"A couple thoughts":
Fred, I don't want to come across like I'm picking on you so please don't take it personal but even at $100 per tube it still sounds to me like you and other tube rollers are trying to play an expensive game of trial-and-error "tone control" with these different "Flavor" tubes! It has nothing to do with "Whether the improvement was worth the money is a personal decision that will be different for different listeners", BUT the "approach" that is used to advance ones system to the next level.
The tube rolling is exactly the same kind of silliness as buying or experimenting with the $2,400.00 Acrolink Mexcel 7N copper power cord that you and Rhyno recommend.
Hey this is a free society and everyone is allowed to use their money as they see fit BUT to me it seems foolish to spend these insane amounts of money on trial-and-error "tone control" through tube rolling and power cord selection when there are electronic devices out there which will give you predictable, repeatable, defeatable and scalable tone-control and beyond, per their original design!
My idea of a perfect system always starts with the ability of the system to be neutral and as true/faithful to the "Master Tapes" as possible; from that point on you as an individual are free to tailor the sound of your system according to your personal preferences.
Which is where I'm at, I now have a system that can be adjusted on the fly to cater to "your" idea of the perfect sound or the "Absolute Sound" and which can dynamically/on-the-fly be readjusted to the person next to you idea of perfection.
I believe that a gentleman in my deleted thread said it best:
To some, sound reproduction is a hobby where tube rolling, cable swapping, isolation devices testing and such are fun and exciting but to me it is not only an art BUT a science, which I strive to advance in the level of realism everyday through the use of my knowledge of mastering/recording techniques, physics, acoustics, psychoacoustics and electronics.
I'm still hard at work on my book, "The Great Audiophile Swindle!" which will expand further on these thoughts and others.
Fred, I don't want to come across like I'm picking on you so please don't take it personal but even at $100 per tube it still sounds to me like you and other tube rollers are trying to play an expensive game of trial-and-error "tone control" with these different "Flavor" tubes! It has nothing to do with "Whether the improvement was worth the money is a personal decision that will be different for different listeners", BUT the "approach" that is used to advance ones system to the next level.
The tube rolling is exactly the same kind of silliness as buying or experimenting with the $2,400.00 Acrolink Mexcel 7N copper power cord that you and Rhyno recommend.
Hey this is a free society and everyone is allowed to use their money as they see fit BUT to me it seems foolish to spend these insane amounts of money on trial-and-error "tone control" through tube rolling and power cord selection when there are electronic devices out there which will give you predictable, repeatable, defeatable and scalable tone-control and beyond, per their original design!
My idea of a perfect system always starts with the ability of the system to be neutral and as true/faithful to the "Master Tapes" as possible; from that point on you as an individual are free to tailor the sound of your system according to your personal preferences.
Which is where I'm at, I now have a system that can be adjusted on the fly to cater to "your" idea of the perfect sound or the "Absolute Sound" and which can dynamically/on-the-fly be readjusted to the person next to you idea of perfection.
I believe that a gentleman in my deleted thread said it best:
To some, sound reproduction is a hobby where tube rolling, cable swapping, isolation devices testing and such are fun and exciting but to me it is not only an art BUT a science, which I strive to advance in the level of realism everyday through the use of my knowledge of mastering/recording techniques, physics, acoustics, psychoacoustics and electronics.
I'm still hard at work on my book, "The Great Audiophile Swindle!" which will expand further on these thoughts and others.