD-5.
Together this with the punch of the Radiance together with the Mogwai SE in your face BASS this can sound really exciting and engaging to me.
Together this with the more smooth sort of sound the Mogwai SE gives and I can listen to certain tracks without any sort of fatigue and still have that super fun bass with the Radiance.
This is all using the 8ohm tap of the Mogwai SE and Radiance.
Using the 32ohm tap with the Radiance boost the bass by a few db that in the mood can also be enjoyed.
So all in all I do enjoy the Mogwai SE but I am enjoying the Rebelamp more so far with LCD-5 specifically.
Radiance is more mood dependant but enjoy both amps. But if I have to choose I would choose the Mogwai SE with the Radiance just for that engagement factor and attributes that have mentioned above.
So not sure if I would be better of buying a higher end solid state amp like Ferrum Oor or Burson soloist 3xp GT for the LCD-5 or if there’s not much difference going to a higher end solid state amp as the LCD-5 don’t seem to need much juice.
Also would tube rolling be able to achieve better lateral soundstage width from Mogwai? It is something I definitely need to experiment more with.
Actually my preferred choice for LCD-5 if I sold some of my solid state amps would be Chord TT2 at the moment but again not sure if the price will be justified.
Just don’t know if I would get a much better presentation going with a higher end solid state compared to Rebelamp/Mogwai.
Hope this helps anyone deciding to buy either the Mogwai SE/Forge or Rebelamp.
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I just bought on the secondary market Zach from ZMF’s old Mogwai SE. I’m really excited to hear how it sounds with my VC and Auteur, along with some low-sensitivity planars (HE6SEv2, Susvara). My tube journey went from a Darkvoice that I extensively modded, to a Liquid Platinum I cap-modded, to a Crack that I built, to the Speedball addition, and now to a Quicksilver HPA. I don’t think I’ll ever part ways with the Crack, and probably not the Quicksilver (it may replace my bedside listening AIO a Conductor 3XP), but from everything I’ve read the Mogwai is exactly what I want and need as an endgame transformer-coupled tube amp.
I’ve read that 6SN7 tubes will work in place of a 6SL7, and as I have a pretty solid collection of them, I’m hoping they have good synergy. I have a metal-base Sylvania that I’ve seen in someone’s “ideal setup,” but I plan on digging into more of the discussion around tube-rolling. I’m thinking the low gain factor of a 6SN7 wouldn’t play nicely with the planars, but should work great with the ZMFs.
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Plinth got a little dinged up in transit, but everything works and it sounds lovely. HD8XX + tape mod from the High-Z jack is simply lovely. Can’t wait to try out my ZMFs on it.
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I would imagine the mogwai would be helpful towards the hd800’s lack of bass as the mogwai really adds a lot of weight in that region. Is that combo helping with the lower bass?
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Hard for me to say, the HD8XX has fairly decent bass vs. the original 800 and 800s. Was solid with my other amps - iFi Pro iCAN and Quicksilver HPA.
Oh, I only have experience with the original 800. I hope you like the mogwai/VC combo. That was a favorite of mine when I owned A&S amps.
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It’s pretty glorious.
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