Can you have too many tubes?

~~~~Too Tubey or Not Too Tubey? Is That The Question?

Egad!
Jest The Facts (Me Thinks)
By

Albert...you need more tubes...lots more.

Maybe you could rig all your light sockets in your listening room to use 300B's...it might make for some good mood lighting if nothing else.

I'm only teasing cause I've always admired your system...but really...WOW...that's a whole lotta glass!

Now...tell me...how many extra tubes do you have boxed up around the house for the tube rolling adventure...how would you even begin rolling so many tubes?

I know that I probably have no business even asking this as it is in a different league than I am in...and most of the threads that you contribute to are also in that league so I just read but not ask or post usually...but when I read something about 100+ tubes in a system it makes my mind spin...the $$$'s have nothing to do with it...just the patience to be able to come up with your preferred "mix" blows my mind.

Someday I may have the chance to hear a system of your caliber...but I'm afraid that I would be spoiled to the point that I would never be satisfied again and then end up selling all my stuff and buying an ipod.

Ellery911, now your compliments are embarrassing me :^).

I use all those tubes because the designer of each of those pieces of gear thought that was the quantity needed. I do have a lot of spare tubes in my inventory, maybe two hundred ?

Some are really great like Amperex 7308 CEP, which I never seem to get around to using because I love Telefunkens so much. I just purchased 18 Mullard XF2 EL34 from a contact and working on 15 more from a contact in West Germany.

I'm as hopelessly in love with tubes as I am with software. My listening room is full of LP's and my photo studio has boxes and boxes of tubes.

It is fun trying to explain to art directors and clients what "tubes" are.

"Do they still make those ???" is the usual question.

At that point I'm afraid to mention I still listen to LP's :^).

Albertporter, I now feel emasculated, as I can only "get it up" to 35 tubes in my system :-)
You're going after 33 Mullard EL-34's?!!! Did I mention that I am your long lost brother, cousin, nephew, uncle [pick one]?

Funny, I have shown some tubes [6AS7 power triodes from my Atma-spheres...Hi Ralph!] to younger people, and they have never seen a tube nor do they know anything about tubes!

I'm glad that you're a true audiophile and music lover. There are some dilettantes that might also have a "state of the art" system, more for show and "braggin' rights", rather than for the true emotional ecstasy that such a system can deliver.

And thanks for providing the excellent photo coverage from many audio shows. Much appreciated by this overweight hook-bill!

Only 200??? I bet if you added up all the ones in the studio........and that big trunk that you have.......

(Albert has a trunk of output tubes, sorted as to how each sounds, and can be swapped out depending on source material.)

.......it would add up to more than 200.

Right?