To deny yourself the experience of the "High Fun to Expense Ratio" of tube rolling seems to ignore the fact that life is too short to not at least try to enjoy new things.
Tube Life Artifacts
I've been using the same tubes for almost 12 years. They are RCA EL84s (6bq5) in 1959 Leak TL12 plus monoblocks. Recently, I have noticed that one channel seems to be "deeper" in soundstage, almost like there was more reverb on that channel. It's a mild difference, more noticeable on some recordings than others. This difference is consistent with both vinyl and CD, and switched sides when I switched the speaker connections.
Is this evidence of tube deterioration? I have a set of unused Philips tubes somewhere in the basement (made by Mullard, I believe) and I'm about to switch them. If I can find them...
Is this evidence of tube deterioration? I have a set of unused Philips tubes somewhere in the basement (made by Mullard, I believe) and I'm about to switch them. If I can find them...