Hvdb,
I've used a stock TA-30 for the past year or so; biasing is a slight pain, but not enough so that it's not worth it to get the amp. The amp has to be turned upside-down & the bottom removed--it's held on by 8 (I think) machine screws. The actual biasing process used to be described on the Bizzy Bee website. Dunno if it's still there though.
As I said, a minor pain, but it doesn't have to be done *that* often. I bought my TA-30 used on the 'gon, & it had the stock tubes. I don't know how old they were, but I was biasing about once a month with significant (25-35 mV) drops in bias each time. Replaced them with a set of new Electro-harmonix EL-34s after a few months, after which I dropped the biasing to about once a quarter, with a change in current of only a few mV (if that) each time. Moral: old tubes apparently don't hold a bias setting well, but with new ones, the procedure doesn't have to performed too often. Moral II: don't let fear of biasing keep you from getting this amp--it's an excellent value, and the most important change I've made to my system (excluding the decision to 'try' vinyl a couple years ago).
Just for completeness (and return to topic), the sound of the Electroharmonix tubes: definitely leaner than the stock tubes, which were a little juicy and soft to my ears in my system. Take that with a grain of salt, though, because my stock tubes were apparently pretty run down when I got them. The EH's could possibly do with a bit more body, although they still beat the pants off my previous NAD C370 in this regard. The EH's also initially had a slightly whitish sound up top, but this has gone away. My speakers are a bit lean-sounding themselves, though, so I suspect the EH tubes are themselves pretty neutral. Others with more tube-rolling experience can probably say more.
Cheers,
Brent
