Tube Amp question:TUBE replacements: explain MATCHED?

@rodman99999 

I was thinking that if Moose didn't have a multi-meter he could have killed two birds with one stone (always good to have a multi-meter handy) and if he did have a MM, he could have saved the $ on that one and just bought the leads.

But that's okay.  And if you've seen the pictures of the CAD 1205 MKII, that has bias meters built into the front face plate so one can be monitoring the bias all the time, and I can see where that would be nice.  I guess one could do the same thing with that fancy Cary meter?

You had a couple of SLM 100s?  How did you like them?  I once tried out a Mesa Barron and that got me wanting mono blocks and seriously considering the 100s.  I remember talking to Kirk Owens about them, & he sounded unusually (for him) animated.  I wound up buying a couple of secondhand ARC VTM 120s from a guy who was selling them via a listing in the back of Stereophile; those amps sure sounded good, but I used to cross my fingers & grit my teeth whenever I turned them on, so for the sake of reliability I bought my V12 in '01.

Oh well, ramble on. . . .

@immatthewj -

     I've looked for/at the smallest ammeters and (thus far): haven't found anything I could mount anywhere on my SLMs' chassis, for the convenience of not reaching for my Fluke.

     Hanging a couple on the amp stands and hard-wiring to the Bias jacks, would be a possibility, but: I'm SO lazy.

     Besides, it seems: with a good quad of output tubes in each monoblock, their relative biases seldom change.     Only: slight bias variations, consistent/the same in both, according to what's coming from the wall.

     The SLMs were my step, following the Rocket 88, which didn't have the juice to satisfy my SPL Jones (inefficient speakers, at the time).     No need to look further, as the SLMs' excellent transformers and circuit design made adequate power and the realism/presentation I sought, an easy reach, with judiciously chosen parts.   

     They were treated early on, to better RCAs, 5-ways and IXYS HEXFREDs.   Since: every cap has been upgraded (ie: Duelund cast-PIOs for coupling, ClarityCap ESAs in the B+, etc ).

     Of course: the optimum, NOS 6SN7 search was another enjoyable, illuminating and fun-filled journey.

                        Yeah: I'm FULLY invested in the SLMs, with NO regrets!

                                                     Happy listening!

What are SLM’s?

 @moose89 -

            Lots of pics and info, available from this page:

https://www.google.com/search?q=cary+slm+100+for+sale&oq=cary+slm-100

                                       a review:

https://www.stereophile.com/tubepoweramps/cary_audio_design_slm-100_monoblock_power_amplifier/index.html