best preamp ever - cost is no object

"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.

The Einstein incorporates a number of novel design approaches. They do not have a selector switch because they believe that it is exactly at this point, prior to amplification, that the signal is weakest and most easily damaged. Instead, each input has a complete set of input tubes; however the heater voltage to the input tubes is only turned on when you are listening to that input so there is no tube wear. This means that you can customize the tubes on each source and that the expensive tubes only run when that input is chosen. The downside is that when you change inputs, there is a slight time lag as the existing input stops amplifying and then the new input as the heater comes on begins to amplify, so no immediate switching. Please feel free to contact by email and I can provide a phone number if you have additional questions about the Einstein. I previously owned a CTC Blowtorch.

You just don't get it! Tweaks such as tube rolling and such are there for the people that want to extract the most out of their system but do not want or have the funds to spend on more expensive solutions, based on substance. In the case of your system, a system with a retail value in the $200K range, tube rolling is out off context! Yes, at the level and the amount of money that you have spent in your system you have systematic solutions based on knowledge and science and you do not need to do the trial and error dance, unless of course you find enjoyment out of it and don't mind blowing your money.

It has become quiet clear and obvious to me that some people bring nothing more to this quest than a big wallet, to those like you and others which do not possess the in-depth knowledge of mastering techniques, physics, acoustics, psychoacoustics and electronics may I suggest that you just hire a professional to get you the rest of the way there instead of keeping spending outrageous amounts of money while spinning around and getting nowhere.

This is just my honest and scientifically backed opinion.

Carlos269, one of the things that all tube equipment manufacturers face nowadays is that tube quality is nowhere near what it was 30-50 years ago! The EH tubes in the Einstein are a good example- nicely packaged but the tubes are microphonic, noisy if not hand-picked and prone to grid contamination in short order.

In the old days the tube manufacturers made plenty of spares; often they offer significantly better performance for not a lot of extra money. The problems one faces with this are several- the really top performers have a cult price, often the tubes are used when advertised as NOS, and certainly finding significant quantities of any type is tricky at best, which is why OEMs use the current manufactured tubes.

It is also true that NOS tubes may not perform as well- as in the case of 12AT7s, there are no NOS types as quiet as the new Chinese any longer as the quiet ones have been used up. Even so, NOS 12AT7s do sound smoother and more robust.

That said, I agree that setup and the technology itself plays a huge role. I think it is true to say that you and Fcrowder are both correct.

Ralph,
I would agree with you 100% if the reason for swapping the tubes was because of the tubes being microphonic, noisy, suffered from defective construction or were not reliable but I don't believe that is the case here. I believe that Fred just preferred the "Flavor" of the $100 per tube tubes to that of the $19 per tube ones. Perhaps Fred could enlighten us by stating specifically what made the $100 tubes better in his eyes/ears than the $19 tubes? Please let us at the same time know what makes the $2,400.00 Acrolink Mexcel 7N copper power cord better than a $5 stock power cord other than build quality. Please let us know just exactly what it is that this expensive audio jewelry does better than their pedestrian equivalent. I await your answer.

Ralph by the way, I do get what you mean about manufacturers being forced to use mass-produced tubes which leads to the potential to acquire "Better" NOS tubes on the market. The potential is there to get tubes that are less microphonic, quieter, more robustly built and more reliable but it is my view that most tube rollers do not roll for those reasons but for favoring a particular "Flavor" more than other; these is basically trial-and-error "tone control" which is the same practice used in cable swapping and power cord selection.